On a 1993 Houston Astros team with two eventual Hall of Famers and several other heralded boppers, it’s hard to believe a fourth-round draft pick from South Alabama could’ve made a name for himself. But, for that one year, at .300, Luis Gonzalez out-hit Craig Biggio, and scored six more runs (82) than Jeff Bagwell.
After Houston selected the left-handed batter in the 1988 MLB Draft out of the University of South Alabama, Gonzo made his MLB debut as a September call-up in 1990. He put in seven productive years for the Astrodome residents, combining to hit .266 in almost 2900 plate appearances, with 153 doubles, 25 triples, and 62 homers.
One of baseball’s nice guys, the skinny, 6’2″, 210-pound left fielder became a reliable fan favorite, amassing a 15.1 WAR as an Astro on his way to an eventual 18-year career.
In late June 1995, Houston traded Gonzalez and catcher Scott Servais to the Chicago Cubs for catcher Rick Wilkins. After a year-and-a-half at Wrigley Field, Gonzalez hit .278, 49 doubles, and 22 home runs before returning to Houston, signing as a free agent in December 1996.
A ho-hum 1997 season (.258/.345/.376, the lowest slugging percentage of his career) led to his free agent signing, for the 1998 season, by the Detroit Tigers. Halfway through that campaign, son Jacob was born.
While hitting career-highs in doubles (35) and home runs (23) for the Tigers, 1998 was just a launching pad for his upcoming eight years for the Arizona Diamondbacks, which propelled a serviceable major leaguer into a veritable legend in the desert right in front of a wide-eyed baby Gonzo.
With his walk-off World Series-clinching single in 2001 being his D-Backs highlight, Luis hit .298 while mashing 224 home runs and driving in 774 runs for Arizona from 1999 through 2005. His best year came in 2001, as he hit .325 with 57 home runs and 142 RBIs. He finished third in the National League MVP voting that season.
A five-time All-Star, Gonzalez also won a Silver Slugger award in 2001. After a year each playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Florida Marlins, Gonzalez retired as a player following the 2008 season. Shortly thereafter, the D-Backs announced that his #20 would be the first number retired by the organization.
For his just over 18 years, Gonzalez slashed .283/.367/.479 (119 OPS+) with 2591 hits, 596 doubles, 354 home runs, 1439 RBIs, 1412 runs, and 128 stolen bases. He was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame on July 9, 2011, at the MLB All-Star FanFest in Phoenix.
Since retiring, Gonzalez has become a front office mainstay for the Diamondbacks, first as a special assistant to the president, eventually being promoted to senior advisor and CEO. In short, he could run for mayor of Phoenix.
Gonzo the Younger
Jacob Christopher Gonzalez grew up as the only boy in a triplet set in the Scottsdale suburb of Phoenix, with Dad, mother Christine, and siblings, Megan and Alyssa. He attended Chaparral High School, playing both infield corners.
Jacob was a two-time All-Arizona player at Chaparral, hitting .489 with 44 hits his senior season.
PerfectGame.org raved about the 6’4″, 210-pound Jacob: “Outstanding athletic build, big and strong with plenty of room to get stronger. Right handed hitter, open stance with a large leg lift trigger, has very good bat speed with quick hands, makes loud contact and can drive the ball hard to the pull side when extended through the ball, has lots of power potential.
“Has good range at third base and shows good hands while moving, improving arm strength will the key to his development, has also played first base.”
Scouting grades: Hit: 40 | Power: 55 | Run: 40 | Arm: 55 | Field: 40 | Overall: 40
“….A Great Situation”
Jacob was chosen 58th overall in the second round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants, opting to begin his pro career over attending TCU on scholarship.
Signing with the Giants for a reported $950,000, Jacob reported immediately to the rookie league AZL Giants as a third baseman. “Yes, he didn’t wanna waste time,” Luis said in a text at the time. “I couldn’t be happier and more excited for him,” Luis told AZCentral; “Spring training is in Arizona.”
Recalling draft day, Jacob told AZCentral, “No, I didn’t have any hint at anything into it that they would take me,” he said. “I feel it’s a great situation.”
Two months into that first season in 2017, MinorLeagueBall.com reached this conclusion on Jacob: “Despite the lack of speed and the positional limitations, Gonzalez is a solid prospect. He could develop into a 30 plus home run guy in time and do it with a solid average.”
Currently ranked #20 on the Giants’ Top 30 Prospect List, according to MLB Pipeline, Gonzalez finished third (.339) in the Rookie-level Arizona League batting race in his pro debut in 2017.
The going was much tougher for him for the Giants’ South Atlantic League affiliate in 2018. Pressing through a .227 season had a negative effect on his right-handed swing, so he spent this offseason reworking his stroke, no doubt with Dad’s help.
Good Instincts
MLB.com submits the last word on the 20-year-old: “The projectable strength and leverage in his [lengthy] frame give him the potential for 25 homers per season if he can improve his plate discipline and makes a conscious effort to drive the ball more often.
“Gonzalez has good instincts and works hard on his defense, yet that may not be enough to keep him at third base. He has soft hands, but below-average quickness and stiff actions, which may prompt a move to first base down the road. He has the solid arm strength required at the hot corner, but needs to improve the accuracy of his throws after making 30 errors in 94 games last year.”
While Jacob recently told BaseballCensus.com that his “favorite player to watch and emulate is Nolan Arenado with the Colorado Rockies,” he made it clear that his dad “has had the biggest influence on me, and then my uncle moved down from Florida to start coaching my club team when I was younger, so they would probably be the two people that I’ve gotten the most knowledge from growing up.”
As for the best advice the former Astro has given to his son, Jacob insists that it’s “just to relax and go out there and have fun every day, because each day is a new day, and obviously you’re going to have some failures in this game, and some successes. But just to take each day as a new day, and attack each day.”
More Astros Father Figure features include Craig Biggio, Darryl Kile, Roger Clemens, Jose Cruz, and Shane Reynolds.