Yuli Gurriel – An Astros Legend

Yuli, Lourdes Sr & Jr

Houston Astros fans will long remember Yuli Gurriel as a valuable and popular player for their team. He contributed to two World Series Championships with Houston, and he qualifies as an Astros legend. Now 40 years old and a member of the Kansas City Royals, Yuli received a warm welcome and applause from the Minute Maid Park crowd and his former teammates in early September. 

Before the September 1 game between the Astros and the Royals, the Astros showed a video tribute to Yuli and introduced him to the appreciative crowd. Astros players stopped their pre-game warmups to watch the video, in appreciation for their long time former teammate. In the Kansas City lineup as the DH, Yuli, in typical Yuli clutch fashion, drove in a run with a 6th inning single. 

Born in Cuba in 1984, the son of Lourdes Gurriel, Sr., a skilled and famous Cuban baseball player, Yuli followed his father into Cuban baseball. In the early 2000s, he became one of Cuba’s best, representing his birth country in international play, including winning a Gold Medal winner in the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Gurriel, Sr. spent his entire career playing in Cuba, but Yuli and his brother, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., had eyes on a bigger prize. Yuli was allowed to sign a contract in 2014 to play in Japan, for Yokohama in the Nippon Professional Baseball League, but in February 2016, he and Lourdes, Jr. while playing for Cuba in the Caribbean Series in the Dominican Republic, defected from Cuba. Both signed professional contracts that year in the U.S. – Yuli with Houston, and Lourdes with the Toronto Blue Jays.

 

Already an established, experienced player, Yuli appeared in just 15 minor league games at four levels before the callup to the Astros. His Major League debut came at age 32 on August 21, 2016, as the designated hitter, going 1 for 2 with a walk. The man known as La Piña – the pineapple, after his unusual and interesting hair style – hit .262 in 36 games that season. In 2017, he played 1B, 2B, 3B, and DH in 139 games, batting .299 with 18 home runs and 75 RBI. He finished 4th in the A.L. Rookie of the Year voting and cemented his place as a fan favorite, helping the Astros to their first World Series championship in franchise history.

Yuli’s best season came in 2021, when he won the A.L. batting title with a .319 average, 2nd in on base percentage at .383. He won the Gold Glove at 1B that year, the oldest man to win that award at the position. 

 

He played 7 seasons for the Astros from 2016-2022, hitting .284 in 810 regular season games, and .267 in 85 post season games. His Astros career ended in 2022, when the team released him. 

 

Yuli wasn’t the greatest hitter in history, nor was he the greatest first baseman (a damn good one though), but he was a consummate pro, a team player who fit perfectly with the Astros. He doesn’t have Hall of Fame stats like Astros Craig Biggio or Jose Altuve, but Yuli was for sure a great Astro. He was then and will always be an Astros legend and a Houston fan favorite. 

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Larry Manch is an author, teacher, guitar player, freelance writer, and columnist. He has written 24 books; available in paperback and e-book on Amazon.com.

 

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