Gonzalez was born in San Diego, then spent about 12 years of his childhood in Tijuana, Mexico and attended high school at Eastlake High in Chula Vista, in San Diego County. He knew Oscar Robles, who played baseball with his older brothers.

"Robles' Dad was an umpire since I began playing baseball. He was an umpire for Little Leagues. We know his family and his Dad. My Dad knows his Dad from 35–40 years ago," Gonzalez said.

The secret of Gonzalez's success is hard work. “When I was young, I was not the most talented player on my teams,” said Gonzalez. “People don't believe that, but it's true. I tell kids that all the time. I worked hard. Sadly, many people I knew when I was growing up took roads they shouldn't have.”

One of Adrian's brothers says he was very mature even when he was a youngster. "He was pretty disciplined, even as a kid,” said Edgar Gonzalez, the middle brother and a teammate of the Padres' first baseman/cleanup man. Adrian would come home from school, and the first thing he would do was his homework. He did that on his own. He was the only one in our family to do that. And that's as a young kid, too, without anyone telling him to do that.”

As teenagers, Edgar enjoyed the night life. And Adrian?

“He would go out with girls and with his friends, but he wasn't that much into going out,” Edgar said. 

David, who is four years older than Edgar, and 8 years older than Adrian, was involved, too. Being brothers, they toughened each other.

“We didn't have nicknames, but we'd always pick at each other,” Edgar said. “We used to fight. We would play Wiffle Ball in our back yard, and Adrian would lose and started crying all the time. That's when we would get into fights, because I started picking on him. We'd get into fights—fistfights, too. We stopped when my Dad came home.”  (Tom Krasovic-San Diego Union Tribune-4/05/09)

Adrian grew up on the south side of San Diego, learning to hit in his backyard batting cage. He would slap balls the opposite way, one after another, imitating the approach that helped Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn amass 3,141 hits, many of them to the 5.5 hole.

His father, David Gonzalez, Gonzalez never played in the Major Leagues, but he loved the game and was pretty good at it. He played for the Mexican National team, and suited up for amateur teams in either Mexico or the United States until he was close to 50 years old.

It seemed the amateur teams his father played for always had a game on Sunday.

"He played until he was 48 or something," Adrian said. "Sunday ball, adult leagues, 40-and-over, that type of stuff."

Adrian was an excellent quarterback for Eastlake High in Chula Vista. He didn't flinch.

“He was a pocket passer, and he was pretty fearless,” his brother, Edgar said. “Even if someone was coming, he didn't care. He had no fear of getting hit or knocked down.”

The powerful, accurate left arm that helped Adrian win the Gold Glove last year threw spirals to Titans receivers. And the same less-than-speedy feet that now endanger him on the basepaths anchored him in the pocket.

“He was really, really good,” Edgar said. “He played as a freshman and sophomore. He was pretty big, so people wouldn't be able to knock him down. He never would run the ball.”

But Adrian stopped playing football to concentrate on baseball.

"Football, the attitude and mentality just wasn't for me. Guys wanted you to be a certain way, just because it was the football way," Adrian said. "To me, that was tired. Be yourself."

Adrian had the arm for quarterback, and he had the toughness. But he lacked the rah-rah manner that some coaches want from the quarterback.

"The guy I played for, the reason I stopped playing, he wanted me to yell at guys, to yell in the huddle and pump up guys," he said. "I looked at him and said, 'That's not me.' He said, 'It's football, come on.' I said, 'I'm going to play baseball.' "

Adrian wore number 19 at Eastlake High in honor of Gwynn; when his girlfriend, Betsy Perez, graduated from nearby Bonita Vista High, he hired a plane to fly over the ceremony dragging the banner: I LOVE BETSY, #19. They married two years later and now live in the Gaslamp Quarter, a short walk from Petco Park.

