Geremis Segundo González Acosta (January 8, 1975 – May 25, 2008) was a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who played for the Chicago Cubs (–),

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ve ...

(–),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

(),

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

() and Milwaukee Brewers (2006). In his rookie season he led the Cubs with 11 wins, but he was unable to continue that success in later seasons. He was known as Jeremi González until he was traded to the Brewers in 2006, at which time he informed the team of the proper spelling.

Professional career

González was born in Maracaibo,

Zulia State Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It ...

. The Cubs signed him as a non-draft amateur free agent in , and he was a highly touted young arm in the Cubs system. He made his debut in 1997, posting a record of 11–9 and finishing ninth in voting for the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

's Rookie of the Year Award. He also pitched for the Cubs in 1998, then pitched in the minor leagues for nearly five years between three surgeries and a variety of injuries. In 2003, he was rewarded by Tampa Bay with the ''Out of Nowhere Award''. González ended up being the Rays' most consistent pitcher, despite his 6–11 record. He allowed three runs or fewer in 17 starts, but received the lowest run support of any

AL East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

starter (3.91 runs per game). He finished with a 3.91

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

and 97 strikeouts in 156 innings. González was the pitcher on June 3, 2003, when Sammy Sosa was caught using a corked bat. Early in the 2005 season, González started three games for the Boston Red Sox, going 1–1 with a 6.65 ERA. Boston optioned him to the Triple-A

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

in late May 2005, then recalled him to the major league club in early July to try to fill a hole in the back end of their bullpen. He appeared in Game 1 of the AL Division Series, a 14–2 loss to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

, and allowed four runs in 2⅓ innings, including a three-run

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

Scott Podsednik Scott Eric Podsednik (; born March 18, 1976) is an American former professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Best known for his baserunning, Podsednik led the major leagues in stolen bases in with 70, in times caught stea ...

. In 2006, González started three games for the Mets but performed poorly. During the season, he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for pitcher Mike Adams. González started five games for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Triple-A affiliate, the

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, in , before being released. In a six-season majors career, González posted a 30–35 record with 354 strikeouts and a 4.93 ERA in 131 appearances, including 83 starts, four complete games, two

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s, and 572 ⅔ innings pitched. González is one of 583 pitchers to have faced Barry Bonds six or more times in his career and the only one of that group never to have allowed him to reach base. On May 9, , the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

of Japan's

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

signed González. He became the fifth Venezuelan player to play in the JCL during the 2007 season, joining fellow countrymen

Alex Cabrera Alexander Alberto Cabrera (born December 24, 1971) is a Venezuelan first baseman and right-handed batter who played in 2000 for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball and for 12 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball. Also played sev ...

, Darwin Cubillán, Luis González and

Alex Ramírez Alexander Ramón Ramírez Quiñónez (born 3 October 1974) is a Venezuelan-born Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who had a long career in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He is the first foreign-born player to record 2 ...

Death

González died after being struck by

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

in Punta Palma,

Zulia Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It ...

on May 25, 2008.

References

External links

, o
Japanese Baseball
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Pelota Binaria (Venezuelan League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Geremi 1975 births 2008 deaths Accidental deaths in Venezuela Águilas del Zulia players Arizona League Cubs players Arizona League Rockies players Boston Red Sox players Chicago Cubs players Daytona Cubs players Deaths from lightning strikes Durham Bulls players Huntington Cubs players Iowa Cubs players Lansing Lugnuts players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Milwaukee Brewers players Natural disaster deaths in Venezuela Navegantes del Magallanes players New York Mets players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Norfolk Tides players Oklahoma RedHawks players Orlando Cubs players Pawtucket Red Sox players Peoria Chiefs players Rockford Cubbies players Baseball players from Maracaibo Syracuse Chiefs players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Japan Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players Williamsport Cubs players Yomiuri Giants players

Professional career

Death

See also

References

External links