Luis Gonzalez

Luis Emilio Gonzalez (born September 3, 1967), better known as Luis Gonzalez, is a baseball player for the Arizona Diamondbacks. A Cuban-American, Gonzalez is one of the most popular players of that organization. Gonzalez is a native of Tampa, but he and his family (which includes wife Christine and triplets Megan, Jacob and Alyssa) are residents of Scottsdale.

Gonzalez graduated from Jefferson High School in Tampa in 1985, attending the University of South Alabama. He earned Baseball America's All-Freshman Second Team honors while there.

Gonzalez became a Major Leagues baseball player, with the Houston Astros in 1989. His first season there, he hit 13 home runs. In 1994, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers, and later on, briefly, to the Chicago Cubs. He was traded once again, to the Diamondbacks, in 1999.

It was in Arizona that he would become a household name. He helped the Diamondbacks into title contention immediately, helping them win the National League's western division in '99 before falling to the Mets in 4 games in a divisional playoff series. In 2000, the Diamondbacks came in second place in their division.

In 2001. Gonzalez established himself as a bona-fide slugger when he hit 55 home-runs, his personal mark for one season. The Diamondbacks reached the World Series, and Gonzalez became the hero, when, down 2 to 1 and with two outs in the ninth inning of Game Seven against the Yankees, Gonzalez hit a single that scored Craig Counsell and Mark Grace. This moment was selected as one of Major League Baseball's most important moments by a league committee recently.

Gonzalez continues to play for Arizona, where he has a series of promotional contracts with some important firms, such as Shamrock Milk and others.