Former US Major League Baseball and Japanese league pitcher Geremi Gonzalez was killed by a lightning strike in his native Venezuela, a government official said Monday. Emergency management official Herman Bracho says the 33-year-old Gonzalez was at the beach in western Venezuela and was on a pier when lightning struck him on Sunday night. Gonzalez began his MLB career with the Chicago Cubs in 1997 and later played with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Boston Red Sox, the Milwaukee Brewers and the New York Mets. He last played in the US in 2007 with the Toronto Blue Jays during spring training but was released before opening day. He moved to Japan where he pitched in five games for the Yomiuri Giants.
