IN: Juan Alberto Gonzalez Vazquez (born October 20, 1969), nicknamed "Igor", is a former Major League Baseball right fielder. During his 16 years in the league, Gonzalez played for four teams, but is more remembered for his two stints with the Texas Rangers (1989-1999, 2002-2003). One of the premier run producers and most feared hitters of the 1990s, Gonzalez averaged 37 HR and 117 runs batted in per season from 1991 to 1999. He won the AL MVP award twice in that time span, 1996 and 1998.

On January 8, 2002, Gonzalez made his return to Arlington by signing a two-year $24 million contract with the Texas Rangers. He hit .282/.324/.451 (94 OPS+) the first year in 70 games. On June 18, he participated in the first MLB game ever with four players with 400+ home runs to that point. Rafael Palmeiro and Fred McGriff joined Sosa and Gonzalez in a game which Texas lost to the Chicago Cubs, 4-3. His first season back in Arlington he had a .358 (29-81) average versus Lefties and hit .328 (21-64) with runners in scoring position while posting a .307 mark(42-137) in Arlington. He hit just .171 (6-35) with 2 homers and 4 RBI as the DH. He had Texas' only hit, a leadoff double in the 8th, off Cory Lidle on July 19 at Oakland.  In 2003, Gonzalez started the first few weeks rather slowly. He had a .230 average with 4 homers and 8 RBI in his 1st 18 games through April 20. He quickly picked it up though and went on a .349 (29-83) tear with 9 homers and 24 RBI in his next 21 games, improving to .293 by May 5. As of May 7, Gonzalez was tied for the Major League Lead in HR with 12. He followed that up by going just 8-for-39 (.205) in his next 9 games, falling to .276 through May 25. He started a hot streak yet again though by hitting .321 (42-131) with 10 homers and 36 RBI in the next 34 games. But his season was cut short by a tear in his calf muscle on July 19. At the time, Gonzalez was hitting .294 and ranked 3rd in HR (24) 4th in SLG% (.572) and 7th in RBI (70) in the AL. Gonzalez was on pace to recapture his 2001 Indians form, but the tear lingered and the injury proved to be the end of his season.  Gonzalez hit 2 homers in a game 4 times: April 5 vs. Seattle; April 29 and May 1 at Toronto and July 10 against Minnesota. His 47 career multi-homer games are 12th most all-time. He also hammered 5 homers in 3 games, April 29 - May 1 at Toronto, the 4th time in Rangers history that feat had been accomplished. He had a season best 5 RBI on April 29 at Toronto and drove in 4 runs in a game on 3 occasions. Gonzalez had 18 RBI in a 9-game span, April 22 - May 1, including 10 in 3-game series at Toronto, April 29 - May 1. He was selected as A.L. co-player of the week for April 28 - May 4. He also had a season high 9-game hitting streak, June 3-17.  He started 57 games in right field and 24 games as the designated hitter. He did not make an error in 108 total chances in the outfield and was tied for 6th in the league in outfield assists (10), despite his short season. He ranked 5th on the club in home runs (24), and completed his 11th season with 20 or more home runs. The Rangers, however, were preparing for a youth movement and on October 26, 2003, he was granted free agency.

did he win any awards?

OUT: AL.


IN: Renaissance are an English progressive rock band, best known for their 1978 UK top 10 hit "Northern Lights" and progressive rock classics like "Carpet of the Sun", "Mother Russia", and "Ashes Are Burning". They developed a unique sound, combining a female lead vocal with a fusion of classical, folk, rock, and jazz influences. Characteristic elements of the Renaissance sound are Annie Haslam's wide vocal range, prominent piano accompaniment, orchestral arrangements, vocal harmonies, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, synthesiser, and versatile drum work. The band created a significant following in the northeast United States in the 70s, and that region remains their strongest fan base.

Sometime in 1971, new manager Miles Copeland III decided to re-organise the band, focussing on what he felt were Renaissance's strong points - Haslam's voice and Tout's piano. Will Romano in Mountains come out of the sky explained that "unlike many of the artists to which they were compared Renaissance allowed the piano and female voice to come to the forefront". Until then Haslam had shared vocals with Terry Crowe, who was in effect the band's chief vocalist. Crowe and Korner went, the former unreplaced, the latter replaced by a succession of bass players, including John Wetton (later of King Crimson, UK, and Asia), Frank Farrell (later in Supertramp) and Danny McCulloch (formerly of The Animals and a former bandmate of Dunford and Crowe in The Plebs), until the position settled with the inclusion of Jon Camp. It was also decided that Dunford would now concentrate on composing, and a new guitar player, Mick Parsons, was brought in for live work. In 1972, shortly before recording sessions for the new band's debut LP, drummer Terence Sullivan joined after Slade's initial replacement, Ginger Dixon, was deemed unsuitable following a European tour. Parsons died in a car accident and was replaced at short notice by Rob Hendry. The resulting line-up entered the studio having played only a dozen gigs together.  Prologue was released later in 1972 on EMI-Sovereign Records in the UK and on Capitol-Sovereign in North America. Prologue's music was, except for two songs by McCarty, composed by Dunford, with all lyrics by Thatcher-Newsinger. Rock radio stations (particularly in the northeast US and Cleveland) gave the song Spare Some Love significant airplay for a few months after the album's release, and fans of Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer in particular, took notice of the band. Francis Monkman, of the group Curved Air (another group managed by Copeland), was a guest on VCS3 synthesiser on the final track "Rajah Khan".  Hendry was replaced for the Prologue tour by Peter Finberg, who in turn left the group shortly before the sessions for the next album. Michael Dunford then returned as (acoustic) guitarist, completing what most fans regard as the classic five-piece line-up, which would remain together through six studio albums. Ashes are Burning was released in 1973. Andy Powell, of the group Wishbone Ash, was brought in for a blistering electric guitar solo on the final track "Ashes are Burning", which became the band's anthem piece, extended to almost twenty minutes with a long bass solo and other instrumental workouts. (John Tout returned Powell's favour by playing organ on Wishbone Ash's 1972 album Argus.) The album became the band's first to chart in the US, where it reached No. 171 on the Billboard 200. The band played their first US concerts during that period, enjoying success on the East Coast in particular, which soon resulted in a special orchestral concert at New York's Academy of Music in May 1974. Soon Renaissance would choose to concentrate on the US market, as the UK press virtually ignored them.

What happened in 1971?

OUT:
Sometime in 1971, new manager Miles Copeland III decided to re-organise the band,