In 2000, Adrian was the very first player chosen in the draft. It was the first time an infielder had been taken #1 overall since the Mariners picked A-Rod first in the 1993 draft. And he was only the second first baseman taken with the top pick in the history of the draft, joining Ron Blomberg (Yankees-1967).

Gonzalez signed with the Marlins for a $3 million bonus. David Finley was the scout who signed him for the Marlins.

Adrian bought a house in South Florida with part of the signing bonus he got from the Marlins.

"I've been playing since I was 4 years old, year-around," the likable Gonzalez said. He loves playing baseball and loves working at it. He has outstanding makeup.

In 2000, he hit .645-13-34 in 76 at-bats his senior season at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, California. The town is just across the border from Mexico. Every winter, Adrian would hop across the border and play for an amateur team in Tijuana, Mexico that his father was the coach for.

He has leadership ability, often helping run practice in high school.

Adrian's Dad, David Gonzalez, was a first baseman on the Mexican National team. His family has owns Aire Tec, an air-conditioning firm with 80 employees and 5 branches in San Diego. His father could've played baseball in the Mexican Leagues, but the family business paid better and he had to consider his family first.

David and Alba raised three baseball players. Adrian's oldest brother David Jr., played college ball. And the Devil Rays picked middle brother Edgar out of San Diego State in the 30th round of the 2000 draft.

High school teachers and coaches spoke of the great humility and strong work ethic Adrain has.

The Marlins signed Adrian for a $3 million bonus, so he passed up a scholarship from San Diego State. Adrian didn't have to buy a car with his bonus money. His father had already bought him a 2000 Volvo C-70 convertible. But with part of his bonus money, Adrian helped his parents with the down payment on a house in Mexico.

Asked who his favorite players are, Adrian said, "I'd probably have to say Rafael Palmeiro, Jim Edmonds . . . lefties." But Tony Gwynn was his hero when growing up.

For fun, Gonzalez said, "Hang out, go to the movies, maybe. Does weightlifting count? I enjoy going out with friends—not a lot of crazy stuff, really."

Adrian plays each game as if it is the most important game of his life. He is his own toughest critic.

He was a fan of Tony Gwynn when he was growing up, because he's from San Diego. "He is one of the greatest hitters of all time. I just admire the way he can hit the ball off of every pitcher," Gonzalez said.

In 2001, Adrian was MVP of the Midwest League as well as the best prospect in the loop. He led the league with 251 total bases.

When Adrian was a senior in high school, he signed with agent John Boggs. He had a unique request, asking Boggs, "Can you arrange where a plane flies over Betsy's graduation with a banner?"

On the morning of the big day, Adrian spotted the plane.

"All of a sudden, people started looking at me. I said, 'Betsy, look up, look up.'"

Betsy looked up and said, "Whoa! Then I looked toward where my parents were, and Adrian was there because his graduation was later in the day. He was waving. I was like, This is really amazing, but at the same time very embarrassing because everyone's looking at me."

The banner said, "I love you Betsy, No. 19." Adrian left out his name because the company charged by the letter.

On January 4, 2003, Gonzalez was married. He and his new wife, Betsy, honeymooned for 14 days in the South Pacific, mostly Tahiti.

Betsy and Adrian were junior high school sweethearts, and he still dotes on her.

During the off-season before 2005 spring training, Adrian and Betsy spent five days in New York for their two-year anniversary and enjoyed some Broadway shows. "We saw Hairspray, Mama Mia and The Producers. I enjoyed them all, but The Producers was probably my favorite. She liked Mama Mia more," Gonzalez said.

Asked if the did the New Year's Eve thing in Times Square, Adrian said, "We tried. We stayed in a hotel right off Times Square. But we got there on the 31st about 5:00 p.m., and when the cab got to Manhattan, we couldn't get within four blocks of the hotel. Everything was fenced off. We had to carry our luggage a long way, and my wife likes to pack kind of heavy."  (Evan Grant-Dallas Morning News-3/9/05)

Before 2004 spring training, Baseball America rated Gonzalez the #1 prospect in the Rangers organization. But the time 20005 spring camps were ready to open, the magazine had dropped Adrian down to 8th-best in the Texas farm system.

