Alex Gonzalez #8

Married - Samantha...Children - Tyler and Analise...Is a 1991 graduate of Killian High School in Miami...was named to the all-state team during his senior season...His charitable endeavors include assisting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

2004

Batted .225 (64-285) with 18 doubles,seven home runs and 27 RBI in 83 games with the Cubs,Expos and Padres...missed more than two months of action after breaking his right wrist after being hit by a pitch May 5 (DL'd from May 6-July 19, non-displaced fracture of his right ulnar styloid bone)...Opened the season with Chicago, making his 11th straight major league opening day start, 3rd with the Cubs...He was acquired by the Expos at the July 31 trading deadline as part of the fourteam deal that sent Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs and Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz to the Red Sox...He was then acquired by the Padres on September 16 following an injury to shortstop Khalil Greene...Hit a game-winning solo shot in the top of the 9th inning April 28 at Arizona off Matt Mantei...during his 3 seasons with the Cubs he had 10 last at-bat game-winning hits (7 walkoff, including 6 homers)...only one other player in club history has more - Sammy Sosa (8)...Ron Santo also has 6...Homered with 2 out in the 12th inning off Chad Harville Aug. 13 vs. Houston at Olympic Stadium to extend the game, an eventual 6-5 victory...was his 7th career extra-inning home run, tying him for 8th among actives...Hit his first career pinch-hit home run April 11 at Atlanta, a solo shot off Will Cunnane.

2003

Alex appeared in 152 games and hit .228 with 37 doubles, 20 homers and 59 RBI...led National League shortstops with a .984 fielding percentage (10 E/625 TC) - and took part in 95 double plays...hit a career-high 20 home runs - surpassing the 18 he hit last season ...the homer total was the highest for a Cubs shortstop since Ernie Banks' final year at that position in 1961 (29 total homers, 23 as a shortstop)...went 15-for-74 in the season's final 27 games...hit 3 game-winning extra-inning homers ...during his two seasons with the Cubs, he has 9 last at-bat game-winning hits (7 of the walkoff variety) - including 5 homers ...the only players in Cubs history with more walkoff homers are Sammy Sosa (8) and Ron Santo (6)...on May 1 at San Francisco, he hit a game-tying 6th-inning solo shot off Damian Moss and a game-winning 10th-inning 3-run blast off Tim Worrell ...it was his fifth career 2-homer affair...hit his second last at-bat game-winning homer May 4 vs. Colorado - a 10th-inning walkoff shot off Steve Reed...hit his third extra-inning game-winning home run May 10 vs. St. Louis (a 10th-inning walkoff solo shot off Cal Eldred) ...the blast tied the club record for most extra-inning homers in one season, previously accomplished by Ernie Banks (1955) and Ron Santo (1966) ...the only other player in big league history to hit 3 extra-inning homers in one month was Cincinnati's Ron Gant in May 1995...on July 5 vs. St. Louis, he had a game-winning 9th-inning bases-loaded RBI single to give the Cubs a 6-5 victory...went 2-for-5 Opening Day in New York (March 31), making his second straight season-opening start for the Cubs - and his 10th in a row in the majors ...was the first shortstop to make back-to-back Opening Day starts for the Cubs since Shawon Dunston made his 10th (and final) season-opening start in 1995...had the seventh 4-hit game of his big league career April 5 at Cincinnati, going 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles...celebrated his 30th birthday April 8 by going 3-for-3 with a double and 3 runs scored in the Cubs' home-opening 6-1 victory over Montreal...recorded his 1,000th big league hit July 1 at Philadelphia - a solo homer off Randy Wolf ...went 3-for-4 in the contest.

2002

Alex appeared in 142 games in his first season with the Cubs and batted .248 with 27 doubles, a career-high 18 homers and 61 RBI...his homer total was the highest for a Cubs shortstop since Ernie Banks' final year at that position in 1961 (29 total homers, 23 as a shortstop)...was the first Cubs shortstop to surpass the 15-homers mark since Shawon Dunston went deep 17 times in 1990...participated in 84 double plays, the highest total for a Cubs shortstop since Dunston's 96 in 1986...had a .965 fielding percentage, committing 21 errors in 601 total chances...had a better batting average in late-inning situations (.275 with 7 homers in 182 at-bats from the 7th inning on) than in his at-bats during the 1st-6th innings (.233 with 11 homers in 331 at-bats)...of his 61 RBI, 10 proved to be game-winners and 9 tied games ... had 4 game-ending hits at Wrigley Field...hit a walkoff homer May 6 off St. Louis reliever Mike Timlin to give the Cubs a 6-5 victory ... the following day, he drove in 4 runs -- including a bases-loaded double -- in the Cubs' 8-0 win against the Cardinals...hit his second walkoff homer June 18 vs. Texas -- a solo shot off John Rocker leading off the 9th inning to give the Cubs a 4-3 win...his 2-run, 2-out double on an 0-2 pitch from Trevor Hoffman gave the Cubs an 8-7 victory over San Diego August 1...hit his third walkoff homer September 9 vs. Montreal -- a solo shot off Jim Brower in the Cubs' 3-2 victory ... the roundtripper was the 100th of his major league career...had 31 multi-hit games and 15 multi-RBI contests ... also went 7-for-19 with the bases loaded with 13 RBI...opened his Cubs career by hitting .358 in his first 14 games (19-53)...in his Cubs debut Opening Day (April 1) at Cincinnati, he went 1-for-3 with a pair of walks and 1 run scored ... it was his ninth consecutive Opening Day start...in his second game April 3 (at Cincinnati), he had 3 hits -- including a pair of doubles...hit his first homer as a Cub May 2, a solo shot off San Diego's Brett Tomko...had a club season-high 15-game hitting streak August 6-August 21, batting .373 (22-59) ... it was the second 15-game hitting streak of his big league career...appeared in his 1,000th big league game August 24 at Arizona.

batted .290 over his final 50 games (53-183)...was on the disabled list May 10-May 24 with a strained left hamstring.

