Luis Gonzalez (baseball outfielder)
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Luis Emilio González (born September 3, 1967) (affectionately called Gonzo by many of his fans), is a baseball player for the Arizona Diamondbacks and plays left field. A Cuban-American, Gonzalez is one of the most popular players of Diamondbacks organization. He is a native of Tampa, Florida, but he and his family (which includes wife Christine and triplets Megan, Jacob and Alyssa) are residents of Scottsdale, Arizona.
González graduated from Jefferson High School in Tampa in 1985, attending the University of South Alabama. He earned Baseball America's All-Freshman Second Team honors while there. He was drafted by the Houston Astros in the fourth round of the 1988 amateur draft.
González broke in as a Major League Baseball player with the Astros in 1990, playing 12 games as a September call-up. He became the Astros primary left fielder in 1991 and played for the team until 1995, when he and Scott Servais were traded in mid-season to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for catcher Rick Wilkins. He came back to Houston in 1997 as a free agent, but was not re-signed and so played for the Detroit Tigers in 1998. He finally became a Diamondback when he was traded by Detroit to Arizona in December 1998 in exchange for Karim Garcia and cash.
During 1990 to 1998, González was a good but not distinguished player, and in short not yet putting up the kind of batting numbers expected of a star outfielder. His best year during that period was 1993, when his batting average was .300, with 162 hits, including 34 doubles and 15 home runs.
It was in Arizona that González became a star. He helped the Diamondbacks into title contention immediately, hitting a career-best .336 in 1999, leading the NL in hits with 206 and helping them win the National League's western division that season before the team fell to the New York Mets in a divisional playoff series. In 2000, the Diamondbacks came in second place in their division. He also blasted 31 home runs and cracked 192 hits.
In 2001, González astonished many when he hit 57 home runs, his personal best for one season and almost twice as many as he hit in any other season. The total is the second most in National League history for a left-handed batter (behind Barry Bonds's record 73, which also came in 2001). Gonzalez finished second in the NL in hits with 198. Gonzalez also won the Home Run Derby that year. The Diamondbacks reached the World Series that year, too. In a 2-2 tie in game 7, with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 9th inning, Gonzalez came to the plate. Yankee pitcher Mariano Rivera, the postseason's most feared closer, was the pitcher. Gonzalez swung at one of Rivera's pitches and blooped a single over shortshop Derek Jeter's head that won the World Series for Arizona.
On May 22, 2004, González got his 2,000th career hit in a game against the Florida Marlins. On April 18, 2006, he got his 500th career double, becoming the 21st player in Major League history to hit 500 doubles and 300 home runs. On May 13, 2006, he passed Babe Ruth for 38th place all-time for the most doubles hit in league history.
On June 15, 2006, The Arizona Republic printed a interview by reporter Reach Montini with Diamondback managing general partner Ken Kendrick. In the interview, Kendrick mentioned whispers of alleged steriod use by González; in the interview Kendrick never accused González of using performance enhancing drugs. [link] The interview came 8 days after Diamondback relief pitcher Jason Grimsley was released by the team after the team learned that federal agents had searched his home looking for evidence that he was a distributor of human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs. On June 16, 2006 an angry González called a press conference to deny that he had ever used steroids. [link]
Teams
- Houston Astros: 1990-1995, 1997
- Chicago Cubs: 1995-1996
- Detroit Tigers: 1998
- Arizona Diamondbacks: 1999-present
See also
External links
- Luis González at:
- *[Baseball Reference (career stats)]
- *[ESPN (profile and daily stats)]
- *[Luis González's Major and Minor League Statistics: The Baseball Cube]
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