2013 panini triple threads is about to make its first appearance on this blog! ready? here we go:
gonzalez recently announced his retirement formally, although it seems like it was understood as he hadn't played in the big leagues since 2018 when he was a met. i think it was unfortunate that gonzalez was injured in the 2017 season and so missed out on the dodgers pennant win. it was odd that he wasn't around the team during the postseason as i recall, as he had been a big part of the team since he was acquired in a 2012 trade with the red sox.
i am on record as saying that that trade was the end of the dodgers as i knew them. even with the kevin brown signing, i resisted the urge to think of the dodgers as the "yankees west", but the trade of james loney, ivan dejesus jr, and a couple of others for gonzalez, josh beckett, carl crawford, and nick punto was something that bowie kuhn would have likely disallowed. it was a huge salary dump by the red sox, essentially, and there were few teams that could take on that salary. not to mention the fact that crawford was hurt at the time of the deal.
i happened to be at dodger stadium the day the dodgers claimed gonzalez on waivers and i figured it was just a move to block someone else from acquiring him. never did i think that he would become a dodger, but he did. he played well, too, leading the national league in rbi in 2014 which probably would have been a bigger deal to me had matt kemp not done the same in 2011, becoming the first dodger in my lifetime (and only second los angeles dodger) to lead the league in that category. speaking of kemp, the dodgers traded gonzalez to the braves after the 2017 season in the deal that brought kemp back to los angeles.
anyway, i wish gonzalez well in his retirement, and i wonder if he will ever show up in future releases like archives.
As a Red Sox fan I was actually bummed by that trade because I liked Josh Beckett and Gonzalez was a great run producer in his prime. But that trade cleared a ton of salary for the 2013 team - and the Betts/Price deal has some similarities (although in this case the Dodgers won the WS)
ReplyDeleteThe Triple Play reboot is... not one of my faves, lol.
can't argue with the results of either of those trades from the perspectives you mention
DeleteLoved Gonzalez when he was with the Padres and even rooted for him when he was shipped off to Boston. As for 2013 Triple Play... it's one of my least favorite products of all-time.
ReplyDeletei originally left out a qualifier. i meant to say i liked it more than the 2012 version that had more realistic player portraits. although for what it was at a cheap price point, i guess i did like the set.
DeleteI remember how excited I was when the Red Sox traded for him. He was a solid run producer, and like Chris said, it was sad to see him go.
ReplyDeletei figured he would knock doubles off the monster for seven or eight years and win a couple of mvps
DeleteI was kinda worried San Diego would sign him for a late reunion and he'd hit a couple more homers to catch Nate Colbert for the all-time team record. Maybe "worried" isn't the right word-- nothing against him-- but nice to see Big Nate hang on at #1. But yeah, Adrian had some excellent seasons. Hall of Famer WAR-wise if you use Harold Baines as the bar, LOL. Wouldn't be too surprised to see him getting into the mix of retired players who pop up in modern sets, especially if he's ok with signing thousands of autographs.
ReplyDeletei totally understand! i feel the same way about hits - if someone is going to surpass steve garvey (2599 career hits), i say they better get to 3000 or at least make the hall of fame. which means i am hoping robinson cano comes back and is productive for a couple more seasons. yikes.
DeleteCalling it "Triple Threads" instead of "Triple Play" is a wonderful bit of wishful thinking! B^)
ReplyDeletei obviously missed that slip! i think i will leave it as is. too funny.
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