Luis Gonzalez faked it until he made it as a college baseball player

Coming out of high school, eventual Diamondbacks World Series hero Luis Gonzalez just wanted a chance.

Schools wanted Gonzalez to redshirt his freshman year upon entering the college ranks. Talking to the coach at South Alabama, the then-second baseman said he wanted an opportunity to compete for a role on the team, he told Arizona Sports’ Doug & Wolf as part of Legends Week.

“I told the coach, I said, ‘The other schools are wanting to redshirt me,’ Gonzalez said Monday. “‘If you tell me you’ll give me an opportunity to play here and not redshirt me coming in — and if I don’t come in and do well, I understand. You can redshirt me. But just give me a chance.’

“And the coach said, ‘I can’t promise you you’re going to be a starter or anything like that, but I’ll give you a chance to make the team out of spring practices.’ And I said, ‘That’s all I need.'”

South Alabama was indeed where Gonzalez played college ball, but with a team of experienced players, it took a bit of adaptation for Gonzalez to get a starting job.

“The coach says, ‘Have you ever played first?’ And I said, ‘Oh yeah, I play first all the time.’ And I had never played first base,” Gonzalez said. “I did when I was real, real little, but I didn’t play after that. And I called my house, and I said, ‘I need to get a first base mitt!’ I actually borrowed somebody’s for a while until my parents saved up enough money to send me a first base mitt. And I ended up being a starter for my freshman year.

“I started every single game and played there for three years and never missed a game. I played every single game of my three-year career, and I took a lot of pride in that.”

In the majors, Gonzalez primarily played outfield, although he did get in some games at first base, including during his rookie year with the Houston Astros.

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