When Luis Gonzalez hit a bloop single off of Mariano Rivera in game seven of the 2001 World Series to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a title, he reached a hero status in Arizona that will likely never dissolve. Eight years later with Gonzalez's professional baseball career over, he may not be cashing in on that affection in Arizona.
I learned something new today. Believe it or not, Luis Gonzalez is still in baseball! I know! I know, I was surprised too. Apparently, he spent all of last year coming off of the bench with the Marlins, which is probably why I failed to notice his continued existence in baseball. I mean, hey, I could tell you who won the World Series in 1924 off the top of my head (the Washington Senators), but I've got to cap the knowledge somewhere and I draw the line somewhere well before whoever the Marlins fourth outfielder is.
Perhaps even more impressive, though, isn't that he played last year. No, it's that someone is still interested in him this year. Indeed, the Pittsburgh Pirates are attempting to fill out their bench and use up some remaining money they had earmarked for salary this year and they appear to be interested in adding Gonzo for that role this year. The Post-Gazette, which is reporting the story, says that two other teams are also interested. though I can't imagine who else they would be.
I touched on this during yesterday's Mets-Marlins live blog but having just read Dan Le Batard's entire column about Luis Gonzalez, I thought it deserved a bit more attention. Gonzo was signed by the Marlins in the offseason to provide a veteran presence on an apple-cheeked squad and install a sense of professionalism to a clubhouse that lacked it. I won't argue that point, Scott Olsen gives more than enough reason to believe it, but I will argue about Gonzalez's ability to improve professionalism.
Le Batard calls him a "professional's professional," but would such a man help lead a clubhouse insurrection in the middle of a pennant race? The Dodgers melted down last season even as young players ascended to the big leagues and played well. Why? They got verbally smacked down by veteran leaders like Jeff Kent and Gonzalez at every opportunity for one thing. Professional's professionals understand that there are times when the team benefits from someone else, a 684 second-half OPS perhaps, and doesn't complain about losing ABs.
The Marlins are a young team but, at Gonzo's positions, they have players who have proven they can handle the major leagues. Jeremy Heredia and Josh Willingham will both outhit Gonzalez and shouldn't lose at-bats to a player with one foot in the retirement home. Time will tell if Gonzalez understands his role and the Marlins should be more amenable to youngsters than the Ned Coletti/Grady Little Dodgers but I won't be shocked if June brings playing time complaints from South Florida.
If you're new to these proceedings, click here and here to catch up on what you've missed.
If you're not into the extended catch-up, you've missed a six-run Mets fourth and a two-run Josh Willingham home run and some entertaining fat men dancing. Johan Santana's on his way to his first Mets win, we'll see if he can get it after the jump.
Hopefully you're moving over from the Innings 1-3 coverage but if not and need to catch up, check it out here.
Johan Santana's been everything the Mets expected to this point but he's getting everything he can handle from Mark Hendrickson. On a basketball court, that wouldn't be surprising but we're playing baseball here. Let's see how both men do as they start facing people for the second and third time. For now we're scoreless and heading into the top of the fourth.
If you're looking for a feeling of rebirth, there ain't much better than Opening Day. Blank slates abound, last year's failures are but a fleeting memory and everybody's in first place. Nope, it doesn't get much better than that.
Unless, of course, you have all those things plus your first look at the best pitcher in baseball wearing your team's uniform for the first time in a game that counts. It's Johan Santana's Mets coming out party and the Marlins are playing both host and cannon fodder for the man who has launched World Series dreams all across Queens.
I'll be here for every one of his pitches (and Mark Hendrickson's too!). Sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Luis Gonzalez is forty years old and will spend his 2008 season with the Florida Marlins, a team whose combined age does not equal forty. I think the oldest player on that team is Billy Marlin, and I think he was supposed to be "born" when he debuted.
There isn't much to say that hasn't already been said on Fanhouse, but I'd like to add "Jeffrey Loria is running his team like a SimCity game he's tired of, so now he's just going to put in a bunch of combustible elements and watch with mild glee as Bowser tramples Florida."
I think he just wanted a guy who'd been a corn maze. You trade the Gonzo, you trade ya bongos, after the jump.
Luis Gonzalez is inexplicably still playing baseball. Actually, that's not inexplicable at all: Luis wants to continue to make money for playing a game many of us would play for free, and he wants to do it in sunny Florida. Nothing wrong with that.
"It's a bunch of good young players here," said Gonzalez, who spoke at a fan event at Dolphin Stadium on Saturday. "Hopefully, the way I approach the game could rub off on a couple guys and they realize that if they're out there competing and playing hard, it's going to make a difference."
"I've always been vocal in the clubhouse and I'm very energetic," he said. "I enjoy being at the ballpark ... I like to have fun but I like to compete too. It's all about going out there and winning."
Sounds innocuous enough, but when you consider Gonzalez's 2007 season in Los Angeles -- in which he fought side-by-side with Jeff Kent to undermine the Dodgers' youth movement -- Gonzalez's words sound a little more ominous. "Rub off on a couple guys." "Going out there and winning." "Vocal in the clubhouse."
The going rate for baby-sitters is usually between $5 and $15 an hour. So what's the going rate for a veteran baseball player to mentor a group of young kids with a payroll less than Alex Rodriguez? Apparently, it's two million bucks.
Free agent outfielder Luis Gonzalez and the Florida Marlins have reached a preliminary agreement on a $2 million, one-year contract. Gonzalez must pass a physical for the deal to be finalized, a person familiar with the negotiations said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the team had not yet announced the deal.
The contract for the 40-year-old Gonzalez includes $1 million in performance bonuses. The agreement was first reported by foxsports.com. Gonzalez, who has spent most of his career in left fielder, likely will be Florida's fourth outfielder. Left fielder Josh Willingham and right fielder Jeremy Hermida return as starters.
If your team is in a position where they have to employ either kids that are too green or veterans that are well past their prime, you could do worse than Gonzalez ... who has a 57 HR season and a World Series Game 7 walk off hit on his resume, giving any advice he could give to guys like Willingham and Hermida some weight to it. And if Gonzalez has to actually play every day, then they're getting a guy who hit .278 with 15 HR's and drove in 68 runs as a 39-year-old. Not bad for a reach into the bargain bin.
When Luis Gonzalez hit a bloop single off of Mariano Rivera in game seven of the 2001 World Series to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a title, he reached a hero status in Arizona that will likely never dissolve. Eight years later with Gonzalez's professional baseball career over, he may not be cashing in on that affection in Arizona.
Back in early February, 
I learned something new today. Believe it or not, 
I 
The going rate for baby-sitters is usually between $5 and $15 an hour. So what's the going rate for a veteran baseball player to mentor a group of young kids with a payroll less than 
