PHILADELPHIA -- Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez went deep against Boston’s Junichi Tazawa in early August to become the seventh active player to reach 300 career homers and 400 doubles. Now that Alex Rodriguez has retired, Gonzalez shares that designation with Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, Carlos Beltran, Adrian Beltre and Miguel Cabrera. It doesn’t take a great leap of faith to think those five players all could wind up in Cooperstown one day.
Aside from the company he keeps, Gonzalez’s most admirable qualities are his reliability and work ethic.