Álex Gonzalez

In the annals of baseball dating back to when it first became a game played by professionals, historians and fans alike always tend to remember the walk-off home runs that ended a World Series; examples of this include Bill Mazeroski off Ralph Terry at Forbes Field to win the 1960 World Series for Pittsburgh1 or Joe Carter off Mitch Williams at the SkyDome to win the 1993 World Series for Toronto.2

However, what fans tend not to remember are the walk-off home runs that either extended the World Series for another game or changed the momentum of the World Series itself. The 1991 Series was extended when Kirby Puckett of the Twins hit a home run off Atlanta’s Charlie Liebrandt to win Game Six in the Metrodome (punctuated by Jack Buck’s call “And we’ll see you … tomorrow night!”3) Another home run that changed the tide of a World Series occurred in the 2003 World Series, which pitted the New York Yankees against the Florida Marlins.

The Yankees had taken back home-field advantage by winning Game Three in Miami, and seemed poised to take a three-games-to-one Series lead after mounting a ninth-inning rally off Marlins closer Ugueth Urbina to tie the game, 3-3. Going into the bottom of the 12th, the score remained 3-3 and Marlins shortstop Álex Gonzalez led off the inning against Yankees starter Jeff Weaver. On a 3-and-2 pitch, Gonzalez, who that year had set a career high with 18 home runs, hit a ball that barely cleared the left-field wall to tie the World Series, two games apiece.4      

Álexander Luis Gonzalez was born on February 15, 1977, in Cagua, the capital of the Sucre Municipality and part of the larger city of Maracay in Venezuela. Gonzales was the oldest of five children born to Claudio and Maryuri Gonzalez, who were both amateur athletes. Claudio played amateur baseball as an outfielder and Maryuri played competitive softball for 16 years.5 Alex was noticed for his talent as early as 1987, when he was introduced to Dave Concepcion, whose son David Alejandro was on Gonzalez’s little league team. Concepcion later remarked that while his son was a better hitter, Gonzalez was far and away the better fielder.6 In order to continually improve, Gonzalez would throw a ball against a concrete barrier in his backyard. Gonzalez was also a standout basketball player and when he was 12 had played on the youth national team of Venezuela in both sports. When Gonzalez chose baseball, he shocked many people around him, who did not know where his passion lay, and while Gonzalez claimed that his parents saw that the talent he had on the diamond exceeded the talent he had on the hardwood, nobody knew what Gonzalez would do until he signed with the Marlins.7

The impetus for Gonzalez to sign a major-league contract came from the signing of a childhood neighbor, future All-Star Bobby Abreu, by the Houston Astros. Gonzalez wanted to emulate Abreu. He had a tryout with Marlins scout Levy Ochoa on April 15, 1994. A student at the prep school Liceo Ramon Bastidas in Turmero, Gonzalez had class examination the same day as the tryout. He wrote his name on the test paper, picked up his equipment bag, left the classroom, and went out to the ball field. Ochoa, who later signed future major leaguers Hanley Ramirez and Juan Perez among others, hit Gonzalez balls he thought were impossible to get, but the youngster got them anyway. Impressed, Ochoa offered him a contract and three days later, on April 18, 1994, the 17-year-old Gonzalez signed a contract with the Marlins.

Like most international free agents from Latin American countries, Gonzalez first began playing in the Dominican Summer League, for the DSL Marlins. During his first foray into professional baseball, Gonzalez hit .238 in 66 games with 4 home runs and 39 runs batted in.

The next year, 1995, Gonzalez played in 53 games for the Marlins’ Gulf Coast Rookie League team in Melbourne, Florida, under longtime minor leaguer Juan Bustabad. After batting .294 with 2 home runs and 30 RBIs, he was promoted to the Brevard County Manatees of the Class-A Florida State League. Gonzalez struggled in 17 games, hitting barely above the Mendoza line8 at .203.

In 1996 a separated shoulder limited Gonzalez to 25 games, split among three teams: the Gulf Coast League Marlins, the Kane County Cougars of the low-A Midwest League, and the Portland Sea Dogs of the Double-A Eastern League. Gonzalez hit a combined .306.

