Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies

Just when it looked like we might have an almost sure Triple Crown winner in the National League this year, outfielder Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies shows up and crashes the party.  It is still quite possible that the Cincinnati Reds’ Joey Votto or the St. Louis Cardinals’ Albert Pujols could finish the season leading the league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in, but the Rockies’  young center fielder, who turns 25 on October 17th, might take one or more of those titles himself.  Through games of August 29th, Carlos Gonzalez had taken the league lead in batting average, was third in runs batted in, and was tied for fourth in home runs.

About now, you may be asking, “where did this guy come from?”  Maracaibo, Venezuela actually. He originally signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks back in 2002 and was traded to the Oakland Athletics in December 2007.  He played in 85 games for Oakland in 2008, and after the season he was traded again, this time to Colorado.  He played in 89 games for the Rockies in 2009, hitting .284 with 13 home runs and 29 RBIs.  Nothing spectacular there, so he wasn’t on anybody’s radar in 2010.  But this has turned into a real breakout year for Carlos Gonzalez, and it looks like the Rockies have found themselves a rising star. Colorado has been in the middle of the pack in the National League West this year, and trailed the front running San Diego Padres by eight games at the end of August.  However, they were only four and a half games back in the Wild Card race, so it is entirely possible we may see Carlos Gonzalez continue his great season into October.

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Tags: albert, carlos, cincinnati reds, colorado rockies, joey, san diego padres, st louis cardinals