Top 5 Things You Might Not Know About Gio Gonzalez:
5. He sometimes gets confused about which city he's in, but he loves movies: When he first arrived in D.C., Gio and his family reenacted some scenes from their favorite movies, at one point running up the steps of the Capitol. "When we got here, my brother and my family we enjoyed it. We were running up the steps screaming, "ROCKY!" it's the wrong city, but, we were screaming, "ROCKY!" and then we also saw where Forrest Gump was shot, we did the whole thing, we quoted a lot of movies. "Independence Day!" We did everything."
4. Gonzalez has a plan to cut down on his league-leading walk total from last year: "Obviously I have to attack the strike zone," the 26-year-old lefty said, "that's the main key there. But hopefully within time I get in good with the umpires. I may have to take them out to dinner or something like that."
3. He played high school baseball against Ian Desmond and with Chris Marrero: "I played with Christian Marrero, Nene. He was a sophomore when I was a senior at Monsignor Edward Pace, great ballplayer. And his brother, he's now with the White Sox. My brother actually played on the same team with all of us. And I played against Ian Desmond when I was in high school in a traveling tournament."
2. He sometimes gives away team secrets: After Jayson Werth took Gio Gonzalez on a tour around Nationals Park on the day of Gio's introductory press conference, Gonzalez let something slip that Nats fans may not have known about Werth. The beard he occasionally wears and the long hair, they're fake. In explaining why Werth hadn't appeared publicly during the press conference, Gonzalez said, "He said that he didn't have his hair and his makeup on, he had his beard, I think he had to take it off and put it back on."
1. He gets his hair cut twice a week: Stephen Strasburg told reporters recently, in an MLB Network Radio interview that the Nats' newest left-hander, Gio Gonzalez, acquired in a 4-for-2 trade with Oakland this winter, gets his hair cut so often, "It almost looks like his hair doesn't grow he gets it cut so much." How often does Gonzalez get his hair? He was asked in his own MLB Network Radio interview after the trade that brought him to D.C. "I cut my hair twice a week," Gonzalez said. Now you know.
At 1:05 pm EDT this afternoon, Gonzalez makes his first start for the Nationals against the Chicago Cubs.