BOSTON — Monday was a day for reunions at Fenway Park.
Adrian Gonzalez shared hugs with his former teammates on the San Diego Padres. Dave Roberts, now the first base coach for the Padres, said hello to former teammates such as Jason Varitek and David Ortiz. Members of the San Diego front office, including general manager Jed Hoyer, shook hands with those they worked with when in similar roles in Boston.
And then there was Anthony Rizzo, who never played a major league game at Fenway Park and had no postseason memories to share with one-time colleagues. Still, the former Red Sox prospect's trip to Boston represented a return home, in many respects.
Always impressive while a member of the Red Sox organization, not only as a player but as a strong-willed individual who won a battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma, Rizzo is taking the return all in stride. That doesn't mean there isn't a tinge of excitement. And of gratitude.
"It's awesome. I got drafted here and they developed me to be the player I am, the person I am, for the most part," Rizzo said of his return to Boston. "They've helped me through a lot through the four years I’ve been there, so it definitely feels good to be playing here."
Rizzo will be the Padres first baseman in the series opener, serving as the counterpart to the man he was traded for, Gonzalez. The disparity between the two is striking on the stat sheet (Gonzalez picked up career hit No. 1,000 on Sunday, while Rizzo is seeking his fifth), but they will forever be linked. And, some day, those numbers may be rather comparable.
Already, the praise for Rizzo's makeup is on par with that of Gonzalez.
"This is a win-win for everybody,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "To get Gonzie, you’ve got to give up some pretty special people and [Rizzo] certainly is. He has a chance to be, not just as a player but as a person."
Rizzo was sent to San Diego with fellow top prospects Casey Kelly and Reymond Fuentes this past December. The fact that the Red Sox wanted Gonzalez and planned to give him a long-term extension meant that Rizzo's path to Boston was blocked. Because of that, he was in the trade talks from the start.
San Diego general manager Jed Hoyer, the former assistant to Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, knew that the discussions could really elevate to something serious once that scenario became clear.
"We wanted Anthony," Hoyer said Monday. "It was probably the most important part of the deal."
Also important to the Padres is making sure that Rizzo doesn't try to instantly replace Gonzalez. It will take time to fill the shoes of a guy who had over 500 RBIs in five seasons in San Diego, which plays in a park notorious for low-scoring affairs.
It’s the character that Francona referred to that should help Rizzo in that regard.
"I don't really think about it all," he said when asked about replacing Gonzalez. "I got asked the same question last year when I went to Portland replacing [Lars Anderson's] shoes there. It’s just baseball. I go into every game trying to do my best and I don’t really think about any of that."
The two slugging first basemen had a chance to meet this winter in San Diego when Gonzalez was rehabbing his surgically repaired right shoulder at Petco Park and Rizzo came into the clubhouse.
The Red Sox, and former Padres slugger, instantly saw what everyone had told him about Rizzo during the trade talks.
"He's a great player, a great kid, and going to have a great future in the game," Gonzalez said. "I've heard everything about his character, battled cancer. I heard unbelievable things about him during the trade and then I got to meet him a little bit in San Diego during the offseason.
"I was really impressed."
The Padres expect to be for years to come. The Red Sox are obviously impressed with their return in the trade. As Francona said, it’s a win-win situation, the central theme on reunion day at Fenway Park.
