Jimmy Gonzalez, East Hartford’s Greatest

A young, talented catcher from East Hartford, Connecticut, named Jimmy Gonzalez caught the eyes of local scouts in his junior year at East Hartford High School. During the summer of 1991, Gonzalez was selected as the 40th player overall in the Major League Baseball Draft – a first round draft pick of the Houston Astros. He went on to play fourteen seasons in professional baseball with the San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos and New York Mets organizations. Gonzalez played with Mike Piazza, David Ortiz, Miguel Tejada and Tony Gwynn. He was an understudy of Gary Carter and Dave Engle. He also spent 4 seasons of winter ball in the Dominican Republic, capturing two Caribbean Series championships.

Jimmy Gonzalez, Catcher, East Hartford High School, 1990.
Hartford Courant excerpt, 1991.
Jimmy Gonzalez, East Hartford High School, 1991.
Jimmy Gonzalez, East Hartford High School, 1991.
Jimmy Gonzalez, East Hartford High School, 1991.

Gonzalez is a graduate of the Major League Scout School and has worked with the Boson Red Sox as an Associate Scout. He has been a minor league manager in the Chicago Cubs organization for the past 6 seasons and was named Manager of the Year in the Midwest League in 2016. Most recently, Gonzalez was at the helm of the South Bend Cubs in 2018 but has since been promoted. Gonzalez was hired for the 2019 season as the new Manager of the Tennessee Smokies in the Southern League – the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

Jimmy Gonzalez Topps Stadium Club card, 1992.
Jimmy Gonzalez Topps Stadium Club card, 1992.
Jimmy Gonzalez, Catcher, Quad City River Bandits, 1993.
Jimmy Gonzalez, Houston Astros, Bowman card, 1993.
Jimmy Gonzalez, Houston Astros, Bowman card, 1993.
Jimmy Gonzalez, Catcher, Quad City River Bandits, 1993.
Jimmy Gonzalez, Catcher, Osceola Astros, 1994.
Jimmy Gonzalez, Catcher, Binghamton Mets, 2000.
Jimmy Gonzalez, Manager, South Bend Cubs, 2016.
Jimmy Gonzalez, Manager, South Bend Cubs, 2016.

Career stats – https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=gonzal001jim

Jimmy Gonzalez, Manager, Tennessee Smokies, 2019.
Jimmy Gonzalez, Manager, Tennessee Smokies, 2019.

Jimmy Gonzalez, Manager, Tennessee Smokies, 2019.

Dom Amore: East Hartford’s Jimmy Gonzalez Was There At Right Time For Gleyber Torres – https://www.courant.com/sports/baseball/hc-sp-amore-column-gonzalez-0529-story.html

One comment

  1. Hi Jimmy. I Was The Store Manager For Stop And Shop In East Hartford And I Did Your Taxes One Tear. I’m Leo Leary And It Was A Pleasure To Work With You. I Have Your Tops Card #564 “Draft Pick” Card I Believe It’s From 1991 .
    I’m Happy You Had A Long Career.
    If You Would Like To Have It, E Mail Me At Leodebi@Comcast.Net
    I’ll Be Happy To Send It To You, That Was Twenty Two Years Ago.
    Wow, Time Does Fly. I Have Been Retired Sence 2007
    Your Friend From The Past. Leo Leary

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