Gonzalez used to own a restaurant in Phoenix. Named "Mi Rancho Grande," Adrian's brother-in-law was the chef. It was good, authentic Mexican food. But in January 2007, Adrain sold the restaurant. The new owner turned it into a seafood establishment.

On July 20, 2007, Gonzalez received a death threat by phone. The threat was investigated by San Diego police and Mexican authorities. The phone call contained a threat in English and Spanish referencing Gonzalez's father, David, who had recently had a falling out with partners of the Tijuana Potros—a professional baseball team he owned.

Walk-up Songs: "Everybody Get Up/Levantate" by Pit Bull and "Mariachi Loco" by Mariachi Vargas.Gonzalez: "I like to be able to touch both the Spanish-speaking and the English-speaking communities. I like to have things that have a little background to me and have a little motivation to them, a song that I feel I can get the crowd involved and at the same time get my head on straight, but it's more to get the crowd involved. It's entertainment."Critic commentary: "The slugger has his bases covered with this bilingual track from the Miami-based rapper: A little Español to honor his Mexican heritage; feisty hand-claps to get the blood flowing; easily interpreted, oft-repeated lyrics that help the crowd know what to do when he approaches the plate. Now if only Pit Bull had a song about moving outfield fences in ..."  (Whitney Pastorek, Senior Writer, Entertainment Weekly)

Almost from the moment Adrian was traded to the Padres, his family became a target of kidnappers in Tijuana. In 2008, more than 800 people were murdered there as a result of Mexicos protracted drug wars, and kidnapping became a way for the cartels to bankroll their business.

Back in 2006, an expletive-filled note containing a kidnapping threat against the Gonzalez family was left on Adrian's mother's office door in Tijuana, where she was running a rental hall for special events. Soon after, the entire family received threatening phone calls so often that everyone had to constantly change numbers.

At 6'2" and 225 pounds, Gonzalez looks lean compared with the Phillies' Ryan Howard, but his strength is in his wrists.

"The guy has a crusher grip," says physical therapist Bob Foley, a former amateur boxer who trains Adrian and Edgar in the offseason. Foley takes the Gonzalez brothers to an alley in San Diego and has them flip 500-pound monster-truck tires, throw medicine balls off the sides of buildings and do pull-ups from gymnastics rings attached to fire escapes. When a UPS truck rolls down the alley, they get to take a breather.

Adrian's Christian beliefs fuel all aspects of his life, from his demeanor on the field, to his charitable donations off of it. "It's not the game of baseball that's fulfilling my life. It's not the fact I hit a home run that's fulfilling my life. It's the fact that I have that relationship with Christ, and no matter what happens, I'm fulfilled. Everything I try to do is to glorify him," Gonzalez says. He and his wife Betsy have two young daughters.

Gonzalez's favorites:

Actor: Denzel Washington; Movie: Tombstone; Music: Rancheros; Food: Seafood; Coach I've learned the most from: Rudy Jaramillo and Merv Rettenmund; Time away from baseball: Spend time with my wife, go to church, play golf; Sign of success: Your attitude towards God; If not a baseball player, I'd have been: An engineer; Three people I'd invite to dinner: My wife, my Dad, and Jesus Christ.

Gonzalez was born in San Diego, but played with Mexico in the 2006, 2009 and 2013 editions of the World Baseball Classic.

Gonzalez is a born-again Christian and engraved on his bats is "PS 27:1" for verse 1 of Psalm 27: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

Gonzalez and his wife created The Adrian and Betsy Gonzalez Foundation, which is focused on empowering underprivileged youth in areas of athletics, education, and health.

