ARLINGTON, Texas — Juan Gone is coming back.
Texas Rangers legend Juan Gonzalez is making a return to the club for a pregame ceremony and first pitch Friday night.
Gonzalez, a Puerto Rico native, was inducted into the Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015, but he didn't attend the ceremony and hasn't publicly appeared with the team or at a Rangers game in nearly two decades. He'll receive his club Hall of Fame jacket in Friday night's ceremony, before Texas plays the Seattle Mariners.
It was never quite clear why Gonzalez has stayed at a distance from the Rangers, though the club did trade him at his peak, after the 1999 season. The deal sent Gonzalez to the Detroit Tigers for a haul of young players, including Frank Catlanotto, Francisco Cordero and Gabe Kapler.
But none of the trade pieces matched, or came close, to what Gonzalez did with the Rangers during a remarkable run in the 1990s.
From 1991 to 1999, Gonzalez smacked 335 homers, drove in 1,056 runs and hit 2.96 with a .922 OPS for Texas, winning the American League MVP in 1996 and 1998.
In that second MVP season, Gonzalez drove in a whopping 157 runs.
Gonzalez had a solid first season in Detroit before signing with Cleveland as a free agent in 2000, when he earned his third all-star nod. Gonzalez returned to Texas in 2002 and 2003 but only managed to play around half of the team's games.
He retired after a short stint with the Royals in 2004 and a one-game appearance for Cleveland in 2005.
Gonzalez is sure to get a warm welcome at the Rangers' game Friday night. Alongside Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, Gonzalez in 1996 helped power Texas to its first playoff appearance since the club moved to Arlington.
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