Kiko Calero

Enrique Nomar Calero, or Kiko Calero is a professional baseball player currently signed as relief pitcher for the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico on January 9, 1975.

Calero spent all of 2003 and most of 2004  playing for St. Louis Cardinals. He was with the team that won the National League title and played in the 2004 World Series. The next season he was traded along with Dan Haren and Daric Barton to the Oakland Athletics for Mark Mulder.

In 2009, Calero signed a minor league contract with the Florida Marlins. On April 4, he made the team and was added to the major league roster as a relief pitcher.

MLB Career

Originally, he was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 41st round (1142nd overall) of the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft, but Calero did not sign with the Tigers. Instead he waited until the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft, when he was picked in the 27th round (799th overall) by the Kansas City Royals out of St. Thomas University (Florida).

Mainly a starting pitcher in the Royals minor league organization, he spent 6 years at the Single-A and Double-A levels before finally reaching Triple-A Omaha in 2002. Calero was subsequently signed as a free agent by the St. Louis Cardinals. During his minor league career, Calero excelled for the Royals organization. In 1996, he finished fourth in the Single-A Northwest League in ERA. He was also named to the Texas League All Star team in 1997. Through 2000, Calero had 31 wins in a Wrangler uniform and worked as a reliever in 2001 after 105 starts.

Calero spent all of 2003 and most of 2004 in the majors. He played all but one game as a reliever. He was a member of the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals' team that went on to win the National League title and played in the 2004 World Series. After the 2004 season, Calero was traded from the Cardinals along with starting pitcher Dan Haren and top-hitting prospect Daric Barton to the Oakland Athletics for Mark Mulder. The trade was initially viewed as a win for St. Louis, as Mulder was considered one of the best pitchers in the American League, but based on Calero and Haren's extremely productive 2005 and 2006 seasons, and Mulder's poor 2006 season and shortened 2007 season due to shoulder surgery, the trade is widely seen as a coup in Oakland. After being designated for assignment and released by the Athletics, Calero signed with the Texas Rangers on July 4, 2008. The Rangers signed Calero to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Oklahoma, where he spent the rest of the season.


Overseas Career

Calero has also played on several other teams. He played from 1996 to 2000 with the Indios de Mayaguez (Mayaguez Indians) in the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League. During those years, he went on to win two national titles and three participations on the Serie del Caribe. In 1996, Calero was named Rookie of the Year, and he also was selected to participate on three all-star games, during his playing year with the Indios de Mayaguez. Kiko also played on the MLB team at the Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series played in Japan in 2004. He was also a member of the 2006 Puerto Rico national baseball team at the World Baseball Classic.

Calero is well-known and very popular in Puerto Rico. He has a street named after him, on a little part of Rio Piedras called Fair View, where Calero grew up and played Little League ball. Calero is married to a woman named Carola Rodriguez and they have one child. He lives in Caguas, Puerto Rico during the offseason and during the MLB season in Oakland, California.