Luis Alberto Gonzalez...selected from Cleveland in the major league phase of the 2003 Rule 5
Draft, Dec. 15, 2003...signed by Luis Aponte.
2006
3 of last 4 starts were in OF... Hit safely in 4 of last 5 starts at .400 (6-15)... Was team's Opening Day second baseman. ... Batted .242 with 2 HR and 14 RBIs in 61 games in a season interrupted by a stint on the 15-day disabled list and two options to Triple-A Colorado Springs. ... Batted .240 prior to being placed on 15-day DL 5/28 (retro to 5/27) with inflammation in both wrists ... optioned to Triple-A at end of a rehab assignment on June 11. ... Recalled from AAA after game 7/3 ... Batted .244 (10-41), 0-for-11 with BB as PH, from recall to being optioned back to Colorado Springs on 8/30. ... Made 25 starts at 2B, 5 in RF, 3 at 1B, one at 3B, one in LF. ... Batted a combined .268 with 2 HR and 10 RBIs in 27 games at Colorado Springs.
2005
In just his second major league season, Gonzalez established career highs in nearly every offensive category and became the club's starting 2nd baseman by the end of the year...hit .292, same average as 2004, with 9 home runs and 44 RBI in 128 games for Colorado...played in 4th-most games among Rockies in '05, also the most of any season in his pro career...joined J.D. Closser and Cory Sullivan as the only position players on the 25-man roster for the entire season without a stint on the disabled list or in the minors...ranked among team leaders in doubles (3rd, 25), sac bunts (3rd, 8), hits (4th, 118), extra base hits (4th, 34), total bases (4th, 170), multi-hit games (4th, 35), hit by pitch (T4th, 6), runs (6th, 51), and RBI (7th, 44)...had 10 go-ahead RBI, T5th-most on club, and 15 infield hits, T3rd-most among Rockies...made starts at 6 different positions; 2nd base (66), shortstop (16), right field (5), 3rd base (4), first base (3), and left field (1)...his 66 starts at 2nd base was 2nd-most on team, as he did not commit an error in 317 total chances at the position...joined Jim Thome as only infielders to have 300 or more chances at a position without an error in 2005...Thome was perfect in 434 total chances at first base...in addition to Gonzalez and Thome, just 3 other players had 300 or more chances at their respective positions without an error: new teammate, catcher Yorvit Torrealba (0 e/406 tc), and outfielders Shawn Green (0 e/317 tc) and Vernon Wells (0 e/363 tc)...overall, had a .991 fielding percentage (4 e/452 tc) in the field, 2nd-best on the club behind only Todd Helton's .996 mark...hit .294 at home, but his .290 clip on the road led the Rockies' offense...also paced the team with a .380 batting average against left-handed pitchers, a figure which would have been 3rd-best in the majors, had he qualified, behind only David Bell (.400) and Bengie Molina (.393)...went 3-for-19 with 3 RBI as a pinch-hitter...hit first home run of the season in the 9th inning on May 4 at San Diego off Chris Hammond, breaking a 6-6 tie in Rockies' eventual 8-7, 12-inning loss...matched his career high with an 8-game hit streak from May 17-29...posted first 3-hit game on May 13 in an 18-3 win over the Diamondbacks...finished the month of May with a .293 average, 2nd-best clip on the Rockies behind Desi Relaford (.315)...beginning July 1, batted .304 (78-for-257) in his final 74 games to rise from .272 to .292...went 3-for-6 with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI on Aug 6 at Arizona...hit safely in 13 of 15 games from August 6-21, batting .328 (21-for-64) in that span...beginning Aug. 26, started 25 of the Rockies' final 35 games at 2nd base...matched his career high with 4 hits and posted career-high 4 RBI on Sept. 20 vs. San Diego in a 20-1 victory...capped his season with a 3-for-5 performance on Oct. 2 at Shea Stadium in the last game of the season...batted .333 with 5 HR and 34 RBI in 52 games for Oriente in Venezuelan Winter League...ranked among league leaders in hits (5th), RBI (5th), and average (T9th).
2004
The first Rule 5 draftee to ever make the club out of spring training, Luis was Colorado's
Opening Day starter at second base and went on to hit .292 with 12 homers and 40 RBI while seeing action
at five different positions...he made 71 starts, 33 at second base, 11 in left field, 10 at third base, 9 in right
field, 7 at shortstop and 1 at DH...ranked third among NL rookies and fourth among all rookies in batting
average, the third highest average by a rookie in team history behind Todd Helton in 1998 (.315) and Aaron
Miles in 2004 (.293)...finished sixth among NL rookies in slugging (.469), eighth in both doubles (17) and
multi-hit games (25) and ninth in hits (94), home runs, RBI and total bases (151)...Gonzalez took off over
the final two months of the season, when he batted .362 in August and .404 in September...only Seattle's
Jeremy Reed (.423) and Helton (.414) had better averages in September...Gonzo's .385 combined average
(40-for-104) in those two months was the third highest in baseball, trailing Ichiro Suzuki (.419) and J.T.
