Maybe it's because playing on the West Coast doesn't bring him name recognition around the rest of the country. Maybe it's because he plays for the San Diego Padres, a team that has not gotten past the first round of the playoffs in their two trips to the promised land since their World Series run in 1998. Maybe it's because he plays in a incredibly weak lineup in which he is the only player with over 40 RBIs and just one of two with double-digit home runs. Whatever the reason is, Adrian Gonzalez is not known by the average fan even though he may be one of the best hitters in baseball.In this year's All-Star balloting, Gonzalez is not in the top five vote-getters for NL 
First Basemen even though he is hitting a respectable .288 and is 4th in the Major Leagues with 21 home runs, despite playing half his games at cavernous Petco Park. Gonzalez is also tied for first in the National League with 68 RBIs, even though he is in arguably the worst lineup in baseball. Gonzalez deals with almost every kind of disadvantage a hitter can have. He plays half of the season in a gigantic ballpark, Petco Park, the hardest park to hit a home run in. The Padres lineup also offers very, very little protection, which in turn makes it much easier for opposing pitchers to pitch around Gonzalez, giving him a very small amount of good pitches to hit. Gonzalez plays in a hitter's worst nightmare and thrives.
First Basemen even though he is hitting a respectable .288 and is 4th in the Major Leagues with 21 home runs, despite playing half his games at cavernous Petco Park. Gonzalez is also tied for first in the National League with 68 RBIs, even though he is in arguably the worst lineup in baseball. Gonzalez deals with almost every kind of disadvantage a hitter can have. He plays half of the season in a gigantic ballpark, Petco Park, the hardest park to hit a home run in. The Padres lineup also offers very, very little protection, which in turn makes it much easier for opposing pitchers to pitch around Gonzalez, giving him a very small amount of good pitches to hit. Gonzalez plays in a hitter's worst nightmare and thrives.Still, Gonzalez gets no love from fans. He has easily outperformed the likes of Derrick Lee (.291, 15 HR, 51 RBI), Prince Fielder (.272, 16 HR, 43 RBI), and Ryan Howard (.215, 20 HR, 68 RBI), all of whom are above Gonzalez in the All-Star voting. If Gonzalez played in the same ballpark as any of the three players above, he would probably be hitting well over .300 with about 25 home runs. Nevertheless, Gonzalez is still putting together a solid 2008 campaign and is on pace to finish with monster season of 41 home runs and 131 RBIs. Maybe once he does that, Adrian Gonzalez will finally be recognized by fans as one of the best hitters in baseball.
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