Hanging Up My Jersey

Whoops... didn't mean to scare you with that title post... no I am not retiring from W&C... in fact, tomorrow is my 3 Year Bloggi-versary (and they said it wouldn't last... wait a minute, maybe it was me who said it wouldn't last?)...

No, I am literally hanging up my jersey... my Luis Gonzalez Diamondback baseball jersey...

There is no joy in our own little "it's a dry heat" version of Mudville today...

The Diamondbacks decided not bring back Luis Gonzalez next year.  Now granted Gonzo he had a $10 million option ... which even I would admit was a tad much for an aging (gasp! 39 year old!) left fielder... but the buzz is that Luis was willing to negotiate/take a pay cut to stay with the team... but word has it, he was pretty much shown the door before he or "his people" could open their mouths.

The irony in all this?  The agent who negotiated that boffo deal for Gonzalez now owns the Diamondbacks! 

Now, I am no Polly-Anna here, I know this is a "business"... its all about "the future" and cost-cutting... and we've certainly seen Valley popular athletes come and go... after the Diamondbacks won the World Series in 2001... as seems to be the case with most Championship rosters, the dismantling of the team began... and these new owners also managed to boot out former owner and Arizona sports icon Jerry Colangelo... who was largely responsible for bringing a MLB franchise to the Arizona in the first place (let alone his interests in the NBA Suns and NHL Coyotes).  This new "corporate" handling of the Diamondbacks certainly leaves little (if any!) room for emotion... and it certainly doesn't appear to grasp the concept of intangibles.

Gonzalez is the "face of the franchise" and most certainly in the upper echelon of Arizona professional sports history.   He is wildly popular with fans, more often than not receiving the biggest cheers when the starting line-ups are announced.  He seems to be genuinely nice guy... though there have been unsubstantiated whispers of illegal substance use and he has had a whiny streak or two (what major professional athlete hasn't?!)... but in a sports world where it is increasingly difficult to find anyone worthy of "role model" status, Luis was always worthy of admiration.

And, for goodness sakes, he is on milk bottles for the local dairy... and, as the father of adorable triplets, has even done commercials for child safety car seats!

Oh... one other thing...  he made the frickin' hit that won us the World Series... in Game 7, in the bottom of the 9th, with two outs against the Yankees!   And I just got goosebumps just writing that...

For that reason alone, he was worthy for another year or two of astronomical salary... heck, the just let the guy talk and seen how much of a pay cut he was willing to take to remain with the team.  He pretty much has just another season or two left... so instead of retiring as a Diamondback, he will close out his career with some other team.

And it is not like he is exactly washed up at the moment... he leads the leagues in doubles... with 545 career doubles, he is currently 20th on that all-time doubles list... many times this season one of his doubles moved him passed some Hall of Famer (umm... do Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth ring a bell?) on this list... so that alone was exciting aspect of this otherwise (and another!) lackluster Diamondbacks season.

But get this... the owners allegedly have offered him a front-office or broadcasting job when he retires... well, this is certainly not a nice way to treat a future employee.

So Gonzo has 7 more home games with the Diamondbacks and I am sure he will some comfort (and hopefully a fair share of smug satisfaction) from what will be a rousing fan tribute every time he steps up to the plate or walks out to left field.   

tags:  luis gonzalez, diamondbacks

Comments

[Gil]

Not to mention he is one fine looking 39 year old stud!

Will definately miss seeing him in a Diamondbacks uniform.

[Scott-O-Rama]

Craig Fouhy, the sports anchor on channel 15, had a really good commentary on this last night. He argued that the Diamondbacks should have brought Gonzo back for maybe a million just so that he could retire a Diamondback.