March 10, 2014: Gonzalez and Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran are the player spokesmen for the "Target Presents People All-Star Teachers" campaign, which was announced by Major League Baseball, Target and People magazine. Nominations are underway through May 6 atAllStarTeachers.com for the campaign, which celebrates remarkable current and retired teachers who make an impact on the lives of their students and communities.

Nominees will have the chance to represent their favorite team and be honored during the pregame ceremony before the All-Star Game. MLB previously has honored everyday community heroes and military in this way at the Midsummer Classic.

"I was around baseball so much and I've always been a guy who pays attention," Adrian says. "So I just learned from what guys said or watching what they did. "He, we're looking for this' or 'Watch what this guy is doing. Whenever he does this he throws this. Pay attention. He's tipping.'

"I'm always looking for something that he does. I he does this, throws this; or when it's this count, he likes to throw this. He likes to follow this pitch with this pitch—a pattern.

"Or he likes to pitch me away, but with runners in scoring position he likes to pitch in. Or he's scared to throw soft (offspeed) with runners in scoring position."

March 15, 2016: Gonzalez  left spring training to play for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic qualifier tournament in Mexicali, Mexico.

Gonzalez's favorite player growing up had been future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. Gonzalez still has an autograph and photo he had taken with Gwynn, in the old brown Padres uniform, at Jack Murphy Stadium when he was a youngster. Gonzalez later was a teammate of Tony Gwynn Jr. with the Padres in 2009-10.

Gonzalez appeared for the Mexican team in the World Baseball Classic in 2006, '09 and '13. "The Classic has been a great experience," Gonzalez said. "Playing for Mexico with my brother [Edgar] and beating the U.S. in 2006 and in '13, that was awesome. Edgar and I also played together in the 2009 Caribbean Series. It was a great time whenever we played together. He's out of the game now, but we're still close as ever."

Gonzalez was raised in a close family.  Adrian now has a family of his own with wife, Betsy, and their daughters, Brianna Belle and Alessandra Mia.

"Family's No. 1 here on Earth for me," he said.

December 2016: Gonzalez committed to play for Mexico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Adrian was asked why he picked baseball over all the other sports. "I come from a baseball family. My dad played baseball all his life; my two older brothers. I come from an area in the north, Tijuana, where baseball is the No. 1 sport. They did not have a soccer team until recently, when Xolos arrived. It is mostly a baseball area, where a lot of baseball is played," Gonzalez said. (ESPN - August, 2017)

Gonzalez's nickname is  "EL TITAN". "Eduardo Ortega, the Spanish broadcaster of the Padres, gave me that name because I went to a high school called the Eastlake Titans, and after a year or two, he took out the Eastlake and just called me El Titan," Gonzalez said.

Feb. 15, 2018: Adrian Gonzalez isn’t ready to give up playing baseball just yet, but he already is at work on a post-MLB career move: ownership of sub sandwich franchises.

Just a few years after making a modest investment in a single Jersey Mike’s location in San Diego County, the former San Diego Padres first baseman has purchased a majority ownership stake in six of the fast casual sandwich shops and hopes to add even more to his nascent portfolio. (Lori Weisberg-San Deigo Union-Tribune)

TRANSACTIONS

July 11, 2003: The Rangers sent P Ugueth Urbina to the Marlins so that they could acquire Adrian, OF Will Smith, and pitcher Ryan Snare.

December 20, 2005: The Padres sent pitchers Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka and C Billy Killian to the Rangers; acquiring Gonzalez, P Chris Young and OF Terrmel Sledge.

March 1, 2007: The Padres set Adrian's salary for 2007 at $380,500 after negotiations failed to reconcile a $26,500 difference. Because Gonzalez was ineligible for arbitration, the club could set his salary without his consent, provided his salary wasn't cut by more than $20,000 from the previous year.

According to both sides, Gonzalez sought a salary of $418,000, and the club offered $391,500 with the understanding that if Gonzalez didn't accept, his salary would be set at $380,500.

“It was his choice,” Towers said. “He could have signed at $391,500.”

