One of top defensive shortstops in baseball history comes to National League for 1st time, inking free agent deal with San Francisco Nov. 14, 2004...brings golden resume to senior circuit, as 3-time All-Star and 9-time Gold Glove winner owns best fielding pct. in Major League history among shortstops who have played at least 1,000 games at position, amassing .983 lifetime mark over 15 big league seasons...9 Gold Glove awards are tied with Luis Aparacio for 2nd most all-time among shortstops, behind only Ozzie Smith's 13...captured top defensive honor 9 consecutive years from 1993-2001, longest Gold Glove streak for American League shortstop since award's inception in 1957...has logged 2,125 games at short, most among active players and 10th most in baseball annals...owns 2 of 4 best fielding seasons ever by ML shortstop, leading AL with .99537 mark (3 errors, 680 total chances) in 2000 and .993 pct. (5e, 720tc) in 1998...matched Cal Ripken, Jr.'s all-time shortstop records for fewest errors in full season (3 in 2000) and consecutive errorless games (95 from 1999-00)...both marks have since been passed by Mike Bordick...enters 2005 campaign riding 55-game errorless streak, dating back to July 25, 2004...switch-hitter is multi-faceted offensive threat, as career .275 hitter (2,147-for-7,819) is only 19th active player to record 2,000 career hits...also ranks 10th among active players with 318 career stolen bases (in 447 attempts)...disciplined batsman owns lifetime .341 on-base pct., while he has walked only 9 less times than he has struck out (785bb, 794so)...has come into his own offensively during latter stages in career, as over past 10 seasons, he has hit better than .280 on 6 occasions, has crested 50-RBI plateau in 8 campaigns, and has logged 6 years with at least 20 thefts...121 sacrifice hits since 1995 are most among any ML position player over span, as no other player has totaled 100 (Jose Vizcaino is 2nd with 83)...originally signed by Seattle as free agent in 1984, saw big league action with Mariners from 1989-93 before making 11 straight Opening Day starts at shortstop for Cleveland (1994-2004)...leaves Indians as franchise leader with 62 sacrifice flies, while ranking 2nd with 279 steals, 2nd with 1,472 games played as shortstop, 5th with 5,708 at-bats, 6th with 906 runs scored and 7th with 1,616 hits.

GO Omar!