+3 +-3 THE NATIONALS’ STAR PITCHER IS HAVING A BLAST ON AND OFF THE MOUND
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WASHINGTON LIFE
SWIMSUIT STUNNERS on the Potomac River
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THE GIO WAY WASHINGTON NATIONALS STAR PITCHER GIO GONZALEZ KNOWS ONLY HOW TO HAVE FUN PLAYING BASEBALL — AND HE WOULDN’T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY@ B Y L A U R A WA I N M A N | P H O T O S B Y T O N Y P O W E L L M A K E U P B Y F L A M I N I A G A R I O N I | H A I R B Y K R I S T I A N A N D R A DA | WA R D R O B E B Y I K E B E H A R G E O R G E TO W N S H O T O N L O C A T I O N A T T O R O T O R O
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elcome to Toro Toro! Come on in!” says 6-foot, 200pounds-of-muscle Gio Gonzalez. Outfitted in a bespoke navy blue Ike Behar suit, he is perched on the edge of a throne-like leather chair in the restaurant’s foyer, flashing his signature grin to customers. He nods and makes eye contact with two middle-aged women before returning his gaze to the camera flashing in his face and the photographer trying to coax his subject back to attention. No, the Washington Nationals’ star southpaw has not taken on a part-time hosting job at the new steakhouse; he is merely incapable of not being friendly to everyone around him, even in the middle of a photo shoot. That’s just Gio being Gio, on or off the field. Known as the fun-loving, energetic member of a rather introspective starting rotation, Gonzalez has often found himself at the center of things. In his Little League days he was nicknamed “Hollywood” as he was always the kid making dramatic, diving catches and fancy plays. “I was always acting crazy out there,” he says. “It’s just a game after all, and it’s meant to be fun.” But atypical of a man signed to a $42million contract, Gonzalez doesn’t covet or demand the spotlight. He sits back and is who he has always been while fans are drawn to him like moths around a flame he doesn’t even know he possesses. Observing him on set at a photo shoot, the mystery of his super powers becomes less hazy and the Clark Kent part of his Superman is revealed. Gonzalez’s girlfriend, Lea Moures, sums it up when she says, “he just knows how to make everyone in a room feel so special.” More specifically, he has an uncanny ability to intently focus on seemingly abstract conversations around him and translate them into genuine one-on-one moments. Overhearing the makeup artist chatting with the hair stylist about a new Italian restaurant she tried on her recent trip to Miami, Gonzalez chimes in asking what she had eaten that made it memorable, how it compared to another local restaurant and if she had any other recommendations for good Italian in Miami. Sure, he could have made the moment about himself and simply offered the knowledge that he was from South Florida, loved Italian food and knows all the best places to go. But that wouldn’t have been the Gonzalez way, as he is far happier genuinely connecting with others to create non-manufactured connections, however fleeting. “I look forward to the Dream Gala each year,” Moures said, “because it’s one night where he gets to interact with fans, and my favorite thing is to see people really get to know him. Sometimes fans will meet him and be a little star-struck but he just cracks a joke and immediately puts everyone at ease.” Gonzalez attributes the majority of his outlook on life and sunny disposition to his strong family. “I didn’t grow up with a rough childhood. We had our financial struggles and may not have had much at times, but we always had fun
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together and found the positives in life. Baseball was at the core of that. [It] was our church,” the 28-year-old Cuban American says. Though Gonzalez admits to “eating, sleeping and breathing baseball” since the age of four when his dad began passing on his love of the game to his son, he has always approached the sport with an uncomplicated attitude. Indeed, one of his earliest memories of playing baseball with his dad and brother resulted in a humorous mishap after Gonzalez, getting his first hit, headed straight to third base. “I remember my dad cracking up and just saying ‘Gio that’s the wrong way,’ Gonzalez says, laughing as he recalls the vivid childhood memory. “But I kept right on going to second base thinking everything was great. Dad never pushed me too hard. He wanted me to be the best I could be, and put me up against tough competition to develop me as a player, but he kept it fun.” Part of what kept it fun for so long was the fact that Gonzalez’s father didn’t push him to get serious about the sport until high school, and allowed his son to play other sports (everything from soccer to kickball, street hockey and flag football) as well as other positions in baseball. “I didn’t start focusing on pitching until high school,” Gonzalez says. “My dad always said, ‘give me four years of your life in high school and I’ll turn you into something positive.’ I gave him those four years and he didn’t let me down.” Those years, which included back-to-back state championships for Gonzalez at Hialeah High School, led to a full-ride offer to pitch for the University of Miami, which he turned down when he was drafted in the first round in 2004 by the Chicago White Sox. He bounced around the minors for four years with varying success, including being ranked by Baseball America as the number-2 prospect in the Phillies farm system in 2005 and then as the number-1 prospect in the White Sox system at the time of his trade to the Oakland Athletics in 2008. His big league debut came on August 6, 2008 with the A’s, but it wasn’t until 2011 that Gonzalez made a noticeable splash. He ended the year with 16 wins, a .571 win-loss percentage and a 3.12 ERA over 202 innings pitched along with his first of two selections to the MLB All-Star team. In the final game of the season, he went out on top, recording 11 strikeouts over 8 shutout innings against the Mariners. Two days before Christmas, the Washington Nationals acquired him as part of a six-player trade and 23 days later he received a large Christmas gift in the form of his five-year, $42-million extension contract with options for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. “Gio’s ample talents are well known and chronicled,” General Manager Mike Rizzo said of the fast turnaround on the extension contract in a January 2012 interview with MLB.com. “Now, both Gio and our fans can shift their focus and excitement to his debut in D.C. knowing that their relationship won’t be ending in the short term.” Gonzalez joined the Nationals’ starting rotation, which he refers to today as his “band of brothers,” in 2012 for what would be a season of
Baseball was our church
O P P OS I T E PAG E : G o n z a lez i s we a r in g a l i ne n s po r t c o a t, li n e n s p o rt s hi r t , l i n e n p o c ke t square, lapel flowe r, linen herringbone pants and a brown wove n b e l t a ll f ro m Ike Be h a r.
