I-70 Baseball Exclusives Classic Cooperstown Choices 2012

Cooperstown Choices: Juan Gonzalez

Bill Ivie

With the Hall Of Fame election announcement coming on January 9, 2012, it is time to review the ballot, go over the names, and decide who belongs in the Hall Of Fame.

There are twenty seven men on the ballot this year and we will take a look at each one individually prior to official announcements. You can find all of the profiles in the I-70 Baseball Exclusives: Cooperstown Choices 2012 menu at the top of the page.

Tune in Saturday, January 7, 2012 as I-70 Baseball Radio will host a panel of writers discussing the Hall Of Fame Ballot in a 2-hour special.

In this article, we take a look at Juan Gonzalez.

Juan Gonzalez
The outfielder and designated hitter got his start in the big leagues in 1989 with the Texas Rangers. With a single at bat in the 2005 season, he officially spent his last major league season with the Cleveland Indians. This will be the second year on the ballot for the slugger.

Year Tm G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1989 TEX 24 60 6 9 3 0 1 7 0 6 17 .150 .227 .250 .477 34
1990 TEX 25 90 11 26 7 1 4 12 0 2 18 .289 .316 .522 .838 131
1991 TEX 142 545 78 144 34 1 27 102 4 42 118 .264 .321 .479 .800 121
1992 TEX 155 584 77 152 24 2 43 109 0 35 143 .260 .304 .529 .833 133
1993 TEX 140 536 105 166 33 1 46 118 4 37 99 .310 .368 .632 1.000 169
1994 TEX 107 422 57 116 18 4 19 85 6 30 66 .275 .330 .472 .802 104
1995 TEX 90 352 57 104 20 2 27 82 0 17 66 .295 .324 .594 .917 130
1996 TEX 134 541 89 170 33 2 47 144 2 45 82 .314 .368 .643 1.011 145
1997 TEX 133 533 87 158 24 3 42 131 0 33 107 .296 .335 .589 .924 131
1998 TEX 154 606 110 193 50 2 45 157 2 46 126 .318 .366 .630 .997 149
1999 TEX 144 562 114 183 36 1 39 128 3 51 105 .326 .378 .601 .980 141
2000 DET 115 461 69 133 30 2 22 67 1 32 84 .289 .337 .505 .842 115
2001 CLE 140 532 97 173 34 1 35 140 1 41 94 .325 .370 .590 .960 148
2002 TEX 70 277 38 78 21 1 8 35 2 17 56 .282 .324 .451 .776 99
2003 TEX 82 327 49 96 17 1 24 70 1 14 73 .294 .329 .572 .901 122
2004 KCR 33 127 17 35 4 1 5 17 0 9 19 .276 .326 .441 .767 96
2005 CLE 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 -100
17 Seasons 1689 6556 1061 1936 388 25 434 1404 26 457 1273 .295 .343 .561 .904 132
162 Game Avg. 162 629 102 186 37 2 42 135 2 44 122 .295 .343 .561 .904 132
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
TEX (13 yrs) 1400 5435 878 1595 320 21 372 1180 24 375 1076 .293 .342 .565 .907 133
CLE (2 yrs) 141 533 97 173 34 1 35 140 1 41 94 .325 .369 .589 .958 148
KCR (1 yr) 33 127 17 35 4 1 5 17 0 9 19 .276 .326 .441 .767 96
DET (1 yr) 115 461 69 133 30 2 22 67 1 32 84 .289 .337 .505 .842 115
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/15/2011.

Why He Should Get In
Juan Gonzalez was a pure hitter. His 17 career produced 434 home runs, 388 doubles, 1,404 runs batted in, a .293 lifetime batting average and an impressive .904 lifetime OPS (On Base Plus Slugging Percentage). He earned the 1996 and 1998 Most Valuable Player Award in the American League, won six Silver Slugger awards (1992, 1993, 1996-1998, 2001), made three All Star appearances (1993, 1998, 2001) and led the league in doubles, home runs and runs batted in at different points during his career.

Why He Should Not Get In
Though never officially named, he comes from the crop of hitters surrounded by the steroid claim and scares some writers off. With 434 home runs, he is missing the cherished 500. The same can be said about his 1,404 runs batted in falling short of the 1,500 mark. His 1,936 hits falls short of any plateau that writers cherish as well. Gonzalez is a bubble guy that may get left out in the cold or may just squeak in one year. This is a good year to sneak past the scrutiny of the voters.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

2 thoughts on “Cooperstown Choices: Juan Gonzalez”

  1. Juan Gonzalez might possibly be the most inferior player to have won multiple MVP Awards (1996, 1998). Both wins were a product of a BBWAA still enamored with RBI totals. In 1996, Mark McGwire had an OPS that dwarfed Juan Gone by nearly 200 points and A-Rod had the first of his many stellar offensive seasons that redefined the modern day SS. Only Albert Belle drove in more runs than Gonzalez, however, his acerbic nature befell his candidacy. In 1998, Belle again was the obvious choice. Derek Jeter had a WAR of 7.8 compared to 5.1 for Gonzalez. Jeter, unfortunately, was a victim of the RBI infatuation by only driving in 84 runs while captaining the 114 win Yankees. Of course, I’m still bitter over his signing with the Royals before the 2004 season. After a mere 33 games, he went down with a back injury and never played another game in blue. So much for the $4.5M investment.

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