Athletes - Omar Infante

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	Athletes - Omar Infante

Omar Infante (born December 26, 1981 in Anzoátegui State, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball second baseman who plays for the Detroit Tigers (2002-present). He bats and throws right-handed.

In a three-year career, Infante is a .259 hitter with 17 home runs and 69 RBI in 229 games.

In 2004, any chance Infante had of competing for a starting job with the Tigers went out the window when the club acquired All-Star Carlos Guillén. With Guillén at shortstop and Fernando Viña at second base, Infante was likely to spend much of the season in the minors. Then he received an opportunity in mid-May to play every day at second base when Viña was sidelined for the year by a hamstring injury. He responded by playing solid defense and hitting .264 with 16 home runs and 55 RBI in 142 games.

Infante's potential is unlimited. With his quick hands, Infante can turn on a fastball and pull it with power. He is a conservative, but smart baserunner, with an above-average speed and he's still learning to use it on the bases. As a fielder, he has sure hands with an above-average arm and excellent range. He also is a very solid glove man at shortstop, third base and center field.

Infante has grown more comfortable, perhaps because he's been working so closely with Guillén, a fellow Venezuelan who has acted like a mentor, and the two have developed a nice chemistry as a double play combination around second base.

According to the Detroit News (October 4, 2004), Tigers manager Alan Trammell said Infante will enter the 2005 season as the starting second baseman, regardless of the status of Viña, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner and All-Star. However, when the Tigers acquired Placido Polanco from Philadelphia in June 2005, Infante has once again been relegated to a utility role off the bench.

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