Gonzalez spent the full 1997 season with the Sea Dogs, who, under manager Fredi Gonzalez, finished first in the Eastern League’s Northern Division. Batting .254 with a then career high of 19 home runs, he was named the shortstop on the end-of-the-year Eastern League All-Star team.

At the end of 1997, Marlins owner Wayne Huizenga, who was looking to sell the team, ordered that the Marlins payroll be slashed. The club held a fire sale that led to the trading of players Moisés Alou, Robb Nen, Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Al Leiter, and Kevin Brown among others. The Marlins, who had won the World Series in 1997, finished 1998 with a record of 54-108, 52 games behind the NL East champion Atlanta Braves and dead last in the major leagues, behind even the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The depletion of talent on the Marlins offered Gonzalez an opportunity. On his way to being named the top prospect in the International League by Baseball America for his season with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights (.277, 10 home runs), he was called up to the Marlins on August 25 and played a pivotal role in the game that night at St. Louis. In the top of the eighth, with the Marlins leading 3-2, Gonzalez got his first major-league hit, and it was a big one: a solo home run off Cardinals starter Donovan Osborne. The hit was crucial because the Cardinals scored a run in the bottom of the inning, so Gonzalez’s homer was the deciding run in the Marlins’ 4-3 victory. decisive. In his 25-game call-up, Gonzalez batted only .151 with three homers; one was a 13th-inning walk-off shot on September 26 off Ricky Bottalico that broke up a scoreless tie.

After the season the Marlins traded starting shortstop Edgar Renteria to the Cardinals for a package of prospects. The ensuing 1999 season brought a series of highs for Gonzalez on both the professional and personal levels. It was also a year in which Gonzalez learned what it truly meant to play in the major leagues.

The Marlins were in rebuild mode under new manager John Boles and needed their young players, including Gonzalez, now the starting shortstop, to help them improve. Paired with double-play partner Luis Castillo, the 22-year-old Gonzalez played in 136 games and batted .277 with 14 home runs and 59 RBIs. He led all National League rookies in hits with 155 and in runs scored with 81. The team had a 64-98 season but Gonzalez was named to the National League All-Star squad, only the second rookie shortstop to be so named at that time.9 

But Gonzalez’s defensive performance (27 errors) and overall attitude left something to be desired. His dour look and attitude not only got him a nickname from Kevin Millar – Sea Bass –  but also got him benched by Boles. He also got yelled at by fellow Venezuelan Ozzie Guillen, who was wrapping up his National League career with the Braves. After Gonzalez failed to run out a groundball in a late-season game, Guillen told Braves pitcher John Smoltz to drill Gonzalez the next time he came up to bat.10 Gonzalez was, however, named to both the Baseball Digest and Topps All-Star Rookie teams and finished fifth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting.11

There was a positive: Gonzalez was being noticed and admired by 16-year-old Venezuelan shortstop phenom Miguel Cabrera.12 When it came time to decide where he wanted to play professional baseball, he not only turned down the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, but rejected offers in excess of $2 million to sign with the Marlins for $1.8 million. He cited both the proximity of Miami to his home city of Maracay and also his admiration for Alex Gonzalez.

Off the field, Gonzalez had something to celebrate on June 30, when his longtime partner and later wife, Johanna Josely, gave birth to their first child, Alexander Luis Gonzalez Jr.

After the 1999 season, Gonzalez returned home to Venezuela and played in the Venezuelan winter league, for Leones del Caracas. In a game in Caracas on November 7, he suffered a hairline fracture in his forearm when he was hit by a pitch, and was in a cast for a month before having his forearm placed in a removable splint.

