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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 catch ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Rice Owls The Rice Owls are the sports teams representing Houston's Rice University in college sports. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of the American Athletic Conference, Rice sponsors ...

from 1992 to 1995 and played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for 12 seasons from 1997 to 2008. From 2022 to 2025 he was the head baseball coach of Rice. Cruz was born in

Arroyo, Puerto Rico Arroyo () is a Arroyo barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality located along the southern coast of Puerto Rico and bordered by the Caribbean Sea, east of the municipality of Guayama, Puerto Rico, Guayama and northwest o ...

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

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. He attended high school in

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

, when his father was a member of the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

. After graduation from Bellaire, Cruz enrolled at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

and played baseball for the Owls, starting for three seasons prior to being selected in the first round of the 1995 draft. The

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

selected Cruz in the first round of the

1995 Major League Baseball draft The 1995 Major League Baseball draft began June 1995 to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 1994 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks were distributed for players who did not s ...

. He played 12 years as an outfielder in 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) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

from 1997 to 2002, the

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

in 2003, the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

in 2004, the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

in 2007 and the

in 2008. In 2021, Cruz was named the assistant hitting coach of the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

, 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

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 and Tommy Cruz.

Career

Cruz grew up in

and attended Bellaire High School (class of 1992) where he played baseball.Tolson, Mike.
Bellaire police shooting unearths unease
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, 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''. ...

''. 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 Toron ...

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 Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

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 "La Leche", is a Venezuelans, Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Ne ...

and

Vladimir Guerrero Vladimir Guerrero Alvino (born February 9, 1975), nicknamed "Vlad the Impaler", is a People of the Dominican Republic, Dominican former professional baseball player who spent 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right fielder and des ...

were the others). He was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

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. It is awarded at each fieldin ...

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), also referred to as the Classic, is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the sport's global governing body, and organized in World Baseball Clas ...

. In the tournament, Cruz hit .353 with a .476

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

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 Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

signed him to a minor league deal. On November 28, 2007, he signed a minor league deal with the

. 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

. On June 9, 2021, Cruz was hired as the head coach of the

. On March 13, 2025, Cruz was fired as the head coach at Rice after starting the season 2-14 and posting a 63-126 record during his tenure.

Head coaching record

Personal life

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

in the

2020 MLB draft The 2020 Major League Baseball 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 standings. In ad ...

Awards

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

in 2003 as a member of the Giants.

References

External links