A sad note, former Cub pitcher, Jeremi Gonzalez was killed on May 25th in Venezuela when he was struck by lightning. Jeremi was 11-9 in 1997 & 7-7 in 1998, before being out of MLB for nearly five years due to three surgeries and a variety of injuries.
In 2003, he was rewarded by Tampa Bay with the Out of Nowhere Award. Gonzalez 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 starter. He was known as Jeremi Gonzalez until he was traded to the Brewers in 2006, at which time he informed the team of the proper spelling of his name.
At the time of his passing, Geremi Gonzalez was only 33 years old.
I picked Gonzalez as a rookie in the Illowa APBA rookie draft. When I first heard about this, I did a double take. I wasn’t sure it was him because of the different name spelling.
I don’t know how I missed hearing about this at the time, but this is a tragic event. I enjoyed watching Jeremi try to break in with the Cubs. God Bless him and his family.
Just heard about this…so awful.