A few days after Luis Gonzalez fisted the winning single in the ninth inning of game 7of the 2001 World Series, the Diamondbacks' slugger sat down with us to relect on his involvement in one of the greatest World Series in history.

A career .286 hitter, Luis broke out in a big way during the 2001 season. Setting career highs in virtually every offensive category, "Gonzo" became one of eight players in history to hit at least 57 homeruns in a season. He broke a Major League record by hitting 13 homeruns in the month of April.

JrBB: How old were you when you started playing baseball?

LG: When I was really young, I always seemed to have a ball, a bat, or a glove in my hands. But it wasn’t until I was about five or six years old when I first started playing organized baseball.

JB: What are your favorite memories of playing youth ball?

LG: Just how much fun it was to go out there and play the competition of the game. It’s amazing to think I played with guys back then who are also in the big leagues today. We all had the same dreams back then in Little League and now we’re playing at a much higher level.

JB: As a kid were you an above-average baseball player?

LG: I don’t know about above average. I played shortstop, pitched a little, even played some first base. So I guess you could say I was one of those guys who they wanted handling the ball as much as possible. At the same time I believe I’ve gotten where I am because of hard work.

JB: Did you play any other sports besides baseball?

LG: I played a little bit of basketball in junior high, but that’s about it.

JB: Who was the biggest influence on you when you were a kid playing baseball?

LG: I would say my mom and my grandmother. They were the ones who would always take me to practices and games. They were always telling me that if I worked hard, good things would happen. With all these positive things being instilled in me, I just realized that if I went out there and practiced hard, something positive was going to happen.

JB: What was your high school career like?

LG: My high schoolcareer was a lot of fun. I got to play with a lot of great guys. My best friend playing there was Tino Martinez. Our team was ranked nationally, but unfortunately we ended up losing to the team that won the national championship that year, Miami High. It was just fun because, like I said, there were a lot of guys - Gary Sheffield, Derek Bell, John Hudax - who ended up making it to the major leagues who we competed against all year.

JB: What were your favorite classes?

LG: I liked science for the simple fact it was always interesting to me. I was never that great in history, but I do enjoy some parts of it.

JB: With your buddy Tino Martinez, did you guys ever talk about one day playing major league baseball together, or did it seem beyond possibility back then?

LG: Well, I think where we grew up it was such a hotbed for baseball, everyone hoped to be the next big guy to come out of the area. We grew up in a primarily Hispanic part of town where a lot of the older guys would sit around, drink coffee, and go over box scores and read about the local guys and how they were doing in the big leagues. I think as kids, we just wanted to be the next guy they sat around talking about.

JB: It must have been almost dream-like for you to be playing against Tino in the World Series.

LG: It really was. The whole season for me was storybook - from the first month of the season tying Griffey’s homerun record for April, being selected by the fans as a starter in the All Star Game, winning the Homerun Derby, staying alive in the playoffs, getting the chance to play against a guy I’ve played with all through Little League and high school to see him across the field during the World Series, and then to come up in game seven, bottom of the ninth, and get the game winning hit - it’s what every kid dreams about. It really doesn’t get any better than that!
I had the one crack at it and I was able to be successful. I mean you don’t ever know if you’re going to be able to come up in that situation again. Fortunately I was able to come up in that situation and get a hit.

JB: If you didn’t make it as a baseball player, what do you think you would have been?

LG: Back in college I majored in radio and television broadcasting. So if I wasn’t able to play my favorite sport, I would have been calling it either on television or radio.

[ Gonzalez Interview: Page 1  | Page 2 ]

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