Only two seasons into his illustrious career when he signed this, Omar Vizquel would end up with a career worthy of consideration of baseball’s highest honor.

When he signed the contract in March 1991 he was .230 career hitter with no Gold Gloves or All Star appearances. By the time the contract expired at the end of the 1995 season, Vizquel had established himself as one of the finest shortstops of his era and earned the first three of his 11 Gold Glove Awards.

He followed Luis Aparicio and Dave Concepcion in a long line of outstanding Venezuelan shortstops. Click here to see a short video from Vizquel talking about his fellow countryman who played his position.

Slick-fielding shortstop Omar Vizquel finished his 24-year big league career with an MLB-record 1,734 double plays, 144 more than second-place Ozzie Smith. The 11-time Gold Glover has a strong case for Cooperstown.

In the collection is this lineup card filled out and singed by former Indians manager Mike Hargrove. In this, his 812th game, Vizquel’s Cleveland squad squared off against the Mariners at the Seattle Kingdome. Vizquel turned two double plays, tallied his 698th hit and scored 317th run.

For his career, the shortstop had 2,877 hits, 1,445 runs in 2,968 regular season games. Vizquel also set the record for games at his position. Will it be enough for Vizquel to gain induction into the Hall of Fame?

CooperstownExpert.com asked Omar Vizquel about his Venezuela homeland’s ability to produce great shortstops. Click here to see what the 11-time Gold Glover has to say.

Vizquel specifically mentions two of his countrymen specifically, Hall of Famer Luis Aparacio and the Big Red Machine’s Davey Concepcion. Venezuela is a hotbed for big league talent, producing 428 major leaguers as of the start of the 2021 season.

The trio of shortstops combined for 25 Gold Glove Awards and 7,880 base hits. Vizquel was more than happy to offer his opinions and add to the website.