‘It makes my head spin’: Pride of Vacaville has hand in Dodgers inning World Series
Though the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 6 of the World Series on Tuesday didn’t look perfect, a blue wave of fans in Vacaville didn’t mind the blemishes on starter Tony Gonsolin’s night.
Gonsolin is Vacaville to the core. He grew up there, went to school there, played sports, became a baseball star, and then reached the major leagues. He never forgot his roots.
On Tuesday night in Game 6 of the World Series, a good many people who call the 707 area code home tuned in to see Gonsolin start the game against the Rays. The result: a shaky inning and two-thirds of work, with three hits and two walks allowed. But this is the important part. Gonsolin limited the damage, striking out four batters and allowing just one run to keep the game in check.
It was a familiar effort. Stu Clary tuned in. He’s the Vacaville High School baseball coach who has watched Gonsolin’s trajectory from youth ball on up. Clary’s sons, Gordie and Tom, were teammates with the lanky lad they called “Goose” in youth ball and at Vacaville High.
“Oh, heck yeah we celebrate, we’re proud, no matter what,” Coach Clary said. “He’s from here. He’s us. Same age as my sons. He always gives back, visits our players in the weight room or at the baseball field when he can, sends us autographed baseballs when he can’t make it. People here, the kids and adults, just love him.”
Clary said Gonsolin’s feel-good story this season offers relief for those pained by the LNU Lightning Complex Fire. That blaze started in August, the first week of school, and scorched more than 360,000 acres, wiping out more than 300 homes and 1,500 structures.
Gonsolin’s parents were in Arlington, Texas, to watch the World Series. Joanne Gonsolin once said that among her son’s first words were “mama, dada and ball.”
“We haven’t had a lot to cheer about here with all the fires,” Clary said. “Anybody who has lived any amount of time here, much less grew up here, knows people who have lost a lot in the fires. Watching him pitch in the World Series on the biggest stage makes me think of those people who lost so much from the fires. A lot of rebuilding hasn’t happened yet.
“He’s pitching, win or lose, and we have people here with bigger issues, but for a couple of hours, we’ll all be able to say, ‘holy smokes! Look at this guy! That’s our guy!’ That’s pretty cool stuff.”
Clary said Gonsolin was always the best player on his youth and high school teams. Gonsolin was the fastest, threw the hardest, hit the ball farthest. But he was grounded, humble, and he fit right in. He was a star who didn’t realize it.
Said Clary, “We used to have those kids on a travel team and play teams that had kids from all over the Bay Area, and we’d win 3-2. ‘Where are you guys from?’ Well, we’re from the north side of Vacaville, where kids ride bikes to each other’s houses.’”
Gonsolin turned to baseball when he didn’t quite fit in with other sports. He told the MLB Network recently, “I always played baseball. Tried soccer. Didn’t like it. Tried basketball. I don’t know if the shoes were too small but my feet hurt, so I didn’t like basketball. Tried football in high school but it didn’t stick. Baseball is what I stuck with.”
Gonsolin graduated from Vacaville High in 2012 after posting a 4-1 record while batting .370 and headed to St. Mary’s in Moraga as a position player. Pitching wasn’t his main line of thinking then.
He was a starting outfielder for three seasons with the Gaels, belting seven home runs as a senior in 2016. When St. Mary’s coaches needed some arms in 2016, Gonsolin stepped up, became a reliever - and a prospect, touching 100 mph with his fastball at a workout to turn heads.
Gonsolin was drafted in the ninth round of the 2016 draft pitched out of the bullpen his first two Los Angeles minor league seasons and made his Major League debut in 2019, when he had a 2.93 ERA in 11 games and maintained his rookie status.
The 26-year-old right-handed Gonsolin started this season with 16.2 scoreless innings and posted a 2.31 ERA during the regular season. He pitched two innings of relief in the Dodgers’ Game 7 clincher over the Atlanta Braves to win the National League Championship Series. He pitched a 1 1/3 innings in Game 2 against the Rays in what was scheduled to be a brief showing with a planned bullpen contest for the Dodgers.
Clary is an A’s fan cheering this week for the Dodgers.
”He’s such a good dude, and you can see how composed he is on the mound — that’s his personality,” Clary said. “To see one of our own, man, that just makes my head spin.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 1:03 PM.