José Cruz

Infobox MLB retired
name=José Cruz


position=Outfielder
bats=Left
throws=Left
birthdate=birth date and age|1947|8|8
Arroyo, Puerto Rico
deathdate=
debutdate=September 19
debutyear=by|1970
debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals
finaldate=July 19
finalyear=by|1988
finalteam=New York Yankees
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.284
stat2label=Hits
stat2value=2,251
stat3label=Stolen bases
stat3value=317
teams=
* St. Louis Cardinals (by|1970-by|1974)
* Houston Astros (by|1975-by|1987)
* New York Yankees (by|1988)
highlights=
* 2x All-Star selection (1980, 1985)
* 2x Silver Slugger Award winner (1983, 1984)
* Houston Astros #25 retired

José Cruz (born August 8, 1947 in Arroyo, Puerto Rico) is a former outfielder and currently the first base coach in Major League Baseball for the Houston Astros. A member of one of Puerto Rico's most famous major league families, he is the brother of former major leaguers Héctor, and Tommy Cruz.

Nicknamed "Cheo", many baseball fans refer to him as Cheo Cruz. He and his wife, Zoraida, make their home in Houston. They have four children: Jose Javier, Shakira, José Jr. an outfielder for the Houston Astros and Enrique Cruz, an infielder in the New York Mets minor league system.

Career

Cruz debuted with the St. Louis Cardinals in by|1970. It was as a member of the Houston Astros, however, that he became a household name across Puerto Rico and the United States. He made the All-Star Game in by|1980 and by|1985. During his playing days, he was arguably the most famous baseball player (not counting the late Roberto Clemente) in Puerto Rico.

Cruz was traded to the New York Yankees in by|1988, retiring at the end of the season. He had a total of 165 home runs and 1077 RBI during his career, while hitting for a .284 batting average.

Cruz has been involved with all nine of Houstons postseason appearances, three as a player (1980, 81 and 86) and six as a coach (1997-99, 01, 04-05). As a player in the poststeason, he hit .400 in the dramatic five-game series against Philadelphia in the 1980 NLCS. Cruz represented the Astros in the MLB All-Star Game in 1980 at Los Angeles, and 1985 at Minnesota. He finished 3rd in NL MVP voting in 1980 and 8th in 1984. He won the NL Silver Slugger award as an outfielder in 1983 and 1984.

Cruz had played in more games than any other player in the history of the Houston franchise (1,870) before being passed by Craig Biggio in 2001. In 2000, Cruz coached from first base as Biggio surpassed many of his other long-standing franchise records, including at-bats, hits and total bases. His 80 triples remains an Astros' record as does his 6 career walk-off home runs. His last home run, on July 17, 1988, was a grand slam against the Chicago White Sox in a 7-4 loss. [cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE5DF123AF934A25754C0A96E948260|title=BASEBALL; Cruz's Grand Slam Fails to Lift Yanks|accessdate=2008-09-11 |work=The New York Times|publisher= |date= ]

MLBBioRet


Name = José Cruz
Number = 25
Team = Houston Astros
Year = 1992|In 1992, Cruz was honored by the Astros, when the team retired his number, #25. In 1999, Cruz was selected by a panel of experts as one of three outfielders on the All-Astrodome team. In 2003, he was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2005, he agreed to coach for the team representing Puerto Rico in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, which was managed by José Oquendo, and included his own son, José Cruz, Jr.

After retiring from baseball Cruz managed in both the Texas-Louisiana League and the Puerto Rican Winter League before returning as a coach to the Astros. This is his 11th year with the team, and he is currently the First Base Coach.

ee also

* List of major league players with 2,000 hits
* List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
* List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
* List of second generation MLB players
* Players from Puerto Rico in MLB
* List of famous Puerto Ricans
* Top 500 home run hitters of all time
* Afro-Puerto Ricans

References

External links

*baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br=c/cruzjo01 |fangraphs=1002841 |cube=C/Jose-Cruz-2