All smiles for Gonzo: As he was preparing to exit the bullpen to pitch the bottom of the ninth on Friday night, Mike Gonzalez was showered with appreciation from the Pittsburgh faithful that saw him convert each of his 24 save opportunities for the Pirates last year.
"I showed you with the first hitter what my emotions were all about," said Gonzalez, who, in January, was traded to the Braves in exchange for Adam LaRoche.
After getting LaRoche to ground into a double play, Gonzalez notched the save with a strikeout of his good friend Ronny Paulino.
As Paulino walked toward the plate, he playfully told Gonzalez to tuck his gold chain into his jersey. This prompted the Braves left-handed reliever to think about plunking his former Pirate battery mate. But fear of ejection prevented him from doing so.
"I was thinking about buzzing his tower or something for being a punk," Gonzalez said. "But I had fun with it. It was all good. I knew he wasn't going to get a hit off me anyhow."
Atlantabraves.com
I like that. "I knew he wasn't going to get a hit off me anyhow." There is something about that which is so prickish yet fun. I imagine if he was on a different team, I would not enjoy him saying something like that.
But that's why he's a Brave. Bwah.
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