| Izzy Alcántara | |
| Position: | Outfielder |
| Bats: | Right |
| Throws: | Right |
| Born: | 6 May 1971 |
| Birthplace: | Baní, Dominican Republic |
| Debutdate: | June 25 |
| Debutteam: | Boston Red Sox |
| Finaldate: | August 22 |
| Finalteam: | Milwaukee Brewers |
| Stat1label: | Batting average |
| Stat1value: | .270 |
| Stat2label: | Home runs |
| Stat2value: | 6 |
| Stat3label: | Runs batted in |
| Stat3value: | 15 |
| Teams: | |
Israel Cristostomo "Izzy" Alcántara (born May 6, 1971 in Baní, Dominican Republic) is a former Major League Baseball player for the Boston Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers.
Alcántara was signed as an amateur free agent by the Montreal Expos in 1990. In the minor leagues, Alcantara was very successful, with at least 27 home runs and an OPS of .940 or higher in each of his seasons from 1997 to 2001. He led the International League in home runs twice, with 36 in 2001 and 27 in 2002. His OPS of 1.023 in 2000 was the best in the International League.
Alcántara's minor league success did not carry over to the little time he spent in the Major Leagues. Indeed, his career is one of the best examples proving the rule of The Peter Principal barrier between AAA and MLB. He played two years for the Boston Red Sox, debuting in the Major Leagues on June 25, 2000. That season, he hit .289 with four home runs in 45 at bats. Despite some success at the plate, Alcántara quickly found himself deep on the Red Sox bench after irking Boston manager Jimy Williams by a perceived lack of hustle during a game against the Chicago White Sox. For a time, Williams refused to play Alcántara despite general manager Dan Duquette's insistence the outfielder be put in the lineup of a team that was probably the weakest Red Sox offering of the decade by a substantial margin. Subsequent history proved beyond any reasonable doubt that Williams' view was the more perceptive.
In , Alcántara's average declined to .263 with no home runs in 38 at bats.
Alcántara is most remembered for an incident while he was playing with the Pawtucket Red Sox, Boston's AAA affiliate of the International League. On July 3, 2001, after being brushed back by Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons pitcher Blas Cedeño, Alcántara turned around, kicking catcher Jeremy Salazar, karate-style, in the mask before charging the mound, throwing a punch at Cedeño and missing before turning around and looking for other players to fight and being tackled by Kevin Orie. The incident cost Alcántara a six-game suspension and his spot on the International League's All Star squad.[1]
Before the season, he was signed as a free agent by the Milwaukee Brewers, where he hit .250 with 2 home runs in 32 at bats. His final Major League game was on August 22, 2002 and he was released by the team after that season.
He briefly played for Uni-President Lions of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League in , but was released for reasons never fully explained by the management.
In 2005, Alcántara also played four games for the New Jersey Jackals of the independent Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball.[2]