While you were sleeping, the Dodgers were playing the Australian national team in an exhibition game. Yep, just a harmless exhibition game:
Adrian Gonzalez came out of the game with tightness in his lower back.
— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) March 20, 2014
Adrian Gonzalez said his back felt tight before game even started. Of opening day, he said, “I’ll be good. I’ll be alright.”
— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) March 20, 2014
Backs can get tight for any reason. But if, as I suspect, a lot of players hate the idea of flying halfway around the world to play baseball games like this, Gonzalez should do his fellow union members a solid and talk up how much sitting on airplane for 15 hours played into the back tightness. It may not be the truth, but your friends will thank you so much for saying it, Adrian.