Adrian Gonzalez was shutdown for the remainder of the season on September 27th due to his ongoing back problems. The news crushed Dodger fans, including myself, knowing how much of a vital part Gonzalez has been to this organization. However, this was not a “goodbye.” Rather, this was a “see you later,” with Gonzalez’s focus set on getting healthy for 2018.

Recently, Dave Roberts told the media that Adrian Gonzalez was not with the team during the playoffs. Roberts cited that Gonzalez did not want to be a distraction, and was instead cheering on the Dodgers from home with his family. When the Dodgers defeated the Cubs on Thursday, Gonzalez congratulated his teammates on being World Series bound via Twitter!

Wow, what a job by the guys! Four more wins to go! Keep it rolling. #WS2017 pic.twitter.com/cvjvNhX8VG — Adrián González (@Adrian_ElTitan) October 20, 2017

Well, now he’s cheering on the Dodgers from another country. On Monday, Fernando Ballesteros, Director of Puro Beisbol, tweeted that Adrian Gonzalez is in Italy while his teammates are about to begin the World Series.

Mientras los #Dodgers reciben mañana a los #Astros en el arranque de la Serie Mundial 2017, Adrián González se fue a Italia. pic.twitter.com/nWwv2KXsb3 — Fernando Ballesteros (@purobeisbolfb) October 23, 2017

He doesn’t explain what he’s doing there, but Ballestreros also goes on to say that Gonzalez is on the radar of los Charros de Jalisco, a team that plays in the Mexican Pacific League, to play a short stint for them in the Winter. However, the team will wait for Gonzalez to return from Italy to talk about the possibility.

After the news broke that he would be shut down for the remainder of the season, David Vassegh caught up with Adrian Gonzalez to talk about the injury and the plan moving forward. Here is something that Gonzalez said that really stands out in moments like this:

It’s great in one sense that I’ve never been on the DL until this year, but you know being on the DL is also not the best thing. You have to come and put in all of this work just to watch a game… It feels a little more like an offseason.

I’m sure it’s tough to compete at the highest level and know that there is nothing you can do to help your team on the field, especially after putting in the work every day to get healthy. Regardless, It’s still sad that we will not see Adrian Gonzalez there with his team during the World Series. Even seeing him in the stands or in a suite would be amazing! It just doesn’t make sense to me that he is not there cheering the Dodgers on when they are on the verge of breaking a 29-year drought. Especially considering how big of a part he has played in getting the team to this point.

I’ll end it with this tweet, compliments of Eric Stephen of TrueBlueLA.com:

Injured former All-Stars during Dodgers' 1988 run, noticeably not in Italy pic.twitter.com/7tRdtxKV0V — Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) October 23, 2017

What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments below!

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