Ronald Douglas Correia (born September 13, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player who played parts of three seasons for the California Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB).
| Rod Correia | |
|---|---|
| Infielder | |
| Born: (1967-09-13) September 13, 1967 (age 54) Providence, Rhode Island | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 20, 1993, for the California Angels | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 16, 1995, for the California Angels | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .259 |
| Home runs | 0 |
| Hits | 43 |
| RBI | 12 |
| Teams | |
| |
Correia played baseball, basketball and football at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School in North Dighton, Massachusetts. As a senior baseball player, he hit over .500.[1] Correia played college baseball in NCAA Division III at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for three seasons. As a junior, he was named to the Division III All-American First Team.[2] He tied a NCAA record with four home runs in a single game.[1] In 1998, only two years after leaving the school, he was inducted into its athletics hall of fame.[2]
Correia was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 15th round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft[3] and assigned to the Southern Oregon A's to begin his professional career.[4] He played in the Oakland farm system until January 1992 when he was traded to the California Angels for a fellow minor leaguer.[5]
He was called up to the minors for the first time on June 20, 1993 when Angels infielder Damion Easley was placed on the disabled list.[6] He made his Major League debut that afternoon against the Chicago White Sox as a defensive replacement at shortstop for Gary DiSarcina.[5][7] Correia continued as a backup middle infielder for the Angels until DiSarcina suffered a season-ending injury in August.[8] For the remainder of the season, Correia served as the starting shortstop.[9]
In 1994, Correia was called up to the Majors for the first time on May 31 after Angels infielder Rex Hudler was placed on the disabled list.[10] Correia appeared in only six Major League games that season.[5]
On August 3, 1995, DiSarcina's thumb was broken by a pitch and he missed the remainder of the season.[11] Correia filled in for the injured DiSarcina briefly before the team chose to play Easley at shortstop and demote Correia to Triple-A.[12] His final Major League game came on September 16, 1995 at Anaheim Stadium.[5][13]
He spent the following two seasons in the farm systems of the St. Louis Cardinals, Athletics and Boston Red Sox.[4]