It was a nice ceremony before the game. Chairs on the infield. A giant painting of Gonzo in his glory moment - the Game 7 World Series hit. And a video tribute accompanied by Green Day's "Good Riddance" (better known as "Time Of Your Life"). An original choice of musical score if there ever was one.
Gonzo gave a speech worthy of an aspiring politician, calling on kids to "dream big" and "work hard." Rocky Balboa would have been proud.
Here's the Arizona Republic with more on how great of a player Gonzalez was:
The five-time All-Star hit .283 with 2,591 hits, 354 homers and 1,439 with Houston, the Chicago Cubs, Detroit, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida and Arizona. He also had 596 career doubles, 15th all-time, and was one of 17 players to eclipse 2,500 hits, 500 doubles, 350 doubles and 1,000 RBIs.
Gonzalez left as Arizona's all-time leader in 11 different categories, including games played (1,194), hits (1,337), homers (224) and RBIs (774). He hit .298 with Arizona before the Diamondbacks decided not to pick up the option on his contract in 2006.