Pads 15, Rocks 7

Who is that? Errol Flynn?

What do you make of this Edgar Gonzalez guy? Edgar is showing he can hit big league pitching with authority, as his 4-5, 2 bomb performance against the Rocks on Monday night attests. And, not without importance, he is playing a solid second base.

In a word, the Brother of Adrian Gonzalez appears, in his own right, to be a beast.

If I might imagine for a moment the trajectory of the Gonzalez' brothers youth, I think, based on no information whatsoever, that it has played out something like this: Edgar is born first, followed a few years later by Adrian. As they grow up they are close and Adrian looks up to Edgar, his athletic, handsome older brother. Edgar picks on him a bit, as older brothers will do to their younger male siblings, but generally he likes the kid and takes him under his wing.

As they get to be a few years older it's clear both are good athletes. Edgar succeeds first because he is older but Adrian is not far behind. Both are big men on campus in high school. But, by the time Adrian is maybe 15 or 16, maybe a little earlier, people start to notice something special about him. Whereas Edgar was a great hitter and could at times dominate games with his bat, Adrian's swing is perfect and fluid and the ball jumps off his bat with seemingly no effort. And in the field Edgar made a lot of the plays but not without some effort while Adrian looks like he was born with a glove on his right hand, so smooth. The differences between good and great that were at first subtle start to widen as Adrian nears his senior year and then, at the age of 18, is drafted #1 overall in the 2000 MLB draft, the same year Edgar, at age 22, gets his first contract and is assigned to the D-Rays' minor league affiliate in the Rookie Level Appalachian League.

So, if it wasn't before, by 2000 it's clear that Adrian, the #1 overall pick, is a potential star, while Edgar, the older brother, is at-best a marginal prospect. Not only are they separated by talent, but also by fanfare and the size of their signing bonuses.

Fast forward to 2008. Adrian is now one of the princes of San Diego. He has his contract. He has proven himself as the best hitter on a playoff-caliber team. He is still one of the younger starting first basemen in all of baseball. And Edgar? The older brother? He still hasn't made his major league debut and, though he spent 2007 raking for the Cardinals' AAA squad, still has no clear shot at a big league job.

Then, through some clever machinations wrought by Kevin Towers, Pablo DePodesta and the Other Mad Geniuses in the Padres front office, the Drinos sign Edgar and he starts the season in AAA Portland. Then, when Tad Iguchi goes down, Edgar gets his chance. He gets a call up, joins his brother on the right side of the Padres infield, and immediately starts raking. Not raking at Adrian levels, but raking nonetheless. .315 3 14 in 127 ABs as this is being written, none too shabby for a 30 year-old rook.

What will happen next? Query this: Edgar, who, let's be honest, is the better looking of the two, continues to hit and becomes the Drinos everyday second basemen. And not only does he continue to hit, but he hits at a .300 clip with some pop. And Adrian, well he's still Adrian, but now there is this rakish, Zorro-esque second basemen hitting .320 and playing right next to him on the diamond.

So query who becomes the better loved Gonzalez brother among the ladies of San Diego?

Query indeed.