René González (August 5, 1918 – May 9, 1982) was a Cuban professional baseball player. A native of

Cienfuegos, Cuba Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 150,000. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, especial ...

, González was a first baseman/ outfielder who batted and threw right-handed. González was a consistent hitter who spent most of his career in

Mexican baseball The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

(1947–1949, 1951–1956), where he won three consecutive batting titles (1952–54) including the Triple Crown in 1952. An eight-time .300 hitter, he collected 1144

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

in 3459

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

s for a .331 batting average during nine seasons. In 1950, González played for the New York Cubans in the Negro leagues. After that he played for the

Patriotas de Venezuela The Patriotas de Venezuela baseball club was a founding member of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in its inaugural season of 1946. Team history The Patriotas, based in Caracas, played its home games at the now-extinct Estadio Cerveza ...

club of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League during the 1951–1952 season. He finished with a .357 batting average and led the league in home runs (10),

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

(56), hits (74), doubles (18) and slugging % (.739). Later, he played as a reinforcement for the Navegantes del Magallanes in the

1951 Caribbean Series The third edition of the Caribbean Series (''Serie del Caribe'') was played in 1951. The Series inauguration on February 21 was delayed due to heavy rain and it was held from February 22 through February 26, including two double-headers on Februar ...

, where he led the Venezuelan offensive with a .333 average and two home runs, while his 11 RBI topped the tournament. González also played in Cuba and Nicaragua up until 1958, his last season. Following his baseball retirement he returned to his Cuba homeland, where he died aged 63. In

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

he was inducted into the

Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame The Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Profesional de México (in English, Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame), commonly called the Salón de la Fama (Hall of Fame) is a baseball hall of fame and museum located in Monterrey, Nuevo León. ...

Sources

*Antero Núñez, José. ''Series del Caribe''. Jefferson, Caracas, Venezuela: Impresos Urbina, C.A., 1987. *Gutiérrez, Daniel. ''Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela''. Caracas, Venezuela: Editorial La Brújula, C.A., 1997.
MLBlogs.com – René González fue un Gigante en el Caribe
(Spanish Biography)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Rene 1918 births 1982 deaths Alijadores de Tampico players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Mexico Diablos Rojos del México players Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees New York Cubans players Patriotas de Venezuela players Sportspeople from Cienfuegos Rojos del Águila de Veracruz players Tomateros de Culiacán players Tuneros de San Luis Potosí players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Nicaragua Cuban expatriates in the United States