Carlos Juan Delgado Hernández (born June 25, 1972) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player and coach.

He was also a two-time AL All-Star player and a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner during his tenure with the Blue Jays.

Delgado holds the Major League Baseball record for career home runs by a Puerto Rican player with 473.

Delgado has expressed his strong feelings of pride in being an Aguadillano, noting everything he holds dear is found in the municipality, and his off-season house is located there.

[3] At the age of 16, several major league organizations including the Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, and Toronto Blue Jays saw his potential and attempted to sign him.

[7] Before the 1993 season, he was named the number 4 prospect in the minor leagues by Baseball America and was promoted to the Double-A Knoxville Smokies.

[5][8] As a September call-up, he made his major league debut on October 1, 1993, drawing a walk in his first career plate appearance.

[10] Originally a catcher, Delgado played in left field for the Blue Jays in 1994 and 1995,[4] before switching to first base, where he became one of the most productive sluggers in the major leagues.

[11] In the 2003 season, Delgado hit 42 home runs and led the Majors with 145 RBI, while batting .302; he finished second to Alex Rodriguez for the AL MVP Award.

[12][13] Following the 2004 season, Delgado became a free agent, and was pursued by the Baltimore Orioles, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers.

[15][16] He made a successful transition to the National League, with a .301 batting average, .399 on-base percentage, 33 home runs, and 115 RBI in 2005.

On November 23, 2005, the Marlins sent Delgado and $7 million to the New York Mets for Mike Jacobs, Yusmeiro Petit, and Grant Psomas.

At season's end, with Delgado was tied with Duke Snider with 407 career home runs,[18] 41st most in MLB history at the time.

[20] Delgado ended the season tied with Cal Ripken Jr. for 37th place on the all-time career home run list with 431.

On June 15, 2008, Delgado broke Juan González's record for most runs batted in by a Puerto Rican player.

[31] Delgado was the first Major League player to hit a home run into the Pepsi Porch at Citi Field on April 8, 2009.

[34] The Mets reported the next day that the surgery was successful and Delgado would be out for approximately ten weeks, which would delay his quest for 500 home runs.

Although Delgado had reportedly received interest from MLB clubs, including the Mets and Marlins, he felt pain in his hip and decided to undergo the second surgery to be better prepared for the coming season.

[5][40] On April 13, 2011, Delgado officially announced, while in San Juan, Puerto Rico, his retirement from professional baseball after 17 MLB seasons.

[45] His role on the Puerto Rican squad was much more prominent at the 2009 World Baseball Classic, where he slashed .438/.625/.938 in 16 plate appearances.

In the 2004 season, Delgado protested the war by silently staying in the dugout during the playing of "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch.

Delgado does not make a public show of his beliefs, and even his teammates were not aware of his views until a story was published in July 2004 in the Toronto Star.

In 2006, he joined Puerto Rico's Senate President in co-sponsoring a Three Kings gift-giving effort in the town of Loíza.

Delgado taught a class on Athletic Mental Training and Health at the Ramon Power y Giralt School in the Luis Llorens Torres public housing complex.

[55] The award goes to the player in baseball who best exemplifies humanitarianism and sportsmanship, and was named after Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente in 1973.

Prior to the 2008 season of the Puerto Rico Baseball League, Delgado was involved in an initiative to provide economic help to the Indios de Mayagüez team.