March 19

1990 Upper Deck #503 - Ivan Calderon

On this day in 1962, Ivan Calderon was born.

Ivan came to the White Sox through a trade with the Seattle Mariners, as the player to be named later in 1986 for Scott Bradley. Ivan quickly established himself as a player to watch and he became a fan favorite. With regular playing time, Calderon's average climbed into the high two-hundreds with the South Siders. On December 23, 1990, Ivan was the key player in a trade with the Montreal Expos for Tim Raines.

Calderon was back with the White Sox on August 31, 1993, but was a shell of his former self as a player. He appeared in nine games and could only muster a .115 average. He was not placed on the post-season roster.

Ten years later, Ivan was facing the counter at "El Trompo" bar, a few blocks from his house, in Loíza, Puerto Rico, when he was shot six times in the back and once in the head on December 27, 2003 around 8 P.M. He was forty-one years old. The case remains unsolved.



White Sox March 19th birthdays:

1884 - Bobby Messenger
1908 - Gee Walker
1962 - Ivan Calderon