Said Gonzalez's agent, John Boggs: “We just don't think 3 percent above the minimum is indicative of the production that Adrian contributed to the San Diego Padres.” (Editor's note: In 2006, Gonzalez hit 24 homers, had 82 RBIs, and batted. .304)

April 1, 2007: Adrian signed a four-year contract with the Padres, through the 2010 season with a club option for 2011.

December 5, 2010: The Red Sox sent P Casey Kelly, 1B Anthony Rizzo, OF Reymond Fuentes, and OF Eric Patterson to the Padres; acquiring Gonzalez.

April 15, 2011: Gonzalez and the Red Sox agreed to a seven-year, $154 million contract. He received a $6 million signing bonus, $21 million a year from 2012 to 2016, and $21.5 million a year in 2017 and 2018.

The deal also includes a partial no-trade clause.

August 25, 2012: The Red Sox traded Gonzalez, RHP Josh Beckett, OF Carl Crawford, INF Nick Punto, and cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers; acquiring 1B James Loney, INF Ivan DeJesus Jr., RHP Allen Webster, and two players to be named later.

Boston also sent the Dodgers money: identical payments of $3.9 million in 2013, 2014, and 2015 as part of the cash component of the trade. That totals $11.7 million.

Dec 18, 2017: Atlanta Braves traded LF Matt Kemp to Los Angeles Dodgers for 1B Adrian Gonzalez, LHP Scott Kazmir, RHP Brandon McCarthy, SS Charlie Culberson and cash.

Jan. 14, 2018: Gonzalez signed with the Mets.

June 11, 2018: The Mets released Adrian.

Gonzalez is an excellent, pure hitter. He has major power, coming from excellent hand strength and a quick bat. He drives the ball to all fields. And he is very comfortable slapping line drives to left field, much like Tony Gwynn did.

"I've always been an opposite-field hitter. Not until 1999 did I start pulling the ball, so I feel more comfortable going the other way with the ball," Adrian said.

He hits everything you throw at him with a sweet, level lefthanded stroke that gets excellent extension. He waits on off-speed pitches well. He quickly adjusts to how a pitcher is pitching him and can hit fastballs and offspeed stuff alike. He has excellent hand-eye coordination, so he doesn't strike out a lot. His bat has good plate coverage. But inside pitches can jam him.

Adrian is so cerebral as a hitter that he has been described as "the Greg Maddux of hitters," the highest praise possible. He studies video on pitchers, pitches, umpires, and defenses.

Gonzalez impressed Red Sox G.M. Theo Epstein so much that he described him as "one of the most incredible people I've ever been around."

Before Gonzalez steps to the plate, he knows which pitch he'll hit. And more important, which he won't

"I can't hit all four corners if I'm trying to hit all four corners," Adrian says. "That's where it becomes a game of knowledge. You make a pregame, or pre-at-bat game plan. You go up to the plate, and you say, 'I'm going to look for the ball away,' or 'I'm going to look for the ball in,' or 'I'm going to look for the ball up.'"

Adrian has an elaborate leg kick. His swing is loose and compact. His whole body's loose. There is no tension, just a nice, fluid swing. It is a beautiful swing and he line-drives the ball all over the park. Although he is a lefthanded hitter, Gonzalez's power is to left-center field.

Some scouts compare Adrian to a young Rafael Palmeiro. Others comare his inside-out swing to Jim Edmonds' when he was in the minors.

In July 2007, Adrian had a conversation with Phillies slugger Ryan Howard at first base.

"I asked Ryan Howard why he uses a bigger bat,” Gonzalez said. “I liked what he told me and tried it for myself, and it's definitely helped.” (Howard told Gonzalez that he prefers a heavy bat, not only because it generates more power, but also because it keeps him from overswinging.)

Over his final 267 at-bats of 2007, he batted .311 with 15 home runs. He followed in 2008 with a career-best season, batting .279 with 36 home runs and 119 RBI. Heeding Howard's words was a significant factor, he said.

