BASEBALL PLAYERS from Venezuela

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Venezuelan Baseball Players of all time. This list of famous Venezuelan Baseball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Miguel Cabrera (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 38.97, Miguel Cabrera is the most famous Venezuelan Baseball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages on wikipedia.

José Miguel Cabrera Torres (born April 18, 1983), nicknamed "Miggy", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers. Debuting in 2003, he was a two-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) award winner, a four-time AL batting champion, and a 12-time MLB All-Star. Although he primarily played in left and right field before 2006, he spent the majority of his major league career at first and third base. He claimed the 17th MLB Triple Crown in 2012, the first to do so in 45 seasons. Cabrera is one of three players in MLB history to have a career batting average above .300, 500 home runs, and 3,000 hits, joining Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. Cabrera is regarded as one of the greatest hitters of all time. At 16 years old, Cabrera was signed by Tigres de Aragua of the Venezuelan Winter League, where recorded his first hit as a professional in December 1999. Cabrera was signed in 1999 as an amateur free agent by the Florida Marlins, and progressed through their minor league system. He made his MLB debut in mid-2003 at the age of 20, and contributed to the Marlins' World Series victory later that year. Over the next four seasons, Cabrera was a regular player for the Marlins before being traded to the Detroit Tigers before the 2008 season. In 2012, Cabrera became the first player since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 to win the batting Triple Crown, leading the AL with a .330 batting average, 44 home runs, and 139 runs batted in (RBI), earning him the AL MVP award that year. In the first half of 2013, Cabrera was on pace to shatter his numbers from his prior Triple Crown season. He became the first player to ever reach 30 home runs and 90 RBIs before the all-star break and was on pace to bat .366 with 53 home runs and 167 RBIs at that time. However, injuries plagued much of the latter half of the season and both his performance and playing time were reduced as a result. Overall, Cabrera still improved on his previous year's batting performance, including a career-high .348 batting average, and received his second consecutive AL MVP award. Cabrera won four AL batting titles, including three in consecutive years (2011–2013), and batted over .300 in 11 different seasons. He hit 30 or more home runs in ten separate seasons and drove in over 100 runs in 12 separate seasons (including 11 consecutive seasons, 2004–2014). Cabrera is the all-time leader in career home runs and hits by a Venezuelan player, surpassing Andrés Galarraga and Omar Vizquel respectively. He joined the 500 home run club in 2021 and the 3,000 hit club in 2022; he was the seventh player in MLB history to reach both milestones. Cabrera retired after the 2023 season and will continue working with the Tigers' organization as a special assistant to the president of baseball operations.

2. José Altuve (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 33.57, José Altuve is the 2nd most famous Venezuelan Baseball Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Jose Carlos Altuve (Spanish pronunciation: [alˈtuβe]; born May 6, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). Having played for the Astros since 2011, he is the longest-tenured current member of the team, and the only one to have been with the Astros since they were in the National League. Altuve is widely regarded as one of the greatest Astros in franchise history, and one of the best second basemen of all time. On the international stage, he has represented the Venezuelan national team in the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics (WBC). His .306 career batting average is the highest of any active player. Born and raised in Maracay, Venezuela, Altuve was signed by the Astros as an amateur free agent in 2007, and he made his major league debut in 2011. He is the shortest active MLB player, at 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m), and his listed weight is 166 pounds (75 kg). Altuve quickly established himself as a premier contact hitter; from 2014 to 2017, Altuve recorded at least 200 hits each season (with his 225 hits in 2014 being an Astros record), leading the American League in the category each year, and won three batting championships (becoming the first Astro to win a batting title) in that span. In 2014, he became the first player in over 80 years to reach 130 hits and 40 stolen bases before the All-Star Game. He has also won seven Silver Slugger Awards, tied for the most all-time by a second baseman, and one Gold Glove. In 2017, he won the AL Most Valuable Player Award and the Hank Aaron Award, and won the 2017 World Series with the Astros. In the same year, Altuve was Sports Illustrated's co-Sportsperson of the Year with J. J. Watt of the NFL's Houston Texans for helping to lead relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Other awards Altuve received in 2017 were the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year (making him the fifth player to be selected in consecutive years), and Baseball America's Major League Player of the Year. After hitting a walk-off home run to win the 2019 American League Championship Series, Altuve was awarded his first ALCS MVP, and would later win the 2022 World Series with the Astros. Although Altuve has received criticism for the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal, later reports have indicated that Altuve did not participate in the scheme. Altuve's nine MLB All-Star selections are the most for an Astro, and he has been voted the starting second baseman in the All-Star Game six times, an achievement accomplished only by two other players in that position in American League history. He has twice led the AL in stolen bases. As part of an era that has seen the Astros win two World Series titles and four pennants in six seasons, Altuve has become one of the most voluminous postseason hitters in history; through the 2024 postseason, he ranks second all-time in postseason home runs (27), second in runs scored (89), third in hits (118), sixth in games played (105), and seventh in RBIs (56); ten of his home runs were go-ahead home runs (three in the ninth inning), the most in postseason history. He had 31 games with four hits from 2011 to 2021, the most among any player in that span in MLB, and he also has the most 3+ hit games in MLB since 2011 with over 200.

3. Johan Santana (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 33.44, Johan Santana is the 3rd most famous Venezuelan Baseball Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Johan Alexander Santana Araque (; born March 13, 1979) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball starting pitcher. Santana pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins from 2000 to 2007 and for the New York Mets from 2008 to 2012. A two-time Cy Young Award winner with the Twins, Santana is a four-time All-Star and earned a pitching triple crown in 2006. On June 1, 2012, Santana pitched the first no-hitter in New York Mets history against the St. Louis Cardinals.