Juan Gonzalez

Juan Alberto Gonzalez Vazquez (October 20, 1969-) is a retired Major League Baseball outfielder who spent 17 years as a ballplayer, primarily for the Texas Rangers, where he became one of the game’s most powerful hitters in the 1990s. The Rangers signed Gonzalez as an amateur free agent, and he excelled in the minor leagues before joining the parent club. While with Texas (1989-1999, 2002-2003), he established himself as a premier performer at the plate. Debuting late in the 1989 season, Gonzalez hit only one home run with 7 RBIs his rookie year, but he began to excel after becoming an everyday player in 1991. Gonzalez exploded in 1992 with a league-leading 43 home runs, followed by another league-leading 46 homers in 1993 with a .632 slugging percentage. That same year he was elected to his first of three All-Star Games (1993, 1998, 2001) and was the Home Run Derby winner (1993). From 1995 to 1998, Gonzalez had 514 RBIs in 511 games, making him the first player since World War II to drive in a run per game for any four-year period. In 1998, he led the league in doubles (50) and RBIs (157) – reaching the 100 RBI mark before the All-Star Game. He rounded out his playing days with the Detroit Tigers (2000), Cleveland Indians (2001, 2005), and Kansas City Royals (2004). During his career, Gonzalez also collected six Silver Slugger Awards (1992-1993, 1996-1998, 2001) and was a two-time American League MVP (1996, 1998). He retired having appeared in 1,689 games with 1,061 runs, 1,936 hits, 434 home runs, 1,404 RBIs, and a .295 batting average.