When the Red Sox traded for Adrian Gonzalez this offseason, part of the reason given for the steep price paid (both in prospects and the eventual extension) was for his strong character. He's well known for being a devout Christian -- he chose number 28 with Boston due to its symbolism in the Bible, which I won't pretend to know -- and for leading a quiet, family-first life outside the ballpark.
The next-best AL first baseman (/scoffs at Mark Teixeira) has a slightly different off-the-field story. Miguel Cabrera spends his free time drinking scotch out of the bottle and pulling the "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" routine with Miami police.
Despite these differences, it turns out that the two were best friends at early points in their career, when they were both coming up in the Florida Marlins minor-league system.
“We were best friends at those times — in Rookie ball, in A ball,” Gonzalez recalled Thursday. “We were roommates, hung out together all the time. We got to know each other’s families. We were always talking, whether it was baseball or non-baseball related.”
[...]
“He’s a good friend of mine — he’s very important to me,” Cabrera said. “He’s always there (for me). It was the same way in Rookie ball. We (went) everywhere together, spent a lot of time together. As soon as he signed the contract, I called and said congratulations. I was so happy for him. He’s a great person.”
The whole story is excellent -- go read it now. Morosi has some great anecdotes of Gonzalez letting Cabrera live in his house when Cabrera broke in with the Marlins (and hopped over him on the organizational depth chart). I found the reference to Gonzalez's religiosity -- really embracing Christianity in 2003 -- interesting as well. Perhaps some wild times were had before then, Curt Schilling style, but that would be speculation.
Either way, Gonzalez comes off like a selfless leader even back then. Driving other players around, lending his house out, translating for them -- the guy did it all. If you can't tell, I'm enjoying his first year, where we gush about him. It'll be annoying in three years when the Boston media just starts taking potshots at him for no reason, but let's enjoy this time while we have it.
