I find the whole Red Adrian-Gonzalez-Bobby-Valentine-Red-Sox-Implosion to be so satisfying. I don't root for failure but this is pretty cool
— Avenging Jack Murphy (@AvengingJM) August 15, 2012
Many bosses are dicks. But you put your nose to the grindstone and you work -- it's what you're FUCKING paid to do!.#redsox#adriangonzalez
— Avenging Jack Murphy (@AvengingJM) August 15, 2012
Some people wondered why Padres fans even care about Adrian Gonzalez. Others commented on our wickedness as we reveled in the failures of others. I was prepared to have some good ol' fashioned fun at the expense of all those who've failed and had mocking fingers pointed at them. This post was going to be an apology letter of sorts: An apology to all the people/organizations I've ever thoroughly enjoyed seeing fail.
I'd begin with the fall of Kenneth Lay in the aftermath of the Enron scandal and then move on to Osama Bin Laden's body guards on that fateful night in Pakistan. I mean that shit made me real happy. But Adrian Gonzalez isn't evil. And some folks don't have keen senses of humor. The former Padres first baseman doesn't deserve to be lumped in with the likes of the above scumbags. What then does Adrian Gonzalez deserve, if anything at all?
Let's begin with my perception of Adrian Gonzalez. I loved Adrian's swing, enough so, that I bought a jersey with his name on the back*. I'm a baseball fan and I enjoyed watching the guy play baseball, honing his craft in our very own backyard. I even enjoyed watching him do it in Boston last year. But I also find Adrian Gonzalez terribly dull. A lack of charisma however, is hardly a crime.
*As I acquire years of service time as part of the human race, years of service that surpass a good many active ballplayers, it may be I who is guilty of the crime. Let's discuss this another time.
I also don't think much of Adrian Gonzalez as a leader. My perception is shaped by his many complaints about PETCO Park's dimensions and his comments to a Chicago reporter when the Padres were in the midst of their epic 2010 collapse.
In regards to the park complaints I think a leader would keep his mouth shut. If a naturally gifted hitter like Adrian complains about the park what does it say to the other players on the team? Does it not embolden them to complain also? I understand that PETCO is a frustrating place to play but a leader would lead. As Tom Hanks famously said in Saving Private Ryan: "Gripes go up. Not down." Leaders quietly take it to management. They don't grumble to the press or to others in the clubhouse.
In September of 2010, as the Padres spun out of control and gave up an insurmountable lead to the San Francisco Giants, a reporter from Chicago asked Adrian about playing for the Cubs in the windy city one day. During a pennant race, Adrian made the error of entertaining the question. The more appropriate response: Be yourself . . . be dull! But Adrian couldn't resist responding. Adrian wanted to be in the big market where the dollars were plentiful, and his baseball numbers weren't diminished by a cavernous ballpark. Maybe those desires are fair. They are certainly not valid concerns when competing for a championship though.
Speaking of fairness: Am I being unfair? I very well may be unfair in my assessment but in issues of perception fairness rarely counts. Adrian Gonzalez may have performed 100 acts that demonstrated amazing leadership and set the best example possible for younger Padres -- but I don't recall any of them. What I do remember is the two accounts described above. Those incidents shape my perception and consequently those perceptions become reality.
Adrian Gonzalez spent his last years in San Diego playing for Bud Black, the consummate player's manager. He then moved on to Boston where he played under the stewardship of Terry Francona, another reputed player's manager. Adrian had praise heaped upon him by national media and he was rewarded with over $150M by the Boston Red Sox. Things were going well. And then only a year after the 2010 Padres collapse the Red Sox unraveled too. As the season ended Adrian would go on to complain about playing nationally televised games on Sunday nights and the travel demands those games entailed. He would also opt to attribute the Red Sox failure to God rather than accepting accountability.
Now as news spreads that it was Adrian Gonzalez who organized what amounts to a coup I like the guy a little bit less. I look at him and the Boston predicament and I shake my head. I shake my head at a guy who earns $21M a year and uses that clout to organize an effort to get the manager of a very fractured clubhouse dismissed. By all accounts, Bobby Valentine is a complete dick, but such are the perils of employment where we we often have little choice but to shut our mouths and put the nose to the grindstone. But apparently Adrian Gonzalez disagrees. And now he's just a lunatic trying to run the asylum.
***
These aren't sour grapes from a Padres fan who no longer has the lefty's production but the opinions of a baseball fan in general. Because Adrian was here from 2006-2010 I feel like I can give a qualified opinion. Do I wish failure for Adrian Gonzalez? Absolutely not. I always want to see local guys do well no matter where they play. His baseball abilities are phenomenal to watch. Perhaps my expectations of him as a leader are too much but I think that at a rate of $21M a year it's an intangible that should be part of the multi-million dollar package.
