Former Italian / American Player: Jason Canizaro (1996-2003)

Jason Kyle Canizaro was born on July 4th, 1973 in Beaumont Texas. The five foot nine right hand hitting infielder, attended Oklahoma State University getting drafted in the 4th round of the 1993 draft by the San Francisco Giants.

He made his debut in April 1996 getting called up for one game, three different times before staying up from August 3rd through the end of the season. He was used to back up Mark Scarsone at second base, in 43 games he batted .200. He would spend the next two years in the minors, before returning to the big leagues in 1999.

In that time he told an ESPN reporter how much he's seen Bobby Bonds baloon up & show all signs of being a steroid user. He later denied the accusations & admitted he was scared, when MLB began a crackdown on the issue. In April of 2000 he was released by the Giants & got signed by the Minnesota Twins.

Canizaro was the Twins main second baseman that year, as the team finished fifth (69-93). This was two years before they went on to win three straight AL Central titles. It was Canizaro's best year, batting .269 with 21 doubles 7 HRs 40 RBIs & a .318 on base %.

An injury cost him the entire 2001 season & pretty much ended his career. In 2002 he played in just 38 games with Minnesota, as Luis Rivas took over second base duties. He signed with Tampa in 2003 but only played 26 games at the minor league level.

In a four year career Canizaro batted .250 with 149 hits 35 doubles three triples 10 HRs 68 RBIs & .303 on base %. He played 159 games at second base (.981 fielding %) 8 games at third base & 7 games at short.