“The leverage you create with a 35-inch, 33-ounce bat is going to be far greater than with a 34-inch, 31-ounce bat, which is what I used to use,” Gonzalez said.

"Did it take away average? Maybe,” said Gonzalez, whose .304 batting average in 2006 also included above average luck, according to some statistics.

“You swing through more fastballs, especially up in the zone, so you may strike out more. It's definitely harder to check your swing with this bat. There's definitely a downside to it. I might strike out more.

“But with this bat, I use it because it helps me to be the type of player I need to be here.”  (Tom Krasovic-San Diego Union Tribune-5/18/09)

Adrian may have changed his stroke, but he is still hitting to the opposite field. But now he is also hitting home runs to the opposite field.

In 2009, Gonzalez led the Major Leagues with 119 walks—a number that equaled the fourth-highest total in Padres history.

Twenty-two of those were absolute intentional passes. Many more were semi-intentional.

"Adrian has the ability to manipulate the bat," Padres manager Bud Black said. "When the ball is pitched to a certain spot, he can put a certain swing on it, whether it's up and in, whether it's up and away."

Gonzalez said that in his first two full seasons in the big leagues he was hitting almost on instinct. The studious approach started to develop toward the end of his second year in the majors.

Now (2013) he studies an hour and a half before the first game of a series. During that time he studies that night's starting pitcher and video of each reliever in the opposition's bullpen. After that, he spends about 20 minutes a day reviewing video of that night's starter.

A big part of the development of this routine came from talks he had with HOF'er Tony Gwynn, a boyhood idol of Adrian's. The two often talked hitting when Gonzalez was in San Diego, and Gwynn is seen as the godfather of studying video of pitchers and his own at-bats.

"He always talked to me about the fact that most people spend way too much time looking at their sings and looking at themselves," Gonzalez said. "That can only create a lot of bad mechanics or bad things in their minds when they start overanalyzing their swing. In reality, they should be focusing on the ball, because that's what you hit. So you should focus on what you want to hit off that pitcher, so you focus is on the ball and not on your personal swing."

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly says, "Gonzalez doesn't ever walk up there without some type of game plan. Adrian's just so smart. He plays the game of cat and mouse all the time.

"He has  really good understanding of what they're trying to do to him, and what that guy can do and cannot do, and he takes advantage of that. He's smart enough that he makes adjustments during the game, where some guys are too stubborn. You put all that together, it makes for a really good hitter,"

April 2014: Gonzalez hit a home run in four straight games. The last time that had been done was by Matt Kemp in 2010.

August 7, 2016: Adrian knew the ball was gone as he saw it fly away, just like he knew the constant work he had put in would pay off.  With a solo homer in the seventh inning, Gonzalez reached 300 home runs in his career during a Dodgers' 8-5 win over the Red Sox at Dodger Stadium.

Gonzalez becam one of seven active players with 300 homers and 400 doubles, joining Alex Rodriguez, Adrian Beltre, Carlos Beltran, Albert Pujols, David Ortiz and Miguel Cabrera—all hitters who could one day find themselves in the Hall of Fame.

The standing ovation from teammates in the dugout wasn't the highest compliment paid to Adrian Gonzalez when he reached the 2,000-hit milestone with a sixth-inning double in the Dodgers' 8-5 win over the Pirates at PNC Park.

That came after the game, when Gonzalez finished his on-field interview and entered the clubhouse, where he was again greeted by loud applause from teammates that appreciate the entire body of the 35-year-old's work.

"It's cool, one of those milestones that just means I have a lot to be grateful for and thankful for," Gonzalez said. "That was really cool, special, seeing the guys in the dugout, the Dodgers fans in the stands. I know there's a lot of people back home smiling as well, especially my wife and my kids and my parents and my brother. It's a cool feeling."  (Gurnick - mlb.com - 8/22/17)

Gonzalez's ability to charge a bunt and throw to second or sidearm the ball across the infield led to some unusual double-play combinations during the 2007 season—such as 3-6-4 . . . 3-6-1 . . . and 3-5-6.

