Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Geremi (aka Jeremi) Gonzalez died yesterday in Venezuela after being struck by lightning while on a personal watercraft at Lake Maracaibo in the western state of Zulia.
“It was raining and he got down off his watercraft to grab another one,” his friend Antonio Olmos, who witnessed the incident, told the Venezuelan newspaper Panorama. “At that moment, lightning struck him in the neck and broke a gold chain he was wearing.”
Gonzalez, 33, started his major league career in 1997 with the Chicago Cubs and went on to pitch for the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets. He last pitched in the majors in 2006 with Milwaukee and played in 2007 in Japan after being released by the Toronto Blue Jays in spring training.
The right-handed Gonzalez was with the Red Sox in 2005 appearing in 28 games with 3 starts. He was 2-1 with a 6.11 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. He appeared in one playoff game for the Red Sox in their three game loss to the Chicago White Sox pitching 2.1 innings in the 14-2 loss in Game 1 of the ALDS.
Overall in 6 major league seasons he was 30-35 in 131 games (83 starts) with a 4.93 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP.
Gonzalez was known as Jeremi Gonzalez until 2006 when he informed the Brewers of the correct spelling of his name.
la aficion del cardenales de lara siempre te recordara como un pelotero carismatico…
[Comment ID #21474 Will Be Quoted Here]
Loosely translated to mean:
the fans of the cardinals of lara always would like to remember you as a charismatic ballplayer…
he had played with them this year I believe in his native Venezuela.
Camara,
Gracias por su comentario. Siempre es una tragedia cuando alguien tan joven nos deja demasiado pronto.
He did play for them in the Venezuelan winter league.
Marcos Scutaro, Adam Jones, Cesar Izturis, Jose Lopez, and Juan Rincon were among some of his teammates.