José Luis Cruz Jr. (born April 19, 1974), is a Puerto Rican

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

coach and former

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

, who is the current head baseball coach for the

Rice Owls Rice University athletic teams are known as the Rice Owls. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of Conference USA, Rice sponsors teams in seven men's and seven women's NCAA sanct ...

. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

at Rice University from 1992 to 1995 and played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for 12 seasons from 1997 to 2008. In 2021, he returned to his alma mater, Rice. Cruz was born in

Arroyo, Puerto Rico Arroyo () is a town and municipality located along the southern coast of Puerto Rico and bordered by the Caribbean Sea, east of the municipality of Guayama and northwest of the municipality of Patillas. Arroyo is spread over 5 barrios and Ar ...

. His father José Cruz was a baseball player and coach, and the family lived in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. He attended high school in

Bellaire, Texas Bellaire is a city in southwest Harris County, Texas, United States, within the metropolitan area.. Retrieved on January 24, 2010. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city population was 17,202. It is surrounded by the cities of Houston and West ...

, when his father was a member of the Houston Astros. After graduation from Bellaire, Cruz enrolled at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

and played baseball for the Owls, starting for four seasons. The

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

selected Cruz in the first round of the

1995 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1995 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Background Outfielder Darin Erstad of the University of Nebraska was the first pick in the 1995 Rule 4 Draft. Erstad ...

. He played 12 years as an outfielder in the MLB, with Seattle in 1997, the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

from 1997 to 2002, the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

in 2003, the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ve ...

in 2004, the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

in 2005, the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

in 2005, the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

from 2005 to 2006, the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

in 2007 and the Houston Astros in 2008. In 2021, Cruz was named the assistant hitting coach of the Detroit Tigers, but he left the position on June 12 to accept the head coaching job at Rice University. He is the son of former major league outfielder and Houston Astros

first base coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

José Cruz, and the nephew of former big leaguers

Héctor Hector () is an English, French, Scottish, and Spanish given name. The name is derived from the name of Hektor, a legendary Trojan champion who was killed by the Greek Achilles. The name ''Hektor'' is probably derived from the Greek ''ékhein'', m ...

and Tommy Cruz.

Biography

Cruz grew up in

and attended Bellaire High School where he played baseball.Tolson, Mike.
Bellaire police shooting unearths unease
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

''. January 11, 2009. Retrieved on January 11, 2009. Cruz attended

from to and was a member of

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

in 1994. He was also a three time All-American while at Rice, setting virtually all possible offensive records. Cruz was a first round pick, 3rd overall, for the

in the 1995 amateur draft and began his major league career on May 31, . He was not in Seattle very long and was traded to the

for

Paul Spoljaric Paul Nikola Spoljaric (born September 24, 1970) is a Canadian former left-handed professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four different teams between 1994 and 2000. Biography After being signed by the Toront ...

and

Mike Timlin Michael August Timlin (; born March 10, 1966) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. Timlin played on four World Series championship teams in an 18-year career; the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays, 1993 Toronto Blue Jays, 2004 Bost ...

on July 31, 1997. As of the 2019 season, Cruz holds record for most home runs in the first season of a career having played for two or more clubs. He stayed in Toronto until and twice hit at least 30

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s with the Blue Jays. One of those was in , when he also stole 32 bases to become one of three players to record 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases during that season (

Bobby Abreu Bob Kelly Abreu (; ; born March 11, 1974), nicknamed "El Comedulce" and also "La Leche", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, New York ...

and

Vladimir Guerrero Vladimir Alvino Guerrero Sr. (born February 9, 1975), nicknamed "Vlad the Impaler", is a Dominican former professional baseball player who spent 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right fielder and designated hitter. He played for ...

were the others). He was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

on January 28, 2003. In San Francisco, he won a

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

and broke Willie Mays' franchise single-season record for outfield assists with 19. He was later acquired as a free agent by the

in . In , Cruz Jr. played for three teams, the

and finally the

. Although injured most of the year, Cruz ended the season on a tear, hitting .301 with six homers as a Dodger. Cruz was picked to play for Puerto Rico in the

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Lea ...

. In the tournament, Cruz hit .353 with a .476 on-base percentage in five games helping Puerto Rico reach the second round. The Dodgers designated Cruz for assignment on August 1, 2006, and eventually released him. Cruz later signed a contract with the San Diego Padres and played for them for a portion of the season. Cruz was placed on unconditional release waivers by the Padres on August 1, 2007. On August 18, 2007, the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

signed him to a minor league deal. On November 28, 2007, he signed a minor league deal with the Houston Astros. At the end of the spring training, he was added to the 40-man roster. He was later designated for assignment. Cruz has worked as a

analyst for ESPN (Baseball Tonight) and MLB.com. Cruz said that he moved from Bellaire after being arrested by Bellaire police for a missing front license plate on a newly purchased car and spending one night in jail in 2002. Cruz accused the police of racial profiling. On December 8, 2020, Cruz was named assistant hitting coach for the Detroit Tigers. On June 9, 2021, Cruz was hired as the head coach of the

Head coaching record

Personal life

Cruz's son Trei Cruz was drafted in the third round, 73rd overall, by the Detroit Tigers in the

2020 MLB draft The 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season ...

Awards

Toronto Blue Jays team MVP in 2001. Cruz won the NL

in 2003 as a member of the Giants.

References

External links