The injury in Venezuela was a harbinger of things to come for Gonzalez in 2000. While the Marlins had what could be considered a successful year, finishing 79-82 and in third place, Gonzalez had an injury-marred season, and when he did play he did not set the world on fire. A sprain of the medial collateral ligament cost him two months. He played in only 109 games and hit .200 with 42 runs batted in. And his poor play on defense (19 errors) did not improve. He later said that his poor play on offense was what contributed to his bad defense.13

The Marlins were optimistic going into the 2001 season but chaos descended. In early June manager Boles was fired for losing control of the team after he was publicly criticized by pitcher Dan Miceli, who questioned his baseball acumen because Boles never played in the majors. Miceli also went on to question the quality of the Marlins coaching staff.14 Boles was replaced by Hall of Famer Tony Perez, who managed the team the rest of the season. The team finished fourth in the division. Gonzalez personally felt that Boles had placed undue pressure on him, causing him to underperform in 2000; he also felt that the coaching staff had wanted him to change his personality and had held him to a different standard than everybody else, something which Boles disputed.15 Despite the chaos of the 2001 season, Gonzalez improved his batting average by 50 points, to .250. He still had his problems in the field, however, making 26 errors.

The 2001 offseason brought a lot of changes to the Marlins organization, and these changes benefited Gonzalez. Commodities broker John Henry bought the team from Huizenga, for $158 million. Henry had hoped to move the Marlins into a baseball-only stadium, but a preliminary agreement fell through and Henry looked to sell the team. He sold it to Montreal Expos owner Jeffrey Loria and bought the Boston Red Sox. Loria in turn sold the Expos to Major League Baseball.16

GM Dave Dombrowski moved on to the Detroit Tigers and was replaced by Larry Beinfest. Most of the 2001 Montreal Expos coaching staff was brought in. New Marlins manager Jeff Torborg told Gonzalez that regardless of what happened under the previous regime, he had a clean slate and that the only thing that they wanted from him was for him to hustle and play the game hard.17

Hitting just .225, Gonzalez dislocated his left shoulder, during their 10-5 loss to the San Francisco on May 18 when diving for a grounder hit by Giants left fielder Barry Bonds and was ruled out for the rest of the 2002 season.18 During the year Gonzalez and Johanna, now his wife, gave birth to a second son they named Johander.19  

After the season the Marlins added a number of players who would be instrumental in their 2003 season. The big move was signing catcher Ivan Rodriguez as a free agent.20

The way the Marlins began the 2003 season had fans thinking it was another lost year. With the team 16-22, they fired Torborg and replaced him with Jack McKeon in mid-May.21 Gonzalez’s biggest backers stayed in their positions – infield and first-base coach Perry Hill and third-base coach Ozzie Guillen.

Under McKeon’s leadership, the Marlins seemingly came out of nowhere, going a league-best 75-49 and winning a wild-card slot. Gonzalez contributed out of the eighth spot in the batting order, hitting .256 in 150 games, with career highs of 18 homers and 77 RBIs. Under the tutelage of Hill, he decreased his errors from 26 in 2001 to 16 in 2003.  

The Marlins’ magical run continued in the postseason. They topped out the Giants in the Division Series, the Cubs in the Championship Series, and the Yankees in six games to win the World Series. In each of the playoff rounds, Gonzalez played a pivotal role. In Game Two of the NLDS, with the game tied 5-5 in the top of the sixth, he hit a one-out single off Joe Nathan, advancing Jeff Conine to second base; they scored the tiebreaking runs on a double by Juan Pierre, leading to a 9-5 Marlins win. In the next game Gonzalez drew a walk in the 11th inning off Giants closer Tim Worrell and he and Juan Pierre scored the tying and winning runs on a single by Ivan Rodriguez. In the NLCS, the Marlins came back from a three-games-to-one deficit to defeat the Cubs; in Game Seven, Gonzalez contributed to the Marlins’ win by doubling in their final two runs, which had turned a 7-5 Marlins lead into a 9-5 lead in a game they eventually won 9-6.

In the World Series, in addition to his walk-off homer in Game Four, Gonzalez hit a two-out double off José Contreras to tie Game Five. He scored the game- and Series-winning run in Game Six, on a two-out fifth-inning single by Luis Castillo, breaking a scoreless tie as the Marlins won 2-0.

