Adrian Gonzalez Archives

I Have An Idea

August 25, 2012

After watching tonight’s Yankees loss to the Indians involving numerous bases loaded opportunities with dismal results, I think a new strategy is in order. The boys need to pretend there’s no one on base. That’s right. They should get up to the plate, ignore the fact that there are teammates standing on first, second and third, and have at it.

Well, why not. These games where they can’t score with RISP are just too frustrating – especially because Kuroda, who struggled early but made adjustments like the pro he is, pitched his heart out – again.

With the Rays losing, the Yanks had a chance to widen their lead, but no. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Nothing else to say except it was pretty cool that Adrian Gonzalez homered in his first at bat as a Dodger. And Beckett? He looked….blue.

While We Sat Idly By Today ….

May 7, 2012

…there was lots of non-Yankees news.

Cole Hamels was suspended five games for hitting Nats rookie sensation Bryce Harper. (I agree with the Nats manager who cursed out the plunking. What kind of a message does a veteran pitcher need to send to a newbie? So lame.)

The Rangers (NHL) beat the Caps in overtime. (Yay. Michael’s ecstatic.)

And Adrian Gonzalez seems to be assuming the role of Red Sox scapegoat. Is the venom warranted? No idea, but take a look at Pete Abraham’s column on Boston.com:

KANSAS CITY — As the Red Sox sink further into the abyss (they are 18-36 since Sept. 1), Adrian Gonzalez has started to receive some of the fan backlash usually reserved for Josh Beckett.

So let’s look at the numbers and determine whether that’s warranted. For the purpose of this discussion, RBIs are not going to be a major talking point because they are too contingent on things out of a batter’s control. And there will be no harping on the 27 games played this season. That’s 16 percent of the season.

Here’s a look at sample sizes that do mean something:

Gonzalez since he joined the Red Sox: .327/.398/.522 over 186 games with 29 home runs and 132 RBIs. Hard to argue with any of that. You’d like to see more home runs, but a .920 OPS is impressive. Since the start of the 2011 season, only 12 players in the game have a higher OPS.

Gonzalez at Fenway Park since he joined the Red Sox: .332/.395/.488 over 94 games with 11 home runs and 58 RBIs.

This is a little odd. Gonzalez has hit for a higher average at Fenway but his slugging percentage drops by 6.5 percent. When he was acquired from the Padres, it was widely expected that Fenway Park would be a haven for him and all those balls that died on the warning track at Petco Park would be home runs.

That has not been the case. Gonzalez averaged a home run every 24.7 at-bats at Petco. He is averaging a home run every 34.2 at-bats at Fenway.

Gonzalez since the 2011 All-Star break: .302/.382/.455 with 12 home runs. Here’s a problem. Gonzalez has an .837 OPS in his last 97 games and that is well below expectations. He is 70th in baseball in slugging percentage since last July 15.

That’s right, 70th.

Gonzalez at Fenway Park since the 2011 All-Star break: .284/.357/.381 with 3 home runs and 22 RBIs in 50 games.

Bingo. Here is why people are so mad. Gonzalez is averaging one home run per 65.66 at-bats at Fenway Park since last July 15. You have a better chance of getting a moderately priced beer at Fenway than you do of seeing a $21 million player hitting a home run.

Gonzalez likes to say that he doesn’t try to hit home runs. And of course, that makes total sense. No hitter should go up to the plate trying to hit home runs.

But he did average just over 32 home runs in his five seasons with the Padres whether he was trying to or not. At the moment, he has hit 29 in 186 games with the Red Sox.

Here’s a few ideas about what’s going on:

1. Health: Gonzalez had shoulder surgery after the 2010 season and it’s probably no coincidence that his power has dropped since then. Last season seemed to wear him down and the power has not returned this year.

Why the Red Sox allowed him to participate in the 2011 Home Run Derby remains a mystery. That was an amazingly dumb decision.

2. The opposition: Gonzalez is facing better pitching on a daily basis in the American League than he did in the National League. That should be offset by his being in a better lineup, however.

3. The pressure of expectations: It’s crushing Albert Pujols, so who’s to say it’s not weighing on Gonzalez? He exudes an outward calm, but his trade to Boston and subsequent contract extension came with the pressure to perform and live up to the hype.

4. A different culture: San Diego is not Boston. Baseball is not part of the daily fabric of life in San Diego like it is in the Hub. If Gonzalez went into a slump in San Diego, it was not a matter of civic concern. In Boston he probably has people flipping him off at traffic lights.

I also think the clubhouse culture bothered him last year. Gonzalez is a quiet guy who spends a lot of time watching video and preparing for games. Then he suddenly found himself in a place where “rally beers” were acceptable. He wants to be a leader and can’t seem to figure out how best to do that.

So what happens now? Did the Red Sox give a $154 million deal to a first baseman who is going to hit like Wade Boggs?

