Gio Gonzalez was a single 26-year-old man when he became part of the Nationals franchise late in 2011, living in Arlington early in his career in D.C.
Late Friday night he said goodbye to the perennial contenders, now living with his wife and two children in the Maryland suburbs close to where she grew up.
Gonzalez, the enigmatic, jovial native of a Cuban neighborhood of Miami, was officially traded by the Nationals after they lost at home in the rain Friday 4-1 to the Milwaukee Brewers.
“My kids were born here. It is kind of emotional,” he said. “D.C. gave me a home.”
And the team the left handed-starter was traded to? Those same Brewers, whose playoff aspirations seems much more realistic than the fading Nationals.
As news of the trade spread during fans during the game Gonzalez couldn’t help but hear those shouts while he was in the Nationals first-base dugout.
“It’s crazy you say that. I was trying to block it out a little bit, but there were just a lot of fans standing up and saying thank you,” wearing a Brewers hat, hoodie and shorts after the game. “You understand, it starts sinking in a little bit when you start hearing the thank yous and the appreciation of the people who stuck around all these years. I deeply appreciate that from the bottom of my heart.”
Gonzalez, who last pitched on Wednesday in Philadelphia, said he got texts from many people during the game, including those from those he had not heard from in a long time.
He said after the game he heard from his mother, who was emotional. His wife grew up in Bethesda and went to the University of Maryland.
Gonzalez was acquired in deal with the Oakland A’s after the 2011 season. He won 21 games in 2012 as the Nationals won the NL East division for the first time. The lefty from Miami won at least 10 games each season in Washington and was only on the disabled one time.
“I just had some great company, I had some great teammates in this organization, this organization is the Nationals, and they believed in me,” he said. “They gave me an opportunity to continue my success from Oakland to Washington and I just wanted to do something notable here in Washington, and I was just grateful to be in four playoff runs, pitch with some of the greats, I think Stephen Strasbug, Max Scherzer, Tanner Roark, Jordan Zimmermann, now we got some young guys that I think are going to carry the torch on and they are going to do wonders for this organization.”
“It was just one of those memories that I had and I had a great fan base here, could never say anything ever bad, that would make me feel sad or anything,” he added. “This organization and the fans were incredible, they treated me and my family, they gave me so much when I was here and I couldn’t ask for more.”
But he failed to win a postseason contest, losing Game 5 against the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012 in a game that the Nationals were winning 6-0.
A smiling, upbeat fixture even during down times, Gonzalez was 86-65 during his stay in the nation’s capital. This year he has struggled with an ERA of 4.57 and a record of 7-11 after going 15-9, 2.96 last season.
Gonzalez was traded to the Brewers for two minor league players. News of the deal spread to the Washington dugout early the game.
When did catcher Matt Wieters, who was later ejected Friday, find out?
“During the game. I think Gio knew he gone during the game,” Wieters said. “He was great for this team. He was fun to catch. I wish him the best for the rest of year. It is part of the business. It’s maybe not the side we like but it is part of the business.”
The Nationals are now 67-68 and their wild card chances are also slipping while the Brewers are 76-60 and within striking distance of the playoffs. Gonzalez noted one of his new catchers will be Erik Kratz, a product of Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia who hit a homer Friday for the Brewers.
Members of the Brewers bullpen include all-stars Josh Hader (11 saves, 2.01 ERA), from Old Mill High in Millersville, Maryland, and Jeremy Jeffress (7-1, 1.50 with his eighth save Friday), from South Boston, Virginia.
Washington has traded several veterans in the past month, with an eye to the future after a disappointing year.
“I think that stuff’s out of my control,” Nationals shortstop Trea Turner said. “I try never to really focus on that stuff. I don’t try to play manager or GM in my head because I’m not smart enough. I don’t have all the information, I don’t know what they’re thinking. My job is to play baseball. I hope we have a great team here for a long, long time and I hope we play good baseball for this last month.”
When the Brewers play at Nationals Park on Saturday night Gonzalez will now be in the third-base dugout with his new team. He is not slated to pitch this weekend for the Brewers.
“He’ll be missed. He’s a professional,” said Dave Martinez, the Nationals manager. “He meant a lot to this organization for a long time, and I wish him and his family all the best. I just told him go over there, do your thing and help them win. We’ll see you down the road.”
For the rest of this weekend anyway that road will be a short one between the clubhouses of the Nationals and Brewers, who end their three-game series Sunday at 1:35 p.m.
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