Jhonny Peralta, Dominican-American baseball player
Jhonny Antonio Peralta (born May 28, 1982) is a Dominican former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). The Cleveland Indians signed him as an amateur free agent in his native Dominican Republic in 1999, and he made his major league debut for the Indians on June 12, 2003. He subsequently played for the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals. A solid hitter with power, Peralta has rated average defensively. He throws and bats right-handed, stands 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m), and weighs 225 pounds (102 kg).
Peralta was the 2004 Indians Minor League Player of the Year as well as the International League Most Valuable Player for one of Cleveland's minor league affiliates, the Buffalo Bisons, after batting .326 with 44 doubles, 15 home runs and 86 runs batted in. Buffalo was also the International League champion that same season.
Each year from 2005 through 2015, Peralta reached at least 100 hits, and double figures in both home runs and doubles. He is a three-time MLB All-Star selection. He set single-season home run records for shortstops for two franchises – for the Indians in 2005, and the Cardinals in 2014. While a member of the Tigers in 2013, he served a 50-game suspension for his role in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug scandal. In 2017 he signed with the Boston Red Sox, but was released less than a month later without having played in a game for the team.