“Few first basemen I've seen go after runners the way Adrian does,” Padres manager Bud Black said in 2007. “His throws are sharp and accurate. And he goes after them, he wants to throw everyone out.”

“I'm not scared to let a throw go,” Gonzalez said during 2008 spring training. “I want the runner. And I think the reward is much greater than the risk of throwing the ball away. If I can make an accurate throw to second on the front end of a bunt or a ball hit to first, we've got a chance to take away two runners. Some guys who have bunted or grounded to first in those situations stopped, thinking the out play at first is automatic.

“I want the guy at second. And it helps me that (shortstop) Khalil Greene is down there to take the throw. He's the best I've seen. But the throw to second should be made by any lefthanded first baseman.” (Bill Center-San Diego Union-Tribune-3/26/08)

Asked what his favorite play is, Adrian said, “I love getting the back-pickoff throw from the catcher at first. There's a feel to that play. You have to get it just right, the timing of the break to be at the bag at the same time as the throw. You can't give it away. There is such a great feeling when it works.”

GOLD GLOVER

In 2008, Gonzalez won his first Rawlings Gold Glove.

In 2009, he repeated, winning his second Gold Glove.

In 2011, after moving to the American League with the Red Sox, he won his third Gold Glove.

In 2014, Gonzalez won his 4th Gold Glove.

In 2009, he committed just seven errors in 1,367 total chances for a .995 fielding percentage. He tied for third among NL first basemen in games played and ranked fourth in innings, and his 136 assists ranked second among all Major League first basemen.

In 2014, Gonzalez was named the best first baseman in baseball, winning the annual Fielding Bible award.

December 2002: Adrian underwent surgery to repair a three-millimeter area of torn cartilage and remove a cyst in his right wrist. He originally was hit on the wrist by a pitch late in the 2002 season. He wore a cast for over a month. He played through pronounced pain in the wrist the last several weeks of the 2002 season. Hand specialist Reid Abrams did the procedure that took two hours.

Gonzalez felt the Marlins didn't take care of him. "I don't feel they treated my wrist the way they should have or they paid as much attention as they should have right after I got hit by the pitch," Gonzalez said. "I was kind of happy to get traded. I was glad to come to an organization that wanted me and was excited to get me."

October 20, 2010: Gonzalez had surgery to clean up his right labrum in New York. The surgery was done by Dr. David Altchek.

Adrian first injured the shoulder diving for a foul ball in Houston in May. He guarded the shoulder to some extent the remainder of the season, not diving for as many balls as he might have otherwise.

Offensively, the shoulder changed the way Gonzalez hit. Instead of trying to pull the ball, he concentrated on hitting more line drives up the middle and to left field.

Adrian also switched to a lighter bat to alleviate the strain on his shoulder. Consequently, Gonzalez had his best success against lefthanded pitchers of his career (.337 batting average and .424 on-base percentage).

Feb 17, 2017: Gonzalez was diagnosed with tendinitis in his right (non-throwing) elbow and was shut down from swinging a bat for two weeks, he said. Gonzalez said the injury is not considered serious, but it puts his participation in the World Baseball Classic for Team Mexico in doubt. His brother, former Major Leaguer Edgar Gonzalez, manages Team Mexico.

"It's tennis elbow from just working out, too much hitting and boxing," said Gonzalez. "I felt it while working out in early December and it didn't seem like much, but it hasn't gone away. "They told me to take a few weeks off so it won't linger and flare up and bother me going into the season. It's precautionary. Better to take care of it now than six weeks from now." (K Gurnick - MLB.com - Feb 17, 2017)

May 5-18, 2017: Adrian was on the DL with right elbow soreness.