BP Unfiltered

Fredi Gonzalez Gets Involved With The NBA

by R.J. Anderson

Today in unnecessary baseball quotes:

Also Saturday, Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez stood up for [Stan Van Gundy].

"I think the owner has to step up and sign Stan for a couple years more, unless [Dwight Howard] wants to take a pay cut and be the head coach," Gonzalez said before Saturday's game against the New York Mets.

Those two paragraphs are buried at the end of a 500-word news story concerning the basketball feud between Stan Van Gundy and his superstar big man Dwight Howard. Why is Gonzalez involved? It might be because Gonzalez and Van Gundy are close friends, and have been for a while. In fact, Van Gundy went to bat for Gonzalez after he benched Hanley Ramirez:

"Look I saw the play, he was perfectly justified in what he did and if he doesn't do something in that situation, the other 24 guys are looking around going what the hell's going on."

As for Gonzalez's feelings on the Howard-Van Gundy situation, he took it a step further when speaking with the Atlanta press:

“I know what I would have said if he’d have walked into my office if I was the owner: ‘Get your a** back on the court and play. We’ll let the guys coach; you play.”

So ends this edition of random baseball involvement in the dramas of other sports. Next time, the Orlando Sentinel will find out if Van Gundy approves of Gonzalez opting to bench Jason Heyward in favor of Jose Constanza last season.

R.J. Anderson is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @r_j_anderson
Click here to see R.J.'s other articles. You can contact R.J. by clicking here

1 comment has been left for this article.

<< Previous Article

Future Shock: Opening ... (04/06)

<< Previous Column
BP Unfiltered: Earning... (04/02)

Next Column >>
BP Unfiltered: The Fer... (04/11)

Next Article >>
Collateral Damage Dail... (04/09)

RECENTLY AT BASEBALL PROSPECTUS Out of Left Field: Watching Baseball with a ... What You Need to Know: Dodging Bullets In A Pickle: Walk Don't Walk Baseball Therapy: Are Starters Motivated by ... On the Beat: The Optimistic Disastros Overthinking It: The Incredible New Neal Cot... Eyewitness Accounts: May 23, 2013	MORE FROM APRIL 9, 2012 Pebble Hunting: Annotated Box Score: Mike Sw... Out of Left Field: How to Stop a Baseball Ga... Resident Fantasy Genius: Don't Hoard Your Fr... Baseball Prospectus News: Introducing BP's D... Daily Hit List: Monday, April 9 Collateral Damage Daily: Monday, April 9 What You Need to Know: Monday, April 9
MORE BY R.J. ANDERSON 2012-04-11 - Prospectus Game of the Week: Samardzija's Bi... 2012-04-11 - BP Unfiltered: The Fernando Rodney Shift 2012-04-10 - Painting the Black: Who Are These Guys? 2012-04-09 - BP Unfiltered: Fredi Gonzalez Gets Involved ... 2012-04-05 - Transaction Analysis: Getting Caught Up Befo... 2012-04-03 - Painting the Black: 2012 Milestones Watch 2012-04-02 - Transaction Analysis: Even More Extensions More...	MORE BP UNFILTERED 2012-04-13 - BP Unfiltered: The Whole Ball Player 2012-04-12 - BP Unfiltered: Peter Bourjos vs. Bengie Moli... 2012-04-11 - BP Unfiltered: The Fernando Rodney Shift 2012-04-09 - BP Unfiltered: Fredi Gonzalez Gets Involved ... 2012-04-02 - BP Unfiltered: Earning our Varsity Letters [... 2012-04-02 - BP Unfiltered: This Isn’t Baseball. It’s... 2012-03-29 - BP Unfiltered: Community Playing Time Foreca... More...