In the 2003 offseason, in order to ensure that Gonzalez would remain in Miami, the Marlins re-signed him to a two-year deal through 2005. In 2004, though the Marlins finished in third place, Gonzalez played in all but three games. He topped his career high in home runs with 23 and drove in 79 runs. But his batting average dropped 24 points .232. Defensively Gonzalez stayed consistent.

The 2005 season was Gonzalez’s eighth and last in Miami. In 130 games, his batting average improved to .264, but he hit only five home runs and had 45 RBIs. For the third year in a row, he limited his errors to 16.

During the 2005 offseason, the Marlins slashed payroll again. Gonzalez signed a one-year contract with the Boston Red Sox, again replacing Renteria, who had been traded by the Red Sox to the Atlanta Braves. The move to Boston reunited Gonzalez with two former Marlins teammates, Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett.

In 111 games with Boston, Gonzalez hit .255 with 9 home runs and 50 RBIs. He made only seven errors. But events off the field cast a pall over Gonzalez’s season. In September of 2006, Gonzalez’s wife, Johanna was pregnant with the couple’s third son, a son they would name Johan; when she went into labor two months early, Johan had an undersized trachea and a number of other underdeveloped organs. This led to multiple surgeries for their son, which at the time were deemed successful.22

Gonzalez had wanted to sign again with the Red Sox, but he could not come to terms with them and left for a deal that would provide better financial security for his family and their rising medical costs. He agreed with the Cincinnati Reds on a three-year, $14 million contract that also provided a mutual option in 2010.23

The first year of the deal seemed to be beneficial. Gonzalez played in 110 games for the Reds and batted .272 with 16 homers and 55 RBIs. Defensively, he made 16 errors. All of these stats paled when, on July 13, 2007, after surgery to elongate his trachea, Johan stopped breathing in his sleep and lapsed into a coma, unresponsive with little or no brain activity and being kept alive by a respirator.24 

Johan was transferred from Miami to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. While he spent every hour he could with Johan when he was not on the ball field, Gonzalez said that in the field all he could think about was his son, contributing to a decline in second-half play, especially defensively.25

Hoping to rebound in 2008, Gonzalez suffered a fractured kneecap, the fracture was discovered by Reds team doctor Dr. Timothy Kremcheck after Gonzales complained of a sore knee at the Reds spring training camp, which at the time was in Sarasota, Florida.26 The injury ruled him out for the season. In 2009 his defensive play was solid, but he batted only .210 with little power. The Reds placed him on waivers after the trade deadline. With Gonzalez making close to $5 million a year, unsurprisingly he went unclaimed. When he cleared waivers, the Reds traded him to the Boston Red Sox along with $1.1 million for Kris Negron.27 Back in Boston, in the midst of a pennant race, Gonzalez stabilized the shortstop position, making only one error while hitting .284 in 44 games. His contribution helped the Red Sox clinch the wild card. For only the second time in his career, Gonzalez was heading back to the postseason. The Red Sox were swept in the ALDS by the Angels; Gonzalez hit .167.

The Red Sox declined the team option that had been in his original contract and Gonzalez once again found himself a free agent. He stayed in the American League East, agreeing to a one-year, $2.75 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, with an additional $2.5 million team option for 2011.28

On July 11, 2010, Gonzalez was hitting .259 with 17 homers and 50 RBIs when the Atlanta Braves traded their starting shortstop, Yunel Escobar, and pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes to Toronto for Gonzalez, pitcher Tim Collins, and infielder Tyler Pastornicky.29 During the rest of the season in Atlanta, Gonzalez played in 72 games and contributed a batting average of .240 with 6 home runs and 38 RBIs. His play helped contribute to the Braves capturing the wild card. Gonzalez was 3-for-15 with two RBIs in the four games against the victorious San Francisco Giants.

The Braves picked up his option for 2011 and the now 34-year-old Gonzalez, hit .241 with 15 home runs and 56 RBIs, while posting a fielding percentage of .981 (12 errors).

