The Red Sox have made every postseason since 2003, save one. That one, in 2006, was the only year Gonzalez played a full season in Boston, meaning that he and Mark Loretta are the only Red Sox regulars not to participate in a postseason during the seven-year run.
But things came full circle for Gonzalez this August. Sent out of Boston after 2006 because his defense was not good enough, Gonzalez was reacquired by the Red Sox because his defense was considered more than enough.
Now Gonzalez, who joined Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett on the Marlins’ 2003 World Series team, has his Red Sox postseason, starting Thursday in the American League Division Series against the Angels in Anaheim.
“For any player, you’d like to be in the postseason and try to win everything, get to the World Series and win it,” Gonzalez said last week. “I’m glad to be back with this team and have the opportunity. Right now, we’re in that position, and for me, that’s what I was looking for, to be in another postseason.”
Since his arrival Aug. 15, a week after the disastrous 0-6 road trip through Tampa and New York, the Red Sox went 29-18 to lock up the wild card. Gonzalez fielded 159 chances in those games, making one error.
Where Gonzalez has surprised has been at the plate. In 44 games, Gonzalez hit .285 with an OPS of .769, hitting five homers with 15 RBIs. In 111 games in 2006, Gonzalez carried an OPS of .695, batting just .255 with nine homers.
“Gonzo’s been huge defensively and chipped in offensively probably more than people thought,” said Jason Bay. “Everyone says your defense starts up the middle and shortstop, and we had some uncertainty there, although the guys that filled in did a pretty good job. But now you solidify that a little bit more, and it makes us that much better. He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.”
In 2006, Gonzalez’s defensive prowess helped propel the Red Sox to a huge division lead by the end of June. But in August, the Red Sox collapsed under the weight of multiple injuries and finished third.
“It happened quickly,” Gonzalez said last week. “It was hard to lead the division all year long and, the last month, go down. But that’s a part of baseball. We couldn’t do anything about that.”
The collapse prompted several fundamental changes that winter, and Gonzalez was among the first to go as the team looked to trade off his stellar defense for Julio Lugo and an upgrade in offense.
And though the Red Sox won a World Series in the first year of Lugo’s four-year, $36 million contract, it became clear over time that Lugo could not provide nearly enough offense to offset his defensive shortcomings.
By late July this season, it was clear the shortstop combination of Lugo and Nick Green was not good enough to sustain a postseason drive. So general manager Theo Epstein reacquired Gonzalez from Cincinnati on Aug. 14 to shore up the middle infield.
“Our defense was not as good as we had projected it to be, and we had to make some adjustments,” Epstein said. “Because of the performances we had in the first half, we had a need to improve. It was also fairly easy for us to improve. We were really well below the average, well below where we wanted to be at shortstop defense for a significant part of the season. So bringing in Alex, who’s been really steady since he’s been here, was a significant upgrade.”
The Red Sox got a scare last weekend, when Gonzalez was hit on the back of the hand by a Kerry Wood fastball, but X-rays were negative and Gonzalez is expected to start Game 1.
“That’s the one thing he said when he came over. He goes, ‘I want to play,’” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “I have no problem running him out. He prepares every day. He takes good care of himself. There’s no reason he can’t play every day. He’s done a good job.
“You start getting some injuries like he had with the knee [in 2008], those are pretty serious things. It’s one thing for a guy to say I want to play and then go out there and limp. But he’s taken care of himself to the point that he can go out there and be a real good player.”
