Tejada Tells Team He’s 33, Not 31

PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada told the team he’s actually 33, two years older than he’s listed in the club’s media guide and other baseball records after being shown a copy of his birth certificate by ESPN.

Saying he wanted to rid himself of a burden, Tejada approached general manager Ed Wade and asked to correct misinformation he gave the Oakland Athletics when he signed in 1993.

“I was a poor kid,” Tejada said before the Astros finished a three-game series against the Phillies on Thursday. “I wanted to sign a professional contract, and that was the only way to do it. I didn’t want or mean to do anything wrong. At the time, I was two years older than they thought.”

Tejada was actually 19 when he signed out of poverty-stricken Bani, Dominican Republic. At the time, he says, a local coach encouraged him to say he was 17.

ESPN said it showed Tejada a copy of his birth certificate from the Dominican Republic during an interview Tuesday. Tejada said at the start of the interview that he was born in 1976. After he was shown the birth certificate, he walked out of the interview, saying: “Right now I just play baseball bro’. I just play baseball, and I don’t have to be here to talk about this.”

“It was brought to our attention that the date we carry for Tejada, the year of birth, is incorrect,” Wade said. “We told Miguel we were going to go ahead and make the appropriate changes and all the information was put forward. But the fact of the matter is he’s playing like he was 25.”

The former American League MVP was signed out of the Dominican Republic by Hall of Famer Juan Marichal, but he was clear Marichal had no part in the deception. Moreover, Wade and Tejada both said the shortstop’s green card, driver’s license and other legal papers in the United States reflect his actual birthday, May 25, 1974.

The Astros’ media guide lists his birthday as May 25, 1976.

“It’s something that happened the first time I signed my contract,” Tejada said. “I had no intention of doing anything wrong. And now I feel like I’m 25 years old, maybe younger. I feel my legs are stronger than I used to be feeling. I feel great. I have a lot of energy.”