It goes without saying that Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is a master at his craft. In fact, according to the coaches and managers from 14 of the 15 teams in the National League, he was the best first baseman in 2014. And 2011; and 2009; and 2008 when he won the Gold Glove award at the position. It would have been 15 out of 15 but coaches and managers are not allowed to vote for their own players for the prestigious award.

In Thursday’s series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies, AGon not only slugged a huge three-run home run that turned a 5-3 deficit into a 6-5 Dodgers lead but he also made what was arguably one of the best defensive plays by a first baseman this season in the bottom of the ninth inning on a game-ending laser shot line drive foul ball double play to secured the Dodgers 10-8 win over the Phillies.

“You just see it and you go,” Gonzalez told reporters after the game. “I caught it. I was already on the bag. Easy double play,” he said.

Easy perhaps if you’re a four-time Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star. But the truth of the matter is that it really wasn’t an easy play at all. Although the hot liner was immediately ruled a ball foul by first base umpire Jeff Kellogg, it was foul by mere inches. But what made the “easy double play” extremely difficult was the fact that the left-handed Gonzalez, who wears his glove on his right hand, had to reach across his body and backhand the ball in a fraction of a second. Now granted, AGon was playing on the line holding the runner – Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard – in a no-doubles defense, but he had virtually no time to react to the hot smash off the bat of Phillies right fielder Domonic Brown – a left-handed hitter – who had homered earlier in the game.

Although Gonzalez said that the game-ending double play he made was easy, it was anything but.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNetLA – click on image to view video)

When you consider that Gonzalez has been in the big leagues for 12 season and is 33 years old, and is competing at his position against the likes of Lucas Duda, Paul Goldschmidt, Adam LaRoche and Justin Morneau, you begin to realize just how valuable he is to the Dodgers. He leads the team in games played (106), runs (62) home runs (22) doubles (27) and RBIs (65). On defense he has committed only four errors in 915 total chances for an outstanding .996 fielding percentage. He has also saved countless errors by his teammates with his surgeon-like ability to pick balls out of the dirt or catch errant throws for which there is no statistic, but if there were, he would undoubtedly lead the league and perhaps the MLB.

In a word, Adrian Gonzalez is just… wow!