Hey fellow Padre fans, honest question: why do you hate Adrian Gonzalez?
When Adrian, as a New York Met, came back to Petco Park in April- you fools booed him incessantly (see below).
Adrian was cut by the Mets this week, possibly marking the end of a truly remarkable career- one where many of his best seasons came playing for Padres.
However, many of our "fans" don't quite remember it this way.
Indeed, the mere mention of him on Twitter is enough to spark vitriolic commentary from armchair general managers and fairweather fans- here's a sample of some actual tweets people have felt compelled to share publicly, for some reason:
"I think Adrian acted arrogant after he left and became a dodger so if you want to boo him that's your choice and I understand."
"Any Padre fan who wants an Adrian Gonzalez homecoming is getting blocked and reported"
"He’s booed because when he was traded to the Dodgers he had said growing up in Southern California you only dream of playing for the premier Southern California Team, not the other teams. A lot of us took offense to that since he said he grew up a padres fan. He lied."
LOOK AT ALL THIS VERBAL DIARRHEA. In case you forgot- Adrian Gonzalez was a bona fide superstar for the Padres.
Prodigious, game changing power? Check. He hit 40 home-run in 2009 while playing in freakin' Petco Park!
Gold Glove caliber defense at first base? Check.
A local San Diego product playing for his hometown team who contributed generously to the community? CHECK.
He was a great player, a great member of the community, and a great human being.
The most common response I hear from fans who boo Adrian amounts to some rambling diatribe about how "he just wanted to chase the MONEY!!!!!!! HE WASN'T LOYAL BC HE DIDNT TAKE THE HOMETOWN DISCOUNT!!!!"
But of course, fans forget that he didn't leave the team in free agency. There was no LeBron-esque "Decision" TV special. Adrian was shown the door by management because he, as a player of elite ability, wanted the team to pay him fair market value for his services. He was under no obligation to take a so-called "hometown discount". Indeed, while the way he left hurt- it wasn't his choice to leave.
Maybe it still hurts because we got ANTHONY RIZZO in return- a guy who could've been the team's first baseman for the next decade- but the team was inept enough to trade him away too. Maybe it still hurts because he was later traded to the hated Dodgers. Maybe it still hurts (for this reason, perhaps the most) because once his Padres career met its unfortunate end, it signified the beginning of yet another era of more of the same: insipid, sub .500 baseball in America's Finest City.
But none of that diminishes how excellent his Padres tenure was. So I ask again: why exactly do you hate Adrian Gonzalez?
It's clear: your booing of Adrian Gonzalez is stupid, nonsensical, and further solidifies San Diego's reputation as a "bad sports city".
Indeed, we were truly, truly fortunate enough to witness peak Adrian Gonzalez- and, save for Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman, he was nearly a perfect San Diego Padre.
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