Fredi Gonzalez, Former Manager, Atlanta Braves

Date of Birth: 1/28/1964
Birthplace: Holguin, Cuba

Fredi Gonzalez started his baseball career in 1982 as a catcher with the NY Yankees' minor leagues. He played in the minors for six years before moving on to an assistant coach position at a university. After two years coaching, Gonzalez got his first managerial position in the minor leagues. His first major league position didn't come until 1999, when the Florida Marlins hired him as their third base coach. From there he moved to the Atlanta Braves, working in both their minor leagues and with the Braves. He stayed with the Braves from 2002 through 2005.

In 2007, Gonzalez went back to the Marlins, this time to become their manager. He held that position until he was fired in June, 2010. During his tenure as manager of the Marlins, the team never finished above second place but they did have two out of four winning seasons (2008 with an 84-77 record and .522 win percentage and 2009 with an 87-75 record and .537 win percentage).

When Bobby Cox, the Atlanta Braves' longtime manager, retired at the end of the 2010 season, Gonzalez was hired as his replacement. Although he hasn't been able to lead the Braves to a playoff winning record, he has led them to winning seasons in 2011, 2012, and 2013. They had an 89-73 record with a .549 win percentage in 2011, with a second place finish in the AL East division. Their records for 2012 and 2013 were even better, with a 94-68 win-loss record and a win of the Wild Card in 2012 and a 96-66 record and first place finish in the National League East division in 2013. The 2014 season, however, was not good, with the Braves finishing in a tie with the New York Mets for second place in the NL East division with a 79-83 record.

Gonzalez and the Braves had a bad year in 2015, finishing in fourth place in the NL East division with 67 wins to 95 losses. They started off to an even poorer start in 2016 and after just nine wins and 28 losses, the Braves fired Gonzalez on May 17, 2016.

In a little over nine years as a major league manager, Gonzalez had a 710-692 win-loss record.

The Marlins hired Gonzalez as their third base coach on November 7, 2016.

Gonzalez was the bench coach for the Baltimore Orioles in 2020 and 2021.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Fredi Gonzalez
Baseball Reference - Fredi Gonzalez