CarGo hitting his stride again but may be at finish line here
Arenado: Thought of saying goodbye to Gonzalez “breaks my heart”
The long parade of genuflection in Carlos Gonzalez’s corner of the Rockies’ clubhouse Wednesday night included shouted Spanish insults and a young catcher trying, feebly, to make fun of the slugger’s maroon leather jacket. It was all done in love.
Gonzalez, the Rockies’ longest-tenured position player, the slugger with the sweet swing, is on short time. A weekend series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field, with a postseason berth on the line, likely will be his last homestand in Denver.
“It was going through my head when we got home (this week) and I realized it could be the end,” said Nolan Arenado, the Rockies’ all-star third baseman. “It breaks my heart. I love him. He’s like a brother to me.”
Gonzalez, a 31-year-old right fielder, likely is playing out the final days of a nine-year career with the Rockies. He will become a free agent the day after the final game of the World Series. Gonzalez and Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich had significant discussions last spring about a contract extension, but a deal fizzled and they haven’t talked about the topic since.
But for just the second time in a decade, Gonzalez has a shot at playing in the postseason. The Rockies are on the brink of clinching a spot in the National League’s wild-card game Wednesday at Arizona.
Gonzalez, who has come out of a seasonlong slump this month, will be playing this
weekend with an opportunity to extend his season and his Rockies career.
“I signed an extension in 2010 thinking this is a team that can potentially be in the postseason for a long time,” Gonzalez said. “And I haven’t reached that yet. I want to keep playing for as long as possible in the postseason. I want to be the last one standing.”
The smile never left Gonzalez’s face, even as the Rockies played through six losing seasons since 2011. His first season with the Rockies, in 2009, ended in the playoffs — a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in an NLDS. Now the Rockies are on the verge of returning to the postseason.
Since 2011, they have folded before September could find any meaning — even as Gonzalez earned three all-star appearances, two Gold Gloves and a Silver Slugger trophy.
His worst season, oddly, has coincided with Colorado’s turnaround. In the final season of a seven-year, $80 million contract extension, he was hitting only .198 on May 11, when the Rockies were in first place in the NL West. He hit only four home runs in the first two months of this season, a dramatic dip after blasting a total of 65 home runs the past two years.
CarGo now has 13 homers and a .259 batting average. He is hitting a sizzling .371 in September (26-for70) — with 11 doubles, five homers and 15 RBIs.
“Every day is a fun day, even when there are ups and downs,” he said. “Baseball is what I love. I always have fun. Every day can be your last day. That’s why you play with passion. Whenever you’re healthy and you have an opportunity, you go out and give it your all. You never know what the future will hold.”
CarGo’s future with Colorado is in doubt. The Rockies certainly would miss his home run prowess and defensive ability in front of the out-of-town scoreboard in right at Coors Field. But with rookies Raimel Tapia and David Dahl, and veterans Charlie Blackmon, Gerardo Parra and Ian Desmond, the Rockies seem to have a surplus of outfielders heading into 2018.
“I hope he comes back. You never know what can happen,” Arenado said. “I love playing with CarGo. I’ve loved it ever since my rookie year. My first big-league camp, he treated me right. Some veterans were on me all the time, giving me a hard time. He was always cool with me. He always told me to keep getting better. That’s something I will always remember.
“I will always protect him, because he always protected me.”
If these are his final days in purple, Gonzalez said they won’t wear on him. He won’t be occupied by nostalgia or sentimentality. His thoughts, he said, will be only on the postseason. He will play to the end by having fun.
“I feel like I’ve represented this team the right way. I play hard. I was in the All-Star Game with ‘Rockies’ on my chest,” Gonzalez said. “After the season is over, I will feel a little different because I don’t know what will happen. But there are no regrets, no hard feelings, no sadness.”