Snow (.393)...finished the season so hot that despite going hitless in his last 6 at bats, he still batted .467
(14-for-30) in his final 11 games...Luis had an eight-game hitting streak from Sept. 18-26, during which he
hit a whopping .583 (14-for-24)...made his major league debut as the Opening Day starter at second base
on April 6 and went 2-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBI in Colorado's 6-2 victory at Bank One Ballpark...singled
off Mike Koplove in the seventh inning for his first big league hit and then belted a 2-run homer off Jose
Valverde in the ninth to put the game out of reach...he joined Jay Gainer (1993), Helton (1997) and Jason
Jennings (2001) as the only players in Rockies history to homer in their major league debut...that same
day, Arizona's Luis E. Gonzalez hit 2 home runs of his own, making it just the second game in major league
history in which two players with the same name homered in the same game...the other occurrence came
on Sept. 14, 1990, when Seattle's Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. went back-to-back off California's Kirk
McCaskill at the Big A...Luis served as Colorado's everyday second baseman for much of May, starting 17
games at second, including a stretch of seven starts in-a-row from May 25-31...moved back into more of a
utility role after Aaron Miles was recalled at the end of that month...tied a club record with 7 at-bats on May
11 vs. Pittsburgh, a 15-10 Rockies loss in 12 innings...had a pair of 4-hit games in his rookie campaign,
May 25 vs. San Diego and then again Aug. 1 vs. Arizona...struggled in the early going against lefties, hitting
just .100 vs. LHP (4-for-40) through the All-Star Break...following the break was a different story, as he
batted .389 (22-for-57) vs. LHP...after hitting 9 of his first 12 homers off righties, Luis hit all 3 of his final
HR off southpaws...homered in back-to-back games, Sept. 13-14 at Arizona, including just the 18th
"splashdown" home run ever hit by an opponent into Bank One's swimming pool on Sept. 14...belted 2 of
Colorado's club-record tying 11 pinch-hit home runs, April 21 vs. Los Angeles and Aug. 31 at San Francisco,
and was a combined 7-for-21 (.333) as a pinch hitter...earned the first-ever Abby Greer Award as
Colorado's Spring Training Most Valuable Player after batting .393 (22-for-56) during Cactus League
Play...participated in the Venezuelan Winter League following the season where he ranked fifth in the
league in average (.341) and fourth in on-base percentage (.422) for Oriente.
2003
Played six different positions in helping Double-A
Akron to the 2003 Eastern League Championship...finished sixth in the league
with a .318 average, runner up to only Victor Martinez (.329) in the Indians
farm system...set career highs in games (116), hits (137), total bases
(188), triples (4) and RBI (62)...struck out only once every 12.02 plate
appearances, third best in the circuit...saw action at first base (43
games), second base (32), left field (14), third base (12), shortstop (6),
right field (1) and 11 games as the club's DH...found himself hitting in
every spot of the batting order at least once...posted a .313 clip vs.
left-handed pitching and .320 vs. righties...consistent throughout the year,
Gonzalez compiled a .290 average or better in every month, including a
season-high .419 mark in July...on June 6 vs. Reading, he became just the
third player in franchise history to hit for the cycle (4-for-5)...equaled a
franchise-hits record by going 5-for-5 on May 9 vs. Norwich...selected to
play in the Double A All-Star Game and went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the
contest...hit .367 (11-for-30) in the Eastern League playoffs with 8 runs, 5
doubles, a homer and 4 RBI in seven games...played for Oriente in the
Venezuelan Winter League following the season, where he ranked seventh in
average (.321) and tied for second with 51 RBI.
Career:
A Rule 5 selection this past December, Luis
makes his first appearance on a major league roster...the versataille
24-year old routinely plays all four infield positions as well as the
outfield.
2002
Opened at Double A for the first time in his career and spent almost the entire season with
Akron...played all four infield positions with most of his action coming at second base (31 games)...was promoted to Triple-A Buffalo June 14 where he went 2-for-19 (.105) in six games before being sent back on June 28...season
ended on July 31 due to a left wrist strain...had surgery on the wrist Sept. 4.
2001
Ranked third in the Indians organization with a .310 combined
average between Kinston (High-A) and Akron (AA)...played exactly 52 games at
both levels and set a career-high with 10 home runs...began the year with
Kinston of the Carolina League where he hit .322 to earn a promotion to
Akron on June 25...went 10-for-25 (.400) in his first six games at Class
AA...compiled a 17-game hitting streak from July 12-31, batting .390
(23-for-59) with 4 walks and only 4 strikeouts.
2000
Spent the entire year
at High-A Kinston...went on the disabled list, June 12-25 with a bruised
left knee and then Aug. 16-remainder of the year with left wrist soreness.
1999
Spent all year with Single-A Columbus except for one game at Kinston
on June 17...appeared in 35 games at SS, 23 games at 3B and 22 games at
2B...on DL, May 20-27 with a left elbow contusion.
1998
Made his debut
in the states with Columbus (A) of the South Atlantic League...was on the
disabled list, May 5-23 with a right wrist sprain.
1997
Debuted as a
pro in the Venzuelan Summer League after signing as a non-drafted free agent
with the Indians on July 5, 1996.
