Adrian Gonzalez: Superstar in the making

Adrian Gonzalez of the San Diego Padres is only fourth in the National League balloting for All-Star Game first basemen.

Sad.

If Gonzalez (a) played in a big market and (b) played in a smaller ballpark … you could make an argument that he’s the best player in baseball.

Thanks to Marc Normandin of Baseball Prospectus, here are some interesting statistics on how Gonzalez is held back by playing in huge Petco Park.

Through June, Gonzalez had 24 homers and 48 RBI. If he were playing elsewhere:

He would have 30 home runs and 57 RBI at Coors Field in Colorado. He would have 30 HRs and 58 RBI at the new Yankee Stadium in New York.

Not only that, pitchers have basically stopped pitching to Gonzalez because he is surrounded by such a weak lineup in San Diego.

He has walked nearly 20 percent of the time this season … a rate that keeps increasing monthly.

On top of it all, he is superb defensively at first base.

Gonzalez may not get much attention nationally, but he’d be touted as a superstar if he performed for ESPN’s favorite teams including the Yankees, Boston Red Sox and New York Mets.

Klesko: Padres' best first baseman this decade?

As much as Adrian Gonzalez deserves to be making his first All-Star appearance for the Padres next week at Yankee Stadium, there was another Padre first baseman doing quite well at the break this decade.

Back in 2001, All-Star Ryan Klesko was having an even better year than Gonzalez is in 2008 nearing the mid-summer classic.

Here are Klesko’s 2001 stats at the All-Star break vs. Gonzalez’ going into the final weekend before the All-Star game:

Doubles: Klesko 22, Gonzalez 15
Home runs: Klesko 17, Gonzalez 22
RBI: Klesko 75, Gonzalez 70
Average: Klesko .297, Gonzalez .279
On-base percentage: Klesko .406, Gonzalez .348
Slugging percentage: Klesko .556, Gonzalez .510

While Klesko had a better first half seven years ago than Gonzalez is now, there are also mitigating factors.

Klesko played on a halfway decent team in 2001 that finished 79-83. Gonzalez is currently on a pathetic team at 36-56.

The sad thing is that as the Padres get worse and worse in 2008, more and more teams will continue to pitch around Gonzalez.

Yankee Stadium memory: Lou Gehrig

As the Padres begin their final three-game series in the old Yankee Stadium tonight, it’s time to take a look back at the historic jewel of the Bronx.

Who can forget the following speech by Lou Gehrig as he was fighting for his life on July 4, 1939?

Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for 17 years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career to associate with them for even one day?

Sure, I'm lucky. Who wouldn't consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert - also the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrow - to have spent the next nine years with that wonderful little fellow Miller Huggins - then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology - the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy!

Sure, I'm lucky. When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift, that's something! When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies, that's something.

When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles against her own daughter, that's something. When you have a father and mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body, it's a blessing! When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed, that's the finest I know.

So I close in saying that I might have had a tough break - but I have an awful lot to live for!

Less than two years later, Gehrig died on June 2, 1941. The "Pride of the Yankees" had been dealt a terrible blow, diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (now often called Lou Gehrig's disease), a rare disease that causes spinal paralysis.

Gehrig once played in 2,130 consecutive games from 1925 to 1939, setting a major league record later broken by Cal Ripken. He had a career batting average of .340.

More than anything, he will be remembered for that powerful speech before 60,000 fans on the Fourth of July nearly seven decades ago.