2001

Alex had his best major league season at the plate, batting .253 in his final season for Toronto with career highs in homers (17), RBI (76), hits (161) and runs scored (79) ... had a pair of 2-homer games, a pair of extra-inning homers and 10 sacrifice flies -- which ranked 5th in the American League...had 2-homer contests July 22 against the New York Yankees and September 18 vs. Baltimore...hit a 10th-inning solo homer off Oakland's Jason Isringhausen May 1 to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 victory ... had another 10th-inning roundtripper July 25 off Boston's Derek Lowe in a 4-3 win...recorded his sixth career 4-hit game May 23 against the White Sox...batted .336 against left-handed pitching, the 5th-best mark in the A.L...defensively, he had a .987 fielding percentage in 154 games at shortstop, committing just 10 errors in 769 total chances...led A.L. shortstops in total chances, assists (510) and double plays (120) and finished 3rd in putouts (249) ... averaged a league-best 3.35 assists per 9.0 innings...set a Toronto record for most putouts by a shortstop in a 9-inning game (8, on August 2, 2001, vs. Minnesota).

2000

Alex appeared in 141 games for the Blue Jays and batted .252 with 15 homers and 69 RBI ... had 16 sacrifice bunts, tying the Cubs' Ricky Gutierrez for the major league lead...had a pair of 5-RBI games in August, going 3-for-6 with a homer in a 13-3 victory at Minnesota August 13 and 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and a homer in a 9-8 decision over Kansas City August 23...hit safely in a career-high 15 straight games August 2-August 18, batting .362 (25-69) with 3 homers and 12 RBI.

1999

Played in only 38 games before suffering a torn labrum in his right shoulder ... went on the disabled list May 17 and had season-ending surgery June 17 (Dr. James Andrews)...was batting .292 at the time of the injury.

1998

Appeared in a career-high 158 games and hit .239 with 13 homers, 51 RBI and 21 steals...had 13 sacrifice bunts, tying for 2nd in the A.L...had a 12-game hitting streak August 19-August 29, batting .405 (17-42)...recorded a .976 fielding percentage (17 E/703 TC).

1997

Topped A.L. shortstops in fielding percentage, committing just 8 errors in 558 total chances (.986) ... made just 1 error from July 12 through the end of the season -- including a 39-game errorless streak July 12-September 23...appeared in 126 games and hit .239 with 12 homers and 15 stolen bases ... had 11 sacrifice bunts, tying for 4th in the league...scored 4 runs June 25 vs. Boston, tying a club single-game mark...was on the disabled list August 14-September 14 with a fractured right index finger...in the 13 games prior to suffering the injury, he had gone 18-for-42 (.429).

1996

Led A.L. shortstops in total chances (765) and double plays (122), fielding at a .973 clip...tied an A.L. mark (Washington's Bobby Reeves on August 27, 1927) for most assists at shortstop in a 9-inning affair, recording 13 on April 26 against Cleveland...at the plate, he batted .235 in 147 games with 14 homers and 64 RBI.

1995

Spent his first full year in the majors, batting .243 in 111 contests ... saw action in 97 games at shortstop and 9 at third base...drove in 4 runs in an Opening Day 13-1 victory over Oakland...hit his first 2 M.L. homers May 23 vs. Kansas City -- both off Jim Pittsley ... had 3 hits and 4 RBI in the contest...had another 2-homer/4-RBI affair July 29 vs. Oakland.

1994

Was the youngest player on an A.L. Opening Day roster, breaking camp with the Blue Jays as a 20-year-old ... appeared in 15 April games, going 8-for-53...made his M.L. debut April 4 against the White Sox...recorded his first 2 hits -- both doubles -- on April 8 vs. Seattle on his 21st birthday ... his first M.L. hit came off Dave Fleming...strained his left hamstring April 25 and went on the disabled list ... after an injury rehab stint with Syracuse (AAA), he was optioned to the Triple-A club May 27 where he finished the season...at Syracuse, he earned Baseball America Triple-A all-star honors and was an International League all-star ... batted .284 in 110 games with 12 homers and 57 RBI...led league shortstops in putouts (163), assists (348) and total chances (542).

1993

Was a Baseball America Double-A all-star at Knoxville (AA) after hitting .289 with 16 homers, 69 RBI and 38 steals ... was named to the Southern League's midseason and postseason all-star teams...led the league in games (142), runs scored (93) and total bases (253) ... led league shortstops in fielding percentage (.956), putouts (224), assists (428) and total chances (682).

1992

Played in 134 games for Myrtle Beach (A) and batted .271 with 10 homers, 62 RBI and 26 steals...ranked 2nd in the South Atlantic League in at-bats (535), 3rd in triples (9) and 5th in hits (145) ... led league shortstops in putouts (248) and assists (406).

1991

Began his pro career with Toronto's Gulf Coast (Rookie) farm club, where he led Gulf Coast League shortstops in assists (160) and total chances (247).