Post by John on Jun 9, 2006 9:09:15 GMT -4
A-Gon earns A-plus: Produces with approach at plate
June 9, 2006
Boston Herald
NEW YORK - By the time the Red Sox finished off their 9-3 victory over the Yankees last night at The Stadium, it seemed only a blur, a faded memory, that it was little Alex Gonzalez with the .219 batting average who was the hero.
Sure, you'll be talking a lot today about how Curt Schilling, the ace of the Boston staff, worked eight innings to become the American League's first nine-game winner.
And, yes, you'll be buzzing about Jason Varitek, whose sluggish bat finally awakened with an RBI single in the sixth inning and a three-run homer in the seventh.
But you expect impressive pitching performances from the Schill, just as you expect offense from the Captain. You expect Coco Crisp to run like the wind. You expect Kevin Youkilis to find a way to get on base. You expect Mike Lowell to smack liners into the left corner and then to trot into second with a double.
And then there's Alex Gonzalez. If they gave out hitting awards on the Red Sox, he's the guy who would get the "Perfect Attendance" ribbon for never missing batting practice.
Let's be frank: Most Red Sox fans have reached something of an accord with this quiet man from Venezuela, agreeing not to expect much offensively so long as he continues his brilliant, eye-popping defensive play at shortstop.
You've seen the Web Gems, one after another after another. He leaps, he dives, he pivots. A couple of weeks ago, as I watched rookie David Pauley's debut in Toronto on television, Gonzalez was so magical in turning a double play that I kept rewinding the digital recorder to see how he did it. And I still don't know.
When Gonzalez stepped to the dish in the sixth inning last night, the game tied, 'Tek representing the go-ahead run on third, was anyone thinking hit?
You know the agreement: Applaud the leather, look past the swings and misses.
But on this night, in this at-bat, he wasn't Alex Gonzalez. He was Wade Boggs, fouling off pitch after pitch, timing Yankees reliever Scott Proctor, waiting for the good offering, the fat one, the hittable one.
It was an eight-pitch at-bat, culminating with a grounder inside the third base bag that handcuffed the game's other Alex, that being Rodriguez. They called it an error at first, and that was the wrong call. A replay was looked at, a change made, and Alex Gonzalez - A-Gon, if you'd like - had a richly deserved double.
"I know fans like my defense," Gonzalez said afterward.
Yet, in saying those words, he was not willing to concede his role as a batsman. For when he was asked how he felt about the good-glove, no-hit tag that's been glued to his back like a uniform number, he smiled and said, "Everybody likes to hit. It's a long season. I know I can hit. You just have to stay strong. You have to stay strong mentally."
Stay strong? Gonzalez was a veritable hardball Hercules last night. Watch his at-bat again, watch him foul off the good Proctor curves, waiting for the right pitch, and you sense that, yes, sooner or later, he's going to get his pitch.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona put it this way: "When you go that deep in an at-bat, you start to feel more comfortable."
Alex Gonzalez is not going to be the 2006 AL MVP. He is A-Gon, not A-Rod. But just as Pokey Reese and Orlando Cabrera electrified the shortstop position for the Red Sox in recent years, it's possible this new guy is even better.
"And when he's at bat, he fights," Sox DH David Ortiz said. "People look at the batting average, but they don't realize how much he fights in every at-bat for his hit.
"It's fight, fight, fight for that guy. You do that every time you're up there, you'll get your (expletive) and win a game now and then."
Copyright 2006 by BostonHerald.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
June 9, 2006
Boston Herald
NEW YORK - By the time the Red Sox finished off their 9-3 victory over the Yankees last night at The Stadium, it seemed only a blur, a faded memory, that it was little Alex Gonzalez with the .219 batting average who was the hero.
Sure, you'll be talking a lot today about how Curt Schilling, the ace of the Boston staff, worked eight innings to become the American League's first nine-game winner.
And, yes, you'll be buzzing about Jason Varitek, whose sluggish bat finally awakened with an RBI single in the sixth inning and a three-run homer in the seventh.
But you expect impressive pitching performances from the Schill, just as you expect offense from the Captain. You expect Coco Crisp to run like the wind. You expect Kevin Youkilis to find a way to get on base. You expect Mike Lowell to smack liners into the left corner and then to trot into second with a double.
And then there's Alex Gonzalez. If they gave out hitting awards on the Red Sox, he's the guy who would get the "Perfect Attendance" ribbon for never missing batting practice.
Let's be frank: Most Red Sox fans have reached something of an accord with this quiet man from Venezuela, agreeing not to expect much offensively so long as he continues his brilliant, eye-popping defensive play at shortstop.
You've seen the Web Gems, one after another after another. He leaps, he dives, he pivots. A couple of weeks ago, as I watched rookie David Pauley's debut in Toronto on television, Gonzalez was so magical in turning a double play that I kept rewinding the digital recorder to see how he did it. And I still don't know.
When Gonzalez stepped to the dish in the sixth inning last night, the game tied, 'Tek representing the go-ahead run on third, was anyone thinking hit?
You know the agreement: Applaud the leather, look past the swings and misses.
But on this night, in this at-bat, he wasn't Alex Gonzalez. He was Wade Boggs, fouling off pitch after pitch, timing Yankees reliever Scott Proctor, waiting for the good offering, the fat one, the hittable one.
It was an eight-pitch at-bat, culminating with a grounder inside the third base bag that handcuffed the game's other Alex, that being Rodriguez. They called it an error at first, and that was the wrong call. A replay was looked at, a change made, and Alex Gonzalez - A-Gon, if you'd like - had a richly deserved double.
"I know fans like my defense," Gonzalez said afterward.
Yet, in saying those words, he was not willing to concede his role as a batsman. For when he was asked how he felt about the good-glove, no-hit tag that's been glued to his back like a uniform number, he smiled and said, "Everybody likes to hit. It's a long season. I know I can hit. You just have to stay strong. You have to stay strong mentally."
Stay strong? Gonzalez was a veritable hardball Hercules last night. Watch his at-bat again, watch him foul off the good Proctor curves, waiting for the right pitch, and you sense that, yes, sooner or later, he's going to get his pitch.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona put it this way: "When you go that deep in an at-bat, you start to feel more comfortable."
Alex Gonzalez is not going to be the 2006 AL MVP. He is A-Gon, not A-Rod. But just as Pokey Reese and Orlando Cabrera electrified the shortstop position for the Red Sox in recent years, it's possible this new guy is even better.
"And when he's at bat, he fights," Sox DH David Ortiz said. "People look at the batting average, but they don't realize how much he fights in every at-bat for his hit.
"It's fight, fight, fight for that guy. You do that every time you're up there, you'll get your (expletive) and win a game now and then."
Copyright 2006 by BostonHerald.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.