Which Alex Gonzalez Hits Home?

Two unrelated Farquharsons take on two unrelated Alex Gonzalezes.

Courtesy of Google Images

Back when the Jays were living legends (circa 1994), we witnessed a few stud muffins strutting around the bases – one of which being our starting shortstop: Alex Gonzalez. But this year, they introduced a secondary shortstop named Álex González, who unfortunately, looks much, much worse than the original. For the Cowgirls, there was no comparison between the two. But luckily, we found Content Associate Will Farquharson over at The Score to help us clarify which batter is better.

Let the Batter Banter begin:

Will: For one, the old Alex had a long career in Toronto, playing with the Jays for over eight seasons. The Jays never won anything substantial with him, and his numbers weren’t that great, albeit acceptable for a shortstop. The new Alex is in his first year here, and I doubt he’ll stay as long as the old one did, so it’s hard to compare. But he’s having a great start to the season, and if he keeps hitting the way he currently is, he’ll have a better year than the old Alex ever did by a long shot!

Pony: The old Alex may have been mediocre on the field, but he was beyond impressive off it. My guess is more tickets were sold during that time because of his gorgeous bod, and that’s something the new Alex won’t be able to do – no matter how many beers are consumed. Are their salaries a big difference these days? Is the new guy living up to his paycheck? Look at the Rogers Centre this past weekend in light of the Yanks, something tells me half those people were there just to see Mr. Blue Eyes A-Rod…

Courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Will: As gorgeous as the old Alex may have been for his many admirers, the attendance numbers actually declined almost every year that he was a Blue Jay. But that’s really not his fault, the championship team from ’92 and ’93 slowly began to fall apart and the Jays fell to the emerging Yankees as the powerhouse team in the American League. You’re right about A-Rod though, who’s probably having a good time at the Brass Rail right now – more than half the fans this weekend were likely there to see him. This year, the Jays are on pace for their worst attendance numbers in 28 years. I don’t blame Alex’s lack of a gorgeous bod for that, I blame 17 years of playoff futility! Their salaries are actually quite similar, and so are their stats altogether. Both Alex’s have played 13 seasons in the majors, and have made nearly the same amount of money in that time (30 million dollars).

Pony: That’s 5 million an ab.

Will: All in all, the new Alex seems primed to have a longer big league career, as he just needs to play one more season after this year to surpass the old one. Averaged out, their numbers are almost identical over their careers – but if Mr. No Abs keeps up his pace this year, then he’ll definitely be the best Alex… statistically.

Courtesy of Rogers TV

Pony: So in closing, if both Alex’s were thrown into a UFC battle together, who do you think would win? My money’s on the old Alex. All those Milk ads he did probably gave him enough calcium to last a lifetime – therefore making him indestructible.

Will: You’ll hate me but I gotta give it to the new Alex. According to their listed weight, he weighs over 35 pounds more, and is in prime game shape. Not only that, but he’s also from the mean streets of Venezuela, whereas the old Alex grew up in Miami probably sitting on a beach – where he’s been retired since 2006.

For more of Will’s behind-the-scenes sports opinion, visit his new blog: Five Tool Farq.

– Emma Farquharson.
(Again, unrelated.)