Gio González: fulfilling the American dream with a Latino flavor

Gio González just can’t believe how fast his baseball career has gone by, from a kid with a dream growing up in Hialeah, Fla., to a man whose ultimate goal is to win a World Series ring.

From being a Chicago White Sox huge prospect to becoming a solid Oakland Athletics starting pitcher and later winning 21 games in a season for the Nationals, González is amazed by how successful his baseball career has been.

However, his biggest dream is far away from the baseball diamond. The son of Cuban immigrants is more proud to be a husband and a good father to his two sons, than to be a consistent winner from a pitching mound.

Not long ago, the current Brewers left-handed pitcher was just a 22-year old kid trying to win a spot in the Athletics roster.

“Wow, what a great dream, and it all has happened so fast,” González said. “It all started in Oakland, when I was saying to myself, ‘everything is going to be fine, I’ve got the world in my hands.’

“I’m very happy and grateful for everything, for my career, for my future, for my life,” González said. “Now I’m married and I’ve got two kids. I could have a life after baseball.”

Gonzalez was selected by the White Sox in the first round as the 38th total pick of the 2004 amateur draft out of Monsignor Edward Pace High in Miami Gardens. He was part of a group of players traded elsewhere three times when his original team wanted a big star back.

On Dec. 8, 2005, González was the player sent to the Phillies to complete a previous deal for future Hall of Famer Jim Thome.

Then on Dec. 6, 2006, the lefthander was on his way back to the Windy City as part of a deal for Freddy García, one of the winningest Venezuelan pitchers in major league history.

The current Brewers starter’s big break came on Jan. 3, 2008, when he was part of a package sent to the Athletics for All-Star outfielder Nick Swisher.

The third time was a charm for González. He totaled 30 games – 24 starts – with the A’s in 2008 and 2009, before becoming a permanent member of the Oakland rotation, surpassing 200 innings in 2010 and again in 2011 with 31 wins between two seasons.

Those 31 victories by González were only surpassed by CC Sabathia (40), Clayton Kershaw (34) and Jon Lester (34) among major league left-handed pitchers in that time.

Traded to the Nationals on Dec. 23, 2011, González had his best major league season to date in 2012, when he won 21 games and led the National League in victories. He was third in the senior circuit Cy Young’s voting.

Accolades had come for González since he was just a kid growing up in South Florida.

Born to a Cuban immigrant mother and a first-generation Cuban-American father from New Jersey, González was part of the Hialeah High School that won two state championships in his three years before transferring to Monsignor Edward Pace for his senior year.

He’s really happy to have already won his own World Series at home.

“My first son, Enzo is six years old, and my youngest, Gabriel, is two, but the little one is the bigger one,” González said while bursting into laughter. “One loves baseball, the other one does not want this sport even mentioned to him. When we return from the ballpark, he just wants to sleep or eat.

“They are my world,” González said. “They are my World Series. They’ve changed my life, as a person, as a man, as a father. They are my dreams, my everything.”

Of course, González wants to put on a real World Series ring on one of his fingers, before calling it a career. He mentions the word retirement with higher frequency than should be expected from a player who’ll be 34 years old soon.

“I want to have a ring before I retire, but who knows?” González said. “Maybe I’ll play just a couple more years. I’ve already put in my time in the major leagues. I’ll love to be home more to see my kids grow. Sometimes I talk to my wife [Berenice] about this, and she says to me ‘If you retire now, Enzo is going to be very sad.’ Oh, my God.”

The Brewers, one of just a handful of major league franchises with no World Series titles in their display cabinets, came close to playing in baseball’s final biggest stage for the second time in 2018, when they were just one win away from beating the powerful Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.

If Milwaukee is going to make another run for the title in 2019, they’ll certainly need to improve their rotation, and they are counting on experienced arms such as Gonzalez’s to do that.

“Winning a World Series is my final baseball dream,” González said. “But Oakland will always fill a big space in my heart.”

Featured Image: Dylan Buell / Getty Images Sport