Over the course of 17 seasons on the Nationals beat, you come across players with every type of personality and every type of approach when it comes to dealing with reporters. Some are outgoing and gregarious. Some are shy and reticent. Some are polite but know how to say nothing interesting. Some are rude but can't help themselves and say plenty of things they shouldn't have said.
In those 17 seasons, though, there has never been an interview subject quite like Giovany Aramis González.
Gio, as you most likely know him, is one of the friendliest ballplayers you'll ever meet. The man just enjoys life. He's always got a smile on his face. He's always saying something (whether to another person, or at times to himself).
That does not, however, necessarily make someone a good interview. Let me explain.
When you conduct an interview as a reporter, you're pretty much hoping for one of two things in the subject's response: Information or a good quote. You either want some quality detail to be shared that helps explain why something happened, or you want an interesting take on a subject matter that helps provide context for the words you've written yourself.
Alas, when you asked González a question, your odds of getting either of those type of responses out of him were minimal. Not because he was purposely trying to avoid saying something. But because he wasn't capable of delivering a concise, quotable reply and instead would take you on a rambling adventure that hardly ever ended in the vicinity of where it began.
I don't think Gio knew he was doing this. It's just the way he talks. He gets going, and his mouth just starts moving faster than his brain. And rather than take a breath and recollect his thoughts, he just keeps talking, typically veering way off course from the original premise.
Like, you could ask him about how his curveball was working on a given night, and though his first sentence would be on subject, he would suddenly swerve and talk about Wilson Ramos' game-calling, then the catcher's clutch hit later in the game.
To his credit, González always was looking for any reason he could find to talk up his teammates. He made a point always to mention a milestone someone else had reached, or to compliment his catcher or his third baseman or anyone else who merited praise. That's why he was so well-liked. He was a good teammate.
And because he said every word with a wide smile on his face, you couldn't help but smile and nod along as he answered each question, often not even realizing he hadn't come close to answering what you actually asked.
It was only later in the night, once you got back to the press box and turned on your recorder to re-listen to the interview that it dawned on you: Most of this was unusable for your article.
Go back and find stories from games González pitched. Bet you won't find more than one or two quotes from him, and they're almost always condensed down to one or two sentences. Because to include his entire answer in print would be to use up far too much precious space, and it would've left the reader utterly confused in the process.
It happened all the time with Gio, but easily my favorite postgame interview with him came on March 21, 2016. Yep, a spring training game. Nats vs. Astros in Viera.
What made this interview unique? It came three days after González's then-fiance, Lea, gave birth to the couple's first child. Enzo Louis González was born at 7 p.m. on a Thursday in Washington. His dad had flown in from Viera that morning and spent 72 hours doing everything a new father is supposed to do in those life-changing 72 hours. He then flew back to Florida on Saturday night and took the mound Sunday afternoon for his regularly scheduled exhibition start.
And he did all this on very little sleep.
To no one's surprise, González wasn't all that sharp on the mound that day. He needed 87 pitches just to get through 4 1/3 innings. Perfectly understandable, under the circumstances. But then came the challenge of trying to get him to speak coherently about the game and all the events that had preceded it.
Breaking news: Gio's answers weren't anywhere close to coherent.
I still have the full transcript saved on my laptop, and though I won't publish it in its entirety, I'll share two of the best responses.
Asked when he got back to town and what kind of work he'd been able to do since the last time he pitched, González replied: "I got back in Saturday night, and then it was a little light throwing with Pap (Jonathan Papelbon) yesterday. I didn't want to throw too much, because I didn't want to be sore for today. Talk about revving your engine right back up. A little tuning up that I wanted to do, a little timing. But it is normal to feel the strike zone again. I was excited to throw to Ramos again. It was good to see Ramos out there and the strike zone. Soon it'll be Ramos, Loby (Jose Lobaton) again. As far as that, it was a journey throwing a curveball, trying to get it for a strike. Changeup. Some of the pitches were landing the time I needed it. I got a big strikeout when I needed it the most. But as far as that, (Anthony) Rendon made a lot of plays at third. It just shows: Even a little bit off, you can still be aggressive. And they were an aggressive team today. They were swinging the bat. I was trying not to throw it in their wheelpath, so..."
(This remains the first and only time I've ever heard someone use the word "wheelpath.")
González also was asked what the last 72 hours had been like. His response: "What's it been like? It's like being a dad. It's been great. It's a little tiring, because you want to be there and help them out as much as possible. But you've got to get back to work. As far as the whole process, it was exciting to be a father and then all of a sudden come back to work and play baseball. You felt like a little kid as an adult. I had a blessing in disguise. Lea, my fiancé, I'm just happy that she's healthy and she created a beautiful little boy. I'm glad he took all her looks. Hopefully I can teach him a thing or two. Hopefully he gets her brains, too."
(In case you missed it, he inexplicably referred to his newborn son as "a blessing in disguise.")
I share this in no way to try to make fun of Gio, or to embarrass him. He'd be the first to admit his less-than-perfect way with words. And you don't have to be a good quote to be a good person. Gio is a very good person, and he was an absolute pleasure to cover for seven seasons.
After the Nationals traded him in August 2018, González bounced around for several seasons. He spent the rest of 2018 and 2019 with the Brewers, then 2020 with the White Sox, then spent last spring with the Marlins. He would get roughed up by the Nats during one March appearance, and sadly that proved to be the last time he took the mound as a professional. González announced his retirement shortly after that.
Gio and Lea still live in the area. They have two sons: Enzo and his little brother, Gabriel. They attended a game at Nationals Park in September and got a huge ovation when shown on the scoreboard in between innings. And it was great to catch up with him in the press box later during that game.
He's still only 36, so who knows where else life will take him.
Let's just hope whatever he does, he's not responsible for providing coherent quotes to reporters.