2036.23 - The Long Beach Independent - Carlos Gonzales Nearing 300 HR

[Lane]

GONZALES AT 299 HOME RUNS

July 6, 2035
Edmonton, AB

"No, no. I don't think I'm pressing. Just a little slump" said Carlos Gonzales (.305/.364/.535, 299 HR, 834 RBI) as he sat in front of his locker following an 0-5 day and a Surfers shutout loss against the Jackrabbits. Gonzales, after his hot start has an OPS just over .700 in June and July, with just five home runs since the end of May.


"300? I try not to think about it. But of course it's on my mind, and I'd like to get over that hump. I'm just trying to take it a day at a time." The thirty one year old has 299 home runs for his career as we speak this evening, and once he hits the milestone, he'll be just the third in franchise history.

The faithful fans in Long Beach have been packing the stadium lately, in hopes to see 'CarGo' hit his three hundredth. Some may be hoping that he waits until after the All Star break, so that it happens at home against the Huntsville Phantoms.

Gonzales doesn't need any magic numbers to cement himself as one of the all-time great Surfers hitters, he's already there. He's smack dab in the middle of nearly every career top-10 list, and his amazing 2031 season put him on the top of the single season lists for HR, RBI, TB, SLG and OPS.

He sits behind only Hall of Famers Ted Sale (.287/.376/.495, 536 HR, 1790 RBI) and Alberto Guzman (.300/.401/.549, 561 HR, 1731 RBI) on the franchise leaderboard. Depending on his decision to opt-out of his current contract, he may not have a chance to catch Guzman. Even if he is a Surfer for life, the 137 more needed to catch Sale may be out of reach given his age. It would certainly be a fun race to watch though.

[7teen]

Mick already stole his thunder. He can relax now and get it since no one is paying attention to him now. HAHA

[Lane]

hah. yeah, i had to write something since I listened to Ted say that 300 HR doesn't mean anything on the podcast.

[7teen]

hah. yeah, i had to write something since I listened to Ted say that 300 HR doesn't mean anything on the podcast.

Not if you're an OF/DH/1B it probably doesn't. 400 starts to get you noticed. 500 gets you serious contention for HOF.

[Ted]

hah. yeah, i had to write something since I listened to Ted say that 300 HR doesn't mean anything on the podcast.

I misspoke. It's not that it doesn't mean anything. It's that there are so many guys getting to 300 that to mention and discuss all of them gets boring really quickly and would extend the podcast another hour.