Gonzalez can empathize with Doan
Luis Gonzalez can empathize with Shane Doan.
Like the former longtime captain of the Coyotes, Gonzalez shared a very similar experience about getting dumped by a franchise – the Diamondbacks – that decided it didn’t want him anymore either.
They both got the bad news from young, first-year general managers upon being invited out to breakfast. On a Saturday. In Scottsdale. At locations located just two miles apart, no less. Neither player stuck around for the breakfast.
Gonzalez was 39. Doan is 40. They were – and are – the all-time leaders in virtually every offensive category in their respective team’s record book. What’s more, Gonzalez and Doan shared the same agent – Valley-based Terry Bross – upon being told their services were no longer required.
That ought to make them blood brothers or something.
“I don’t know about that,” Gonzalez said, laughing. “But Shane and I are very close friends. I spoke with him before the incident happened, and I talked to him after it happened as well. It’s hard at first to swallow, but as time goes on, things heal.
“It was kind of ironic and weird in the sense that it happened to both of us in almost the same way.”
For Gonzalez, all is well now, as he once again took part with several other ex-Diamondbacks on Saturday for the team’s annual, three-inning Alumni Game at Chase Field before this year's Diamondbacks took on the Cincinnati Reds.
Gonzalez, the hero of the 2001 World Series who played his eighth and final season for the Diamondbacks in 2006, went on to play two more seasons with the Marlins and the Dodgers. He eventually got over his bitterness and rejoined the Diamondbacks before the 2010 season as special assistant and, now, senior advisor to team President Derrick Hall.
“For me, it worked out,” Gonzalez said. “It was a different GM and different things like that that were here when I came back, and that kind of made it work out. But every person is different in their demeanor and the way they approach things. For me, I was upset at the time, but you’ve got to let things go. For me, everything’s been patched up, it’s worked out, and I’m extremely happy being here and being a part of the Diamondbacks’ family.”
Doan, who has spent all 21 of his NHL seasons with the Coyotes franchise, has been a free agent for less than a month and has said he might consider catching on with another team. Whether he ever rejoins the Coyotes in some sort of front-office role remains to be seen, but Gonzalez said he hopes it happens.
One thing is certain: Like Gonzalez, Doan will one day have his jersey retired by his former team when the time is right.
“He’ll be in a good place. This guy’s an icon here,” Gonzalez said. “He’s done so many incredible things and sacrificed so much to stay with that organization when he could have left. It’s sad to see how things turned out. But sometimes you get new management, new ownership, new coaching staff and they want to go in a different direction.
“It’s hard to understand that at times … but hopefully things will work out and he’ll be back here. The only thing that I hope for is that he gets to play again and he plays for a contender. He deserves that. Whatever team he goes to play for, when he comes back here, the fans are going to appreciate him for what he’s done – not just on the ice, but off the ice, too.”
That’s what made both Gonzalez and Doan among Arizona’s all-time fan favorites. They not only gave their all athletically, but they kept giving back to the community and have made a difference outside the field of play.
“We’re human beings,” Gonzalez said. “We don’t just go out there and play the game and leave and go back home to where we grew up. This is part of us. We stay here, we try to get involved in the community and we try to make an impact. We’ve been blessed to play a special game that millions of people want to be playing and for us to be able to make an impact on a lot of lives and have that platform and use it in the proper way, that’s what makes athletes special athletes.”
Short hops
» The Red team beat the Purple team in the Alumni Game, 3-0, as David Dellucci, Scott Hairston and Jason Conti each drove in a run during a three-run second inning.
» No matter how they are or aren’t used in the All-Star Game on Tuesday, Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray won’t pitch in Arizona’s three-game series at Atlanta that begins on Friday, manager Torey Lovullo said.
» Reliever J.J. Hoover (right shoulder inflammation) threw 23 pitches in a simulated game on Saturday, and the fastball velocity and shape on his breaking pitches was exactly what the team wanted to see, Lovullo said. A date for Hoover’s activation from the disabled list hasn’t been set.