Back in the glory days of video game baseball (read: MVP 2005), Jose Vidro was a favorite target of mine when trying to upgrade my Cub franchise. At the time, the pudgy, switch-hitting second baseman was under-appreciated by a virtual Omar Minaya, and could be had at cents on the dollar. Perhaps Vidro was the apple of my eye because he was a truly talented and under-appreciated player. Or perhaps I was just used to watching the 54th biggest Cub Killer of My Time destroy my own team.
Jose Angel (Cetty) Vidro was born on August 27, 1974, in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. As you may be aware, there’s one thing the French are known for, and that’s their ability to scout middle infielders out of Puerto Rico. As such, the Montreal Expos drafted Vidro in the 6th round of the 1992 amateur draft. “Who did the Cubs draft in rounds one through five instead of Vidro?” you ask (the Dodgers had the Cubs’ second-round pick). None other than Derek Wallace (RHP), Brant Brown (1B), Brandon Pico (OF), and Ryan Wilson (C). “Who?” you once again ask, your brow furrowing. It doesn’t matter.
Vidro made his Major League debut in Olympic Stadium on June 8, 1997, against the Cubs. Vidro pinch hit in the bottom of the 7th inning for (shudder) Dave Veres with the Expos trailing Steve Trachsel and the Cubs 4-2. In what would be a sign of things to come, Vidro lined a 1-2 Trachsel pitch into the left center field gap for a double. He would come around to score on a two-out Mark Grudzielanek base hit to cut the Cubs’ lead to 4-3. If you’re wondering whether Terry Adams came into the bottom of the 9th and gave up back-to-back doubles to F.P. Santangelo and Mike Lansing to lose the game 5-4, you have a childlike sense of wonderment. He did.
After playing parts of 10 seasons with the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals, Vidro was traded with cash to the Seattle Mariners for Emiliano Fruto and Chris Snelling. Vidro played his last two seasons with the Seattle Mariners before being released in August of 2008. He is still technically a free agent, and is certainly more useful than Aaron Miles. So is a laundry basket full of foreskins.
In his twelve seasons in the MLB, Vidro posted a .310/.369/.486 line against the Cubs. The second baseman’s slugging percentage jumped 40 points over his career average whenever he faced the Northsiders.
But forget the damage he did to the team when wearing an opposing uniform. Vidro’s worst crime against the Cubs was his failure to hit .280 for my virtual 2004 Cubs. Thanks a lot, Jose.
Why You Should Hate Him: Vidro never really had one signature standout game against the Cubs. Rather, he was a consistent thorn in the side of the Cub pitching staff. However, if you’re looking for an infuriating Vidro game, look no further than Opening Day of the 2001 season. The Expos were in town for a terrific pitching matchup of Javier Vazquez and Jon Lieber. Only two pitches into the 2001 season, the Cubs were down 2-0 thanks to a two-run home run by Vidro. The Cubs managed to erase a 4-1 Expo lead, but Mike Fyhrie and Todd Van Poppel managed to give up three straight 2-out singles in the top of the 10th to give the Expos a 5-4 lead that would be preserved by the grace of a Todd Hundley swinging strikeout to end the game. At least the rest of the 2001 season wasn’t such a letdown.
Did You Know? If you played for the The Oscar Wildes (the official softball team of 826 Seattle) during the 2008 season and if you out-OPSed Jose Vidro, you could have earned yourself a free pint of beer. I’m sorry I’m only getting this information to you now.
