Baseball, Class of 2017
Ruben Gonzalez was a record breaking machine while playing for the Santa Ana College Baseball team in 1985 and 1986. At the end of his time with Santa Ana, he held 14 different records in both career and single season categories combined.
He still holds several of those records, including most career runs batted (120) and consecutive hits (13).
In 1985 Gonzalez posted a batting average of .428, with 17 doubles, 11 home runs, and 53 runs batted in. He followed that performance with 15 homeruns and 67 runs batted in at an average of .432 during the 1986 season.
Gonzalez was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 13th round of the MLB draft after the 1986 season but elected to continue his collegiate career at Pepperdine University. He was later drafted again, this time by the Seattle Mariners, where he spent five years playing in the club’s minor league teams.