Juan González (baseball)

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."

González grew up in a rough area of Puerto Rico, where as a young boy he learned to hit bottlecaps and corks with a broomstick handle in the Alto de Cuba barrio.

In the Puerto Rico youth league, González batted cleanup behind future Yankee center fielder Bernie Williams, where both competed against González's future teammate Iván Rodríguez.

When the Yankees scouted the teenage Williams, he requested that they also bring his friend González to their scouting camp on the east coast; however, due to a lack of funding, González would remain in Puerto Rico.

Juan Alberto González Vázquez (born October 20, 1969) is a Puerto Rican former baseball outfielder.

The Texas Rangers signed González as an amateur free agent on May 30, 1986, at the age of 16.

González has always wanted to serve as a role model for the kids of Puerto Rico, as they are faced with the downfalls of drugs and prostitution frequently.

González avoided such temptations growing up.

His father, a math teacher, and mother, a housewife, made sure González and his two sisters behaved properly and stayed away from negative influences.

González moved his family out of the barrio early in his MLB career.

He paid utility bills for down-on-their-luck friends and plans on working to construct recreation facilities and a baseball diamond in his home town.

One of Juan's managers, Johnny Oates, believed that until you've walked where Juan González has walked, you just won't understand.

Speaking from experience, as Oates has walked the streets of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, during visits multiple times, he had this to say: "I don't think you can appreciate how far he's come until you've been there", Oates said.

"We might be making choices between going to the movies or going to the skating rink. But look at the choices the kids there were faced with growing up – do you want to do drugs or get beaten up? I think it says so much about him that he was able to rise above the peer pressure in Vega Baja. He had enough intelligence to say, 'I don't want to do that.'"

In Puerto Rico he is known as "Igor", the nickname he has carried since he was a nine-year-old fascinated by the professional wrestler "Igor the Magnificent."

"I watched wrestling all the time and I still like it", González said.

"One day when I was nine, I told another guy, 'I'm Igor.' And he said, 'Okay, your name is Igor from now on.' And I've been Igor since then."

González debuted with the 1986 GCL Rangers and finished with .240 batting average, .303 on-base percentage, and a .266 slugging percentage in 60 games.

He only had five extra-base hits (none of them home runs) in 233 AB and struck out 57 times.

He tied Harvey Pulliam by grounding into a Gulf Coast League-leading 9 double plays.

In 1987, González showed some improvement with the Gastonia Rangers, though Mark Whiten and Junior Felix were deemed better outfield prospects in the South Atlantic League.

González spent 1988 with the Charlotte Rangers and batted .256/~.327/.415 with 8 home runs in 277 AB.

One of his outfield teammates that year was Sammy Sosa.

The next year, he showed more improvement with the Tulsa Drillers hitting .293/~.322/.506 with 21 home runs and led the Texas League with 254 total bases.

He outhomered Sosa by 14 and was third in the League in home runs, behind teammate Dean Palmer (25) and Chris Cron (22).

González was rated the league's No. 4 prospect by Baseball America, behind Ray Lankford, Andy Benes and José Offerman.

Lankford and Warren Newson joined him in the TL All-Star outfield.

González was called up by the Texas Rangers in September of that year, but only hit .150/.227/.250.

During his time with the Rangers that year, González only hit one home run.

He became the youngest player in Rangers history (19 yrs old) to hit a home run.

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.

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.

In 1990, González – playing with the Oklahoma City 89ers – led the American Association in home runs (29), RBI (101) and total bases (252).

He made the AA All-Star outfield alongside Lankford and Bernard Gilkey and was named the league MVP.

In ratings by Baseball America, González tied Ryan Bowen for 10th place on the prospect listing.

He finished with .265 batting average, .306 on-base percentage, and .401 slugging percentage with 14 home runs and 74 RBI.