The Braves had highly rated prospect Andrelton Simmons waiting in the wings along with Pastornicky, so after the season Gonzalez signed a $4.25 million one-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers for 2012. In a game against the Giants on Saturday, May 5, Gonzalez suffered a torn tendon in his right knee, sliding into second base during a 5-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants.30

The Brewers brought Gonzalez back for 2013 and hoped that he could provide some veteran guidance to a club that was two years removed from an appearance in the National League Championship Series. But he played in only 41 games, at shortstop but also at first base and third base. He managed a .177 average with one final home run and eight runs batted in before the Brewers released him on June 3 to make room for the newly acquired Juan Francisco.31 

While Gonzalez, went unclaimed the rest of the season, he hoped to jump-start the end of his career by continuing to play for Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan winter league. His .310 batting average got the attention of the Baltimore Orioles, who signed him to a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training.32 But in late March Gonzalez was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Steve Lombardozzi, reuniting him with Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland.33

In what turned out to be his final year in the major leagues, Gonzalez delivered the game-winning hit in the ninth inning on Opening Day against the Kansas City Royals, but he played in only eight other games before the Tigers released him on April 20.34

The release brought a close to Gonzalez’s 17-year major-league career, but he did continue to play some winter-league ball, until, after 16 years of playing with Leones, he retired as a player at the age of 41 on December 13, 2018.35

After a year away from baseball, Gonzalez was brought back to the game when in February 2019 he was named as the manager of the Palm Beach Marlins in the Collegiate League of the Palm Beaches.36 As of 2021, he was still serving in that capacity; the team is also led by general manager and his former double-play teammate with the Marlins, Luis Castillo.37 Also in 2021, Gonzalez was named the head baseball coach at the Sagemont School, where he had been an assistant since 2018 in Weston, Florida.38

Last revised: January 31, 2026

Photo credit

Alex Gonzalez, courtesy of Michael Bush / Dreamstime.

Notes

1 Anthony McCarron, “Ralph Terry, Yankees Pitcher Who Gave Up Bill Mazeroski’s 1960 World Series Homer, Has a Message for Indians’ Bryan Shaw,” New York Daily News, November 3, 2016. https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yanks-pitcher-gave-maz-homer-message-indians-shaw-article-1.2857282.

2 Evan Rosser, “Touch ’Em All, Joe,” Sportsnet; October 23, 2008. https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/joe-carter-home-run-blue-jays-1993-world-series/.

3 Aaron Gleeman, “On this day in 1991: And We’ll See You … Tomorrow Night!” NBC Sports HardBall Talk; October 26, 2010; https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2010/10/26/on-this-day-in-1991-and-well-see-you-tomorrow-night/.

4 Jack Curry, “Gonzalez Homers and Marlins Walk Off,” New York Times, October 23, 2003. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/23/sports/baseball-gonzalez-homers-and-marlins-walk-off.html.

5 Juan C. Rodriguez, “Baseball Spoken Here,” South Florida Sun Sentinel, June 10, 2003; https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2003-06-10-0306100017-story.html.

6 “Alex Gonzalez,” Columbus Dispatch, March 12, 2007; https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-columbus-dispatch/20070312/283429187110424.

7 “Baseball Spoken Here.”

8 https://www.mlb.com/glossary/idioms/mendoza-line.

9 Florida Marlins 2001 Media Guide, 118.

10 “Baseball Spoken Here.”

11 https ://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/1999_National_League_Rookie_of_the_Year_Award.

12 David O’Brien, “Marlins Sign Prospect Cabrera,” South Florida Sun-Sentinel, July 3,1999. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1999-07-03-9907030435-story.html. 

13 “Baseball Spoken Here.”

14 Robert Dvorchak, “Manager Fired for Losing Control,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 29, 2001. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LOhRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=b3ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6506,5397012&dq=joe-breeden&hl=en.

15 Rodriguez

16 Murray Chass, “Owners Give Approval to Sale of the Red Sox,” New York Times; January 17, 2002. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/17/sports/baseball-owners-give-approval-to-sale-of-the-red-sox.html.

17  “Baseball Spoken Here.”

