Outfielder, Texas
Rangers
Age: 28
9th season
with Rangers
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’3” Weight: 175
Prior to 1998:
A native of
Puerto Rico, the lanky Gonzalez drew attention while playing youth baseball and
signed with the Rangers as a 16-year-old in 1986. He appeared in 60 games that
year in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and hit .240. Gonzalez moved on to
Gastonia of the Class A South Atlantic League in 1987 where he produced 21
doubles, 14 home runs, and 74 RBIs with a .265 batting average over the course
of 127 games. In 1988 he was with Port Charlotte of the Class A Florida State
League and hit .256 with 8 home runs and 43 RBIs in 77 games. Gonzalez moved up
to the Tulsa Drillers of the Class AA Texas League in 1989 where he improved to
.293 with 30 doubles, 21 home runs, and 85 RBIs while leading the league with
254 total bases. He was named to the Texas League All-Star team for his
performance. He also received a late-season call-up to the Rangers where he
batted only .150 in 24 games but hit his first major league home run. Gonzalez
was with the Oklahoma City 89ers of the Class AAA American Association in 1990,
where he hit .258 with 29 home runs and 101 RBIs (the home run and RBI totals
led the league). Named MVP of the American Association, Gonzalez received
another call-up to the Rangers and batted .289 with 4 home runs and 12 RBIs in
25 games. Sticking with Texas in 1991, despite struggling with a back injury,
he split his time between center and left fields and hit .264 with 27 home runs
and 102 RBIs. A line-drive hitter with power, Gonzalez, regularly playing
center field in 1992, led the AL with 43 home runs and also compiled 109 RBIs
and batted .260. “Juan-Gone” topped the league in home runs once again in 1993
with 46 to go along with 118 RBIs and a .310 batting average while also leading
the AL with a .632 slugging percentage. He was an All-Star for the first time
and placed fourth in league MVP balloting. In the strike-shortened 1994 season,
while adjusting to The Ballpark in Arlington, Gonzalez dropped to 19 home runs
and 85 RBIs with a .275 average. In an injury-plagued 1995 season, he appeared
in 90 games, primarily as a Designated Hitter, and slugged 27 home runs with 82
RBIs and a .295 average. In 1996 he was utilized in right field, his natural
position, although he was not an exceptional fielder. Gonzalez was the league
MVP in ‘96 as the Rangers won their first division title in franchise history.
He batted .314 with 47 home runs and 144 RBIs. In the NLDS loss to the Yankees
he hit .438 with 5 home runs and 9 RBIs. He missed the first 24 games of the
1997 season due to a thumb injury but still had another strong year at bat by
hitting 42 home runs with 131 RBIs and a .296 average.
1998 Season Summary
Appeared in 154
games
RF – 116, DH – 38,
PH – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 669
At Bats – 606
[15]
Runs – 110 [11]
Hits – 193 [6]
Doubles – 50
[1]
Triples – 2
Home Runs – 45
[4, tied with Manny Ramirez]
RBI – 157 [1]
Bases on Balls
– 46
Int. BB – 9 [6,
tied with four others]
Strikeouts – 126
[11]
Stolen Bases – 2
Caught Stealing
– 1
Average - .318
[10]
OBP - .366
Slugging Pct. -
.630 [2]
Total Bases – 382
[4]
GDP – 20 [3,
tied with Nomar Garciaparra]
Hit by Pitches
– 6
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 11
[3, tied with Frank Thomas & Paul O’Neill]
League-leading
doubles were +2 ahead of runner-up Albert Belle
League-leading
RBIs were +5 ahead of runner-up Albert Belle
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 26, RBI - 101, AVG - .293, SLG – .590
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 5 AB) at Detroit 8/31
Longest hitting
streak – 20 games
HR at home – 21
HR on road – 24
Most home runs,
game – 2 on six occasions
Multi-home run
games – 6
Most RBIs, game
– 7 at Detroit 8/31
Pinch-hitting –
0 of 1 (.000)
Fielding
Chances – 225
Put Outs – 213
Assists – 8
Errors – 4
DP – 2
Pct. - .982
Postseason: 3 G
(ALDS vs. NY Yankees)
PA – 12, AB – 12,
R – 1, H – 1, 2B – 1, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 0, BB – 0, IBB – 0, SO – 3, SB – 0,
CS – 0, AVG - .083, OBP - .083, SLG - .167, TB – 2, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF
– 0
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
Silver Slugger
All-Star
(Started for AL in RF)
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Juan Gonzalez,
Tex.: 357 pts. - 21 of 28 first place votes, 91% share
Nomar
Garciaparra, Bos.: 232 pts. – 5 first place votes, 59% share
Derek Jeter,
NYY: 180 pts. – 2 first place votes, 46% share
Ken Griffey Jr,
Sea.: 135 pts. – 34% share
Mo Vaughn, Bos.:
135 pts. – 34% share
---
Rangers went 88-74
to finish first in the AL Western Division by 3 games over the Anaheim Angels
while leading the league in hits (1637) and batting (.289). The Rangers, who
were at or near the top of the AL West throughout the season faced off with the
Angels five times in the final two weeks, winning all of the games, to take
control of the division race. Lost ALDS to the New York Yankees, 3 games to 0.
Aftermath of ‘98:
The numbers
dropped to 39 home runs with 128 RBIs and a .326 average in 1999, following
which he was traded to the Detroit Tigers as part of a nine-player deal.
Bothered by a foot injury and playing home games at spacious Comerica Park,
Gonzalez had a down year in 2000, hitting just 22 home runs with 67 RBIs and a
.289 average. He still received a one-year, $10 million contract to join the
Cleveland Indians in 2001. He hit .325 with 35 home runs and 140 RBIs and was
voted to the All-Star Game as well as placing fifth in league MVP balloting and
receiving a Silver Slugger. In the offseason he signed a two-year, $24 million
contract to return to the Rangers. Gonzalez suffered through an injury plagued
2002 season in which he was limited to 70 games and hit just 8 home runs and
his 2003 season was cut short by a leg injury that held him to 24 home runs and
70 RBIs in 82 games. Moving on to the Kansas City Royals as a free agent in
2004, Gonzalez played in 33 games due to a bad back and ended up with a mere 5
home runs and 17 RBIs. He signed with Cleveland in 2005 but appeared in only
one game. Thus ended his major league career, despite getting a feeler from the
St. Louis Cardinals to attempt a comeback in 2008. He did play in 36 games for
the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League in 2006, hitting 6
home runs and batting .323. Overall for his major league career Gonzalez batted
.295 with 1936 hits that included 388 doubles, 25 triples, and 434 home runs.
He also compiled 1404 RBIs. With Texas he batted .293 with 320 doubles, 21
triples, and 372 home runs, and knocked in 1180 runs as well. Appearing in 15
postseason games, Gonzalez hit .290 with 8 home runs and 15 RBIs. He was a
three-time All-Star as well as two-time AL MVP and six-time Silver Slugger
Award recipient. Gonzalez was elected to the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in
2015, but his legacy has been clouded by allegations of steroid use during his
career.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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