Fernando Vina Biography
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- Born April 16, 1969
A National League All-Star in 1998, ViΓ±a was a two-time Gold Glove winner (2001-2002). He was limited to 29 games for the Tigers: a serious leg injury ended his first season with Detroit, and ViΓ±a missed the entire 2005 season because of a strained right hamstring and patellar tendinitis in his left knee. Many believe ViΓ±a concealed the extent of prior injuries from the Tigers in order to obtain a lucrative contract from them, but his signing was the first of several major acquisitions that led to the Tigers\' resurrection to a playoff contender[citation needed].\n', '
In 2006, ViΓ±a was invited to spring training by the Seattle Mariners but was cut before the start of the season due to a labrum tear in his right hip, in effect bringing an end to his 12-year career. ViΓ±a retired with a .282 batting average, 40 home runs and 343 RBI in 1148 games played. In 2007, ViΓ±a joined ESPN as an analyst for Baseball Tonight to do about 60 shows during the 2007, 2008, and 2009 seasons. He was inducted into the Arizona State Hall of Fame in 2011 and Milwaukee Brewers Wall of Honor in 2014.Hit the 1st inside the park homerun ever in both AT&T Park and Miller Park.\n', '
On December 13, 2007, ViΓ±a was mentioned in the Mitchell Report in connection with steroid use. The report cited an interview with former Mets clubhouse attendant Derek Sprang, who claimed ViΓ±a purchased anabolic steroids from him six to eight times between 2000 and 2005. The two first met in 1993 when ViΓ±a was in the Mets minor league system, and indeed ViΓ±a\'s personal contact information was listed in Radomski\'s address book seized by federal agents investigating Radomski. Three checks from ViΓ±a to Kirk Radomski for purchases of HGH and steroids were included in the Mitchell Report itself as further evidence of ViΓ±a\'s steroid use. ViΓ±a later confirmed during an airing of SportsCenter that he used HGH in 2003 to recover from injuries, but denied ever using steroids or purchasing them from Radomski.\n', '
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