“ICON” CARGO MAKES RETURN TO COORS
Monday’s return of Carlos Gonzalez to Coors Field in a Chicago Cubs uniform certainly brought out all the pomp and circumstance of a homecoming for a long-lost friend.
There were the multitude of hugs Gonzalez doled out to his former Rockies teammates during pregame batting practice. There was a massive media scrum in the visitors’ dugout, the cameras soaking up his wide, well-known smile. And then there was Colorado’s cornerstone player himself, Nolan Arenado, reflecting on the 10 seasons Gonzalez spent in purple pinstripes.
“He’s absolutely an icon here,” Arenado said. “I’d rank him top five (in franchise history). He plays every day, and he’s done so many great things and been the center of so many great moments in this stadium. … In my opinion CarGo’s one of the best players in team history. He was a five-tool player for a while here, and he was doing some special things.
“The fans should cheer when he comes up. And hopefully they put something up on the scoreboard for him and give him a nice standing O. I hope they appreciate what CarGo has done for this franchise, too.”
Over his decade with Colorado, Gonzalez was a three-time all-star
while winning two Silver Sluggers, three Gold Gloves and the 2010 National League batting title. He has played the second-most games in franchise history (1,247) and ranks third in hits (1,330) and fourth in homers (227) and RBIs (749).
Entering the three-game series against Colorado, the 33-year-old was hitting .250 with a homer and three RBIs in five games with the Cubs, with whom he made his debut June 3 at Wrigley Field. Gonzalez began the season with the Indians after signing a minorleague contract at the end of spring training March 19, but his time with Cleveland was short as he and the team underperformed out of the gate.
“I was waiting all offseason for an opportunity, and when it finally came, I didn’t have enough time to prepare myself without a spring training,” said Gonzalez, who batted .210 in 30 games with Cleveland. “Missing that made it really hard to get going.”
But while Arenado, Trevor Story and other Rockies players and coaches soaked up their visitation with Gonzalez pregame, the team is fully aware that he could be a dark-horse weapon on a club that Colorado may very well have to compete against for a wild-card spot down the stretch.
In that regard, the Rockies hoped not to see any patented Gonzalez moon shots to The Rooftop during the three-game series.
“I’m the biggest CarGo fan until we play him,” Story said. “He’s been getting hot lately, and so hopefully we don’t see much of that this week.”