Probably not. Gonzalez is only 30 and still very much in his prime. He’s going to figure it out and produce. But it’s fair to say that those lofty numbers at Fenway Park everybody was envisioning may prove to be just a fantasy.

And that’s just Abraham’s two cents. In another piece on the site, writer Chad Finn said this:

Gonzalez has the charisma of a rosin bag.

Ouch. Is “charisma” really necessary for a ballplayer to succeed? Or is the word just a euphemism for lack of effort? If I were a Boston fan, I wouldn’t write off A-Gon just yet. Good players don’t suddenly go bad unless they’re hurt. Well, not usually.

Robinson Cano = Babe Ruth?

July 11, 2011

Hardly, but Cano’s win tonight in the Home Run Derby was pretty impressive. Congrats to both Robbie and his dad. They made a terrific team. Does he have a great smile or what? If only he didn’t have to wear a RED shirt.

I didn’t watch the whole show; I meant what I wrote a while back about the whole All-Star shebang and I particularly can’t stand Chris Berman and his “back, back, back” shtick. But it was worth a look-in every now and then to see Grandy, Martin and D-Rob acting as cheerleaders/photographers/water boys for their teammate and to see Cano edge out Adrian Gonzalez in the end (of course, it came down to Yankees-Red Sox).

Just an observation but should a baseball stadium have a swimming pool?

And another thing. Could people stop ragging on Derek Jeter for skipping the All-Star game? I’ve been reading way too many articles about how it’s his duty to appear, because he’s an ambassador of the sport and because so many fans voted for him. Take this Yahoo piece, for instance.

My opinion? Yes, he played in every inning after he came off the DL and was in pursuit of hit #3,000, but he’s also played in a bazillion All-Star games. If he wants to rest his calf or any other part of his anatomy, he’s earned it. No one loves baseball more than he does. And no one has done more for baseball than he has. Enough said.

Pretty Soon It’ll Seem Like Old Times

January 14, 2011

YANKEES-RED SOX brawl — (courtesy AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

ESPN announced their lineup of Sunday night games the other day, and their second one of the season – the April 10th contest – will be Yankees/Red Sox at Fenway. I realize it’s still January but seeing that actual games will be played on actual dates makes the start of the 2011 campaign seem more real, doesn’t it? Like it’s really happening? It does to me.

Of course, while certain aspects of Yankees-Red Sox will seem like old times (the “Yankee suck” chants, the lusty boos for A-Rod and Tex, the presence of familiar villains like Pedroia and Youkilis), it’ll be interesting to see how newcomers Crawford and Gonzalez play into The Rivalry. And it’ll be weird not to have Joe Morgan and Jon Miller to kick around anymore.

The good news is that spring really is around the corner, despite this photo that Friend of the Blog John (aka ooaooa) sent me of his picturesque, snow-covered backyard. Gotta love his taste in barns.

Pretty Soon It'll Seem Like Old Times

January 14, 2011

Those Red Sox People Are So Amusing

January 3, 2011

Here’s the headline that generated my laughter today.

2011 Red Sox Will Challenge 1927 Yankees for Title of Greatest Team in Major League History

It was from a blog on NESN that was brought to my attention by Paul Lebowitz’s blog earlier. Now don’t get me wrong; the Red Sox made terrific deals to upgrade their team this off-season, and my Red Sox fan friends (yes, I do have a few) are rightfully delirious with their shiny new acquisitions, just as we were when CC, AJ and Tex landed in our laps. But “the greatest team in major league history?”

That’s just plain hilarious. For starters, I wouldn’t be caught dead writing a headline like that, given how superstitious I am. (Talk about a jinx.) For another thing, isn’t it a little nutty to make such a grandiose prediction this early, particularly after 2010 when the Red Sox were supposed to be locked and loaded and instead ended up sending everybody to the DL? And finally, the author of this masterpiece decided to compare the 2011 Red Sox with the 1927 Yankees?

There’s a reason the ’27 Yanks were called “Murderers’ Row.” (And it wasn’t because they had a bunch of murderers on the team, which reminds me: Did everyone read about O’s pitcher Simon? Allegedly, he shot and killed a guy in the Dominican over the weekend and wounded another. I hate when that happens.) Babe Ruth hit 60 homers that year and Gehrig 47, and the others in the lineup were no slouches, either. The team dominated, absolutely dominated. So my question is this…Will the 2011 Red Sox dominate in the same way? Can any team dominate in the same way, given the competition these days? And who would comprise Boston’s Murderers’ Row? Crawford and Gonzalez are really good but are they Ruth and Gehrig? Are Pedroia and Youkilis? No doubt they’ll all score a ton of runs, but I’m just not ready to anoint them as the “greatest team in major league history.” That’s like saying the chicken and barley stew I made last night was the “greatest comfort food in culinary history.” I mean, it was excellent, if I do say so myself, but….Well, you get my drift.