Juan González (baseball)
Juan Alberto González Vázquez (born October 20, 1969) is a Puerto Rican former baseball outfielder. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams, but is most identified with the Texas Rangers, for whom he played from 1989 to 1999 and again from 2002 to 2003. One of the premier run producers and most feared hitters of the 1990s and early 2000s, González hit over 40 home runs five times and amassed at least 100 runs batted in (RBI) eight times. He also had a batting average of .310 or higher in five seasons.
| Juan González | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Outfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born: October 20, 1969 Vega Baja, Puerto Rico | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| September 1, 1989, for the Texas Rangers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 31, 2005, for the Cleveland Indians | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .295 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 434 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 1,404 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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In his career as a whole, González averaged 42 home runs, 135 RBI, 81 extra-base hits, and 353 total bases per 162 games, placing him well within the top ten all-time in these season-adjusted statistics.
González was known as a line drive hitter, not a fly-ball home run hitter, as were many power hitters of the 1990s. He was a full-time player at the age of 21 and a two-time Most Valuable Player before his 30th birthday. González explained his propensity for bringing runners home by saying, "I concentrate more when I see men on base."