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Gonzalez is wearing a wool suit, cotton dress shirt, silk tie, cotton pocket square, socks and crocodile shoes all from Ike Behar Georgetown. The custom clothier, which recently opened a store in Georgetown, has become one of his go-to brands.
Date nights for Gonzalez and Moures usually consist of eating out, most often at places that will allow their French Bulldog Stitch to attend as well.
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personal firsts (he hit his first career homerun and pitched his first career shutout), league records (the Nats were the National League East division champs and their 98-64 finish gave them the best record in Major League Baseball) and awards (with a career best 21 wins, 2.89 ERA and 207 strikeouts Gonzalez was named the best left-handed pitcher in the bigs and given the Warren Spahn Award). Despite all the accolades and the fanfare of his personal best season, for Gonzalez the excitement stemmed from what the team accomplished and the bonds that were formed. “Being in the playoffs with the Nats in 2012 is definitely my proudest baseball accomplishment to date,” Gonzalez says. “It was almost like a dream, the chemistry we had, with guys always picking each other up when it was needed. If one pitcher had a rough day the next guy would go out and pitch eight shutout innings and just kill it.We didn’t even realize it until the end that we had racked up 98 wins, but it was all around the most impressive season I’ve ever been a part of.” Now after having just been reinstated after his stint on the 15-day disabled list (another career first) due to shoulder inflammation, Gonzalez is ready to get back to work. In his nine starts before the injury, he racked up an ERA slightly higher than his normal at 4.62 over 50.2 innings pitched, but managed to maintain a 53/20 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which keeps him on par with his career norms.The month off gave him more downtime than he’s had in the last few years combined, and though Moures said he was tough on himself in the beginning, he did not rush his recovery and took his time healing. “He has played through pain before, so he really struggled with whether going on the DL was the right move for him,” Moures says, “but he turned to his coaches for advice and listened to his body, and now that he is feeling better he knows it was the right decision.” Moures, a consultant for the World Bank, speaks of Gonzalez as if they have known each other their entire lives. The way she beams when talking about him and the giddy schoolgirl glances in his direction when no
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Gonzalez was taught to throw the pitch that led to his 2012 National League Cy Young Award nomination, his curveball, at age 13 by his father on a makeshift mound (a metal generator) in the narrow strip of grass between his house and his neighbor’s house. (Photo courtesy Washington Nationals)
one is looking reveals their relatively new-couple status. They met a year and a half ago through mutual friends two days before Gonzalez was to pitch for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic in Florida and they’ve been inseparable ever since, sharing not only an apartment in Arlington but also a furry “baby” by the name of Stitch. For a man who describes himself as “a total clown,” it should come as no surprise that Moures and Gonzalez bond over trips to Disney World (they went 10 days in a row as their “first date”), animated movies (their French Bulldog is named for the movie “Lilo & Stitch”) and their kids-atheart outlook. “My favorite memories with Gio are just being next to him in the car,” Moures recalls. “He puts on music and sings and dances and does anything and everything to make me laugh and he always succeeds.” Though the lifestyle of a professional athlete can make developing relationships difficult, Moures and Gonzalez use modern technology such as FaceTime to remain in constant contact with each other when he is on the road. So far Moures has never missed a local game that Gonzalez has pitched and has recruited many of her friends to hop aboard the Nationals bandwagon.The couple makes the most of Gonzalez’s rare off days by exploring the city and enjoying their favorite activities together, namely eating out and going to action movies. Don’t be surprised if you see him dining around town at his favorite restaurants, which he says change often but currently include STK, Le Diplomate, Filomena and Bistro Francais. Gonzalez says many of these restaurants have even offered to stay open late to feed him after games.
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“I’ve had the opportunity to play many places now, and Hialeah will always be home,” Gonzalez says. “But this town has so graciously embraced me as a player and a person; it’s my home now, too, and I’ll forever be grateful to the people of this city.” Judging by the number of 47 jerseys seen on any given night in Nats Park, it seems Washingtonians are more than happy to have adopted him.
LITTLE-KNOWN GIO FACTS 1. He is a righty, but taught himself to pitch left-handed. He does everything else right-handed, including batting. 2. Before every game he gets a haircut, eats pasta at an Italian restaurant and puts on his newest clothing, which lately has included a lot of Ike Behar clothing from their new store in Georgetown. “I like wearing fresh gear before I pitch because if I look good, I feel good and then I’ll play good.” 3. He once received a text message from the Mets’ David Wright after a game where his mother, Yolanda Cid-Gonzalez, heckled Wright from the stands. It said, “Man you come to a game full on ready, with distractions in the crowd even!” 4. If he could he would eat sushi every day and not get sick of it. 5. Gonzalez has attended at least one game of every Washington team except the Redskins. He is dying to go to a game this season. 6. His dream career after baseball would be to make movies for Pixar.
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