18 Associated Press, “Giants’ Bonds Make Splashy Move,” Los Angeles Times, May 19, 2002.                                                                           https:// www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-19-sp-nlsep19-story.html.

19 Amy K. Nelson, “Alex’s Ordeal,” ESPN.com,  October 6, 2009. https://www.espn.com/boston/columns/story?columnist=nelson_amy&id=4537575.

20 Juan C. Rodriguez, “Marlins: No Extra Money,” South Florida Sun Sentinel, November 19, 2002. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2002-11-19-0211190111-story.html.

21 Associated Press, “Report Marlins Fire Torborg, Hire McKeon,” Los Angeles Times, May 11, 2003. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-may-11-sp-bbnotes11-story.html.

22 “Alex’s Ordeal.”

23 “Reds Sign Shortstop Alex Gonzalez,” MLB.com, November 20, 2006.  http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/content/printer_friendly/cin/y2006/m11/d20/c1743913.jsp. 

24 “Alex’s Ordeal.”

25 “Alex’s Ordeal.”

26 Associated Press, “Reds shortstop diagnosed with broken left knee,” ESPN.com, February 29, 2008. https://www.espn.com/mlb/spring2008/news/story?id=3270963

27 Tony Massarotti, “Sox Acquire Alex Gonzalez,” Boston.com, August 14, 2009. https://www.boston.com/sports/extra-bases/2009/08/14/sox_acquire_ale.

28 “Gonzalez Agrees to 1-year Deal with the Blue Jays,” Sports Illustrated, November 26, 2009.  https://www.si.com/mlb/200/11/26/gonzalez.

29 Charles Odum, “Braves Acquire Alex Gonzalez from Blue Jays,” San Diego Union Tribune; July 14, 2010. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-braves-acquire-alex-gonzalez-from-blue-jays-2010jul14-story.html.

30 Al Yellen, “Brewers’ Alex Gonzalez Has Torn ACL,” SB Nation, May 7, 2012.  https://www.sbnation.com/2012/5/7/3005403/alex-gonzalez-torn-acl-brewers.

31 Mike Axisa “Brewers Acquire Juan Francisco from Braves; Release Alex Gonzalez,” CBS Sportscom, June 3, 2013. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/brewers-acquire-juan-francisco-from-braves-release-alex-gonzalez/.

32 Associated Press, “Alex Gonzalez Signs with the Orioles,” ESPN.com, February 3, 2014. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/10398437/baltimore-orioles-sign-infielder-alex-gonzalez-minor-league-deal.

33 “Tigers Acquire Alex Gonzalez,” ESPN, March 24, 2014. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/10664922/detroit-tigers-deal-alex-gonzalez-baltimore-orioles. See also Associated Press, “Tigers release Alex Gonzalez,” ESPN.com, April 20, 2014. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/10811835/detroit-tigers-release-alex-gonzalez.

34 “Tigers Release Alex Gonzalez.” He was 5-for-30 with two RBIs.

35 Andriw Sanchez Ruiz, “Alex Gonzalez: I Couldn’t Leave Without Saying Goodbye to the Lions Fanatic,” LVBP.com, December 13, 2018. https://www.lvbp.com/7192_alex-gonzalez-no-me-podia-ir-sin-despedirme-de-la-fanaticada-de-leones.

36 CLPB Staff, “PB Marlins Excited to MLB Standout Alex Gonzalez as Head Coach,” clpbbaseball.com, February 20, 2020.  https://www.clpbaseball.com/pb-marlins-excited-to-mlb-standout-alex-gonzalez-as-head-coach/.

37 Palm Beach Marlins – The Collegiate League of The Palm Beaches – team roster | Pointstreak Sports Technologies

38 Adam Lichtenstein “Former Marlins shortstop Alex Gonzalez takes over at Sagemont and what to look for this high school baseball season” South Florida Sun Sentinel, February 13, 2021.                                                https://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/highschool/baseball/fl-sp-hs-sagemont-gonzalez-20210214-x5agrvykovaltladp4nba3lezi-story.html