Orlando Eugene González (born November 15, 1951) is a

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

, who played in

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), ...

during three seasons for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

, Philadelphia Phillies, and Oakland Athletics. He batted and threw

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...

. González came to the United States from Cuba with his family at nine years old and went on to play baseball at

Miami Senior High School Miami Senior High School, also known as Miami High School, is a public high school located at 2450 SW 1st Street in Miami, Florida, and operated by Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Founded in 1903, it is one of the oldest high school in Miami ...

Miami Dade College Miami Dade College (Miami Dade, MDC or Dade) is a public college in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1959, it has a total of eight campuses and twenty-one outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County. It is the largest college in the Florida College S ...

and the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

. He was named to the

College Baseball All-America Team College Baseball All-America teams are selected each year by various organizations and consist of players who compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and National Junior ...

after batting .402 and stealing an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

-record 62 bases in 1974 and was featured in '' Faces in the Crowd'' in the August 5, 1974 issue of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

''."''Faces in the Crowd''," ''Sports Illustrated'', August 5, 1974.
Retrieved October 23, 2020 He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 18th round (410th overall) of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft.

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Orlando González
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) 1951 births Living people Cardenales de Lara players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Cleveland Indians players Daytona Beach Explorers players Gold Coast Suns (baseball) players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from Cuba Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Miami Hurricanes baseball players Oakland Athletics players Oklahoma City 89ers players Philadelphia Phillies players San Antonio Brewers players Toledo Mud Hens players All-American college baseball players Miami Senior High School alumni {{Baseball-first-baseman-stub