If you weren’t paying attention you wouldn’t have even noticed he was there – until he spoke.
Towards the end of Andrew Friedman’s introductory press conference on Friday morning at Dodger Stadium, Dodgers Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Lon Rosen interrupted reporters questions by saying “You have a question over here.” With that, Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who had quietly entered the room undetected by most, asked a humorous question of the Dodgers new President of Baseball Operations.
“Are you looking to acquire a younger, faster, stronger first baseman?” asked Gonzalez.
Through the roar of laughter in the room Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten quickly added “Cheaper, you forgot to mention cheaper.”
While Friedman joined in the laughter of AGon’s obvious rhetorical question, the mere fact that Gonzalez was even there speaks volumes about the man. He was certainly under no obligation to be there – heck, no other current Dodger player showed up. What it showed was Gonzalez’s commitment and dedication to the franchise and it clearly came from the heart.
There are undoubtedly a blind few who might see AGon’s appearance at the press conference as sucking up to the new boss, but anyone who knows Gonzalez, even slightly, knows that he was there purely as a show of respect and support for Friedman with no ulterior motives.
Thank you for being you, AGon.
RT @Think_BlueLA: New: Adrian Gonzalez quietly spoke the loudest at Friedman press conference – http://t.co/EsRCpG2fWi #Dodgers @AdrianTita…
He is absolutely a class act and leader of the Dodgers. He’s been my “favorite” for these past 2 years and rarely let me down.
WTG Agon.
@Think_BlueLA @AdrianTitan23 and there you have a true leader
Question, why do the Dodgers not have an official captain like the Yankees do? Heck why do all MLB teams not have an official captain?
AGon would be my choice. He has every quality a captain of a team needs!
The Dodgers do not have an official captain and, to my knowledge, nor does any other MLB team now that Jeter has retired.
The last “official” Dodgers captain was Pee Wee Reese ‘back in the day’, as they say. Some called Maury Wills the captain during the ’60s, but it was not considered an official title.
I suspect that because players rarely spend their entire careers with one team anymore (a byproduct of free agency) we probably will never again see an official captain title in the MLB. That being said, if there were such a thing, it would absolutely be Adrian Gonzalez for the Dodgers.
Harold Uhlman wrote a nice piece on this very subject a while back:
Who is the captain of the Dodgers’ ship?
If I’m not mistaken, David Wright is the Mets’ captain.
I could be mistaken (and apologize in advance if so), but I believe the last official Dodger Captain is still with the club (Major League level), for the last couple of years after a long hiatus. Leaving it open for guesses…
Oh, and can be heard in infamous “Lasorda/Rau” audio being very captain-like a year or two before being bestowed with actual title.
Upon further review (and research) you are absolutely correct, abcrazydodgers:
(Link)
Thanks for the heads up!
My choice would be A.J. Ellis, not that Adrian would not also be great representative.
In think that OBF is correct that David Wright is the only MLB team captain now.
With managers on the field so often, especially now with instant replay usage, they do pretty much all of of what captains used to do on the field.
I just happened to catch the conference on MLB Network and I remember Friedman answering that question but nobody mentioned that Adrien was the the one that asked it.
I would assume he would want to know how he stands with the new office management but I see no reason, right now, for them to let the league’s leading RBI man go.
Gonzalez asked the (rhetorical) question as a joke, Joe – hence all the laughter. As such, Friedman did not answer it.
Gonzalez is under contract with the Dodgers through the 2018 season. He isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
ICYMI – Adrian Gonzalez quietly spoke the loudest at Friedman press conference – http://t.co/yWrUVGzH3H
It is going to be very interesting to see how the A.F. dynamic plays itself out. His biggest moves of notoriety have been moving FA’s-to-be for younger talent, especially Shields for Myers (remember KC also got Wade Davis); jury is still out on the take for Price. It’s a whole new ballgame in LA, as the concern for impending FA’s does not necessarily rely on affordability.
These were the captains listed in the blog article: Who is the captain of the Dodgers’ ship?
Pee Wee Reese (1949-1958), Duke Snider (1962), Maury Wills (1963-66), Willie Davis (1973), Davey Lopes (1978-79).