Geremi Gonzalez

From SoSH

Geremi Gonzalez

Born:	January 8, 1975
Birthplace:	Maracaibo, Venezuela
Hometown:
Height:	6' 2"
Weight:	200 lbs
Bats:	Right
Throws:	Right
Drafted:	1991: Amateur Free Agent by the Chicago Cubs
College:	None
High School:	Colegro la Chinita (VZ)
Other Teams:	Chicago Cubs 1997-98 Tampa Bay Rays 2003-04 New York Mets 2006 Milwaukee Brewers 2006
Years with Boston:	2005

Geremis Segundo González Acosta (born January 8, 1975 in Maracaibo, Venezuela; died May 25, 2008 in Punta Palma Miranda del Zulia, Venezuela) was a right-handed major league pitcher who also played in Japan.

1 Overall Career
2 Moments in the Sun
3 Trivia
4 Transactions
5 External Links

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Overall Career

The Chicago Cubs signed Gonzalez on October 21, 1991, when he was just 16. He spent six seasons in Chicago's minor league system, starting 82 of 113 games, before making his debut with the Cubs on May 27, 1997. Gonzalez logged 255 big league innings in 1997 and 1998 before a series of catastrophic knee injuries. He missed nearly all of the 1999 and 2000 seasons, pitching sparingly in the minors for the Cubs before they released him in spring 2001. He missed the entire 2001 season as well.

Gonzalez signed with the Texas Rangers and spent 2002 with AAA Oklahoma City, where he transitioned to relief work by pitching 41 of 46 games out of the bullpen. Granted free agency after the season, he signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and returned to a starting role, posting a surprising 3.91 ERA (112 ERA+) and 1.28 WHIP in 156.1 innings in 2003 on a 99-loss ball club. On July 18, 2003, he pitched eight shutout innings against the Rangers, yielding just five hits and a walk while striking out six.

He spent the next three years shuttling between the majors and minors for the Devil Rays, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers. After signing with Boston in 2005 a week after his 30th birthday, he started off 5-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 11 starts for AAA Pawtucket, striking out 62 and walking just 14. He earned a mid-season call-up to Boston and was reasonably effective in his first two starts (5 ER in 10.2 IP with 13 Ks and 2 walks), but was shelled in his third outing against the Seattle Mariners (7 ER in 3.1 IP). That prompted a shift to the bullpen for the remainder of the season, where he logged a 5.57 ERA and .276 BAA in 25 relief outings covering 40 innings. Gonzalez was especially effective against right-handed hitters (.246 BAA in 138 PA) while lefties hammered him (.340 BAA in 106 PA).

After being released by the Brewers after the 2006 season, Gonzalez signed with the Toronto Blue Jays. He pitched well in 5 starts with AAA Syracuse, going 2-1 with a 2.78 ERA, 25 strikeouts and just 11 walks, and was granted free agency when he wasn't promoted to Toronto prior to May 1. Gonzalez then signed with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Central League, but lasted just four starts (19.1 innings) before being released. He returned to his native Venezuela and pitched locally for the Magallanes Navigators in 2007 and 2008.

On May 25, 2008, Gonzalez was killed after he was apparently struck by lightning at 9:30 pm while on a beachfront dock with a friend in the coastal town of Punta Palma Miranda del Zulia, Venezuela. He was 33.

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Moments in the Sun

Won a major sexual favor in a deal with a female SoSHer by pitching three scoreless innings in a game on August 23, 2005. This deal made him a SoSH legend, though he never cashed in on the deal. Myth tells that she still has a bottle of KY with his name on it.
Pitched 3 no-hit relief innings for the Sox in Kansas City against the Royals in a 5-2 Boston win on 8/23/05. It capped a stretch of 11.2 straight shutout innings for Geremi, where he allowed just 3 singles and a walk over 6 games.

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Trivia

Formerly known as "Jeremi Gonzalez", the spelling of his name was changed to the proper Geremi when traded to the Brewers in 2006.
Pitched for Venezuela in the 2006 Caribbean World Series.

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Transactions

Geremi Gonzalez douses Manny Ramirez after the Sox beat the Yankees on the final day of the 2005 season, 10-1, on October 2. The win tied Boston with New York for first place in the AL East, but the Yanks were awarded the division crown based on their better head-to-head record against the Sox while Boston earned a Wild Card playoff berth.

October 21, 1991: Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent.
March 13, 2001: Released by the Chicago Cubs.
December 18, 2001: Signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.
October 15, 2002: Granted Free Agency.
November 20, 2002: Signed as a Free Agent with the Tampa Bay Rays.
November 23, 2004: Released by the Tampa Bay Rays.
January 17, 2005: Signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.
October 14, 2005: Granted Free Agency.
January 24, 2006: Signed to a minor league contract by the New York Mets.
May 13, 2006: Called up by the New York Mets.
May 26, 2006: Traded by the New York Mets to the Milwaukee Brewers for Mike Adams.
October 12, 2006: Released by the Milwaukee Brewers.
November 10, 2006: Signed to a minor league contract by the Toronto Blue Jays.
May 9, 2007: Signed on to pitch for Japan's Yomiuri Giants.