Juan Gonzalez

Played For
Texas Rangers (1989-1999)
Detroit Tigers (2000)
Cleveland Indians (2001)
Texas Rangers (2002-2003)
Kansas City Royals (2004)
Cleveland Indians (2005)

Best Season: 1996
Won his first MVP Award, batting .314/.643/.368 with 47 homers and 144 RBI in 134 games. The Rangers won their first division title, and Gonzalez slugged five homers in four playoff games.

Factoids
Slugger Juan Gonzalez hit eight homers in 15 post-season games, but his teams never won a playoff series.

Born
Juan Alberto (Vazquez) Gonzalez was born on October 20, 1969, in Arecibo

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Primary Position:  DH

Primary Team:  TEX

Major League Debut
September 1, 1989 ... Gonzalez entered the game replacing center fielder Cecil Espy in the fifth inning. In his first at-bat he struck out against Tom Gordon.

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1989
Steve Finley
Todd Zeile
John Olerud
Sammy Sosa
Omar Vizquel
Ken Griffey Jr.
Juan Gonzalez
Albert Belle
Jim Abbott

Nicknames
Juan Gone, Igor

Related Players
Pudge Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez

Post-Season Appearances
1996 American League Divisional Series
1998 American League Divisional Series
1999 American League Divisional Series
2001 American League Divisional Series

Post-Season Notes
In his first post-season game - Game One of the 1996 AL Division Series - Gonzalez belted a three-run, go-ahead homer against the Yankees, in a game Texas eventually won. The next night he hit a homer to stake the Rangers to an early lead, and added a three-run shot to give the Rangers a 4-1 lead. The Rangers lost in 12 innings. In Game Three, he tied the game with a solo blast, but the Yankees won 3-2, scoring two runs in the ninth. In Game Four, he went deep again, but the Rangers lost the game and the series. Gonzalez's five homers in the four-game series were an LDS record.

Awards and Honors
1996 AL MVP
1998 AL MVP

Feats
Gonzalez hit three homers in a game three times: June 7, 1992; August 28, 1993; and September 24, 1999... On June 17, 1993, Gonzalez drove in eight runs against the Angels, going 4-for-4 with a double and a grand slam.

Milestones
On June 5, 2002, hit his 400th career home run, off Jarrod Washburn of the Angels, in Anaheim... Collected his 300th homer on September 19, 1998, in Texas against the A's.

Milestones

• August 1, 1996: 200th HR...


• September 19, 1998: 300th HR...


• June 5, 2002: 400th HR... Off Jerrod Washburn

Notes
When Gonzalez played for Detroit in 2000, he complained about the cavernous dimensions of Comerica Park as much as he could. That season he had reason to be cranky: he hit .307 with 14 homers and a .545 SLG. At Detroit's new Comerica Park, he batted .267 with eight homers and a .461 SLG.

Hitting Streaks
21 games (1996)
21 games (1996)
20 games (1998)

Transactions
May 30, 1986: Signed by the Texas Rangers as an amateur free agent; November 2, 1999: Traded by the Texas Rangers with Danny Patterson and Gregg Zaun to the Detroit Tigers for Frank Catalanotto, Francisco Cordero, Bill Haselman, Gabe Kapler, Justin Thompson, and Alan Webb (minors); November 1, 2000: Granted Free Agency; January 9, 2001: Signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians; November 5, 2001: Granted Free Agency; January 8, 2002: Signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers; October 26, 2003: Granted Free Agency; January 6, 2004: Signed as a Free Agent with the Kansas City Royals; October 28, 2004: Granted Free Agency; January 11, 2005: Signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.

All-Star Selections
1993 AL
1998 AL
2001 AL

Best Strength as a Player
Power, driving in runs.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Focus on defense.

Learn More about Juan Gonzalez
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