• Clothing by House of Leagues
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  • Shirt by Bottega; Watch by Glam Rock; Sunglasses by Carrera
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  • Blazer, Shirt and Belt by Dolce & Gabbana; Bow-tie by Ralph Lauren; Pants by Dockers
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Gio Gonzalez After two All-Star seasons, the Washington Nationals’ ace is making his pitch to be the top hurler in baseball

     When Gio Gonzalez was a boy growing up in Hialeah, FL, his father would take him to various spring training sites. “He wanted me to see big leaguers up close,” Gio remembers. “Tell him what happened,” Gio’s dad, Max, says. “I won’t say who it was,” Gio says, “but one superstar came walking by and I asked for his autograph. I was about two feet away from him. He just blew me off. I was so angry,”
     “I told him right there, you must never be like that,” Max says. “When you’ve had a bad day, that’s the best time to go out and sign for fans. Show them that you’re a human being. People will love you for being honest with them.”
     Max would impart these lessons regularly on Gio. He shouldn’t think like a fan, he should think like a Major Leaguer.  And while most parents would encourage their sons to dream of being in the Major Leagues, Max provided an assurance that it would happen. That will be you someday. There were a lot of talented young kids in the world looking to play at the next level, but the ones that put the time in are the ones who make it to the top.
     “My dad was my coach growing up,” Gio says. “Even now in the offseason, we talk about a lot of things. He’s still trying to teach me how to hit! But he was the guy who would coach our teams. We’d all pile into his old car and hope that it would make it to the games. The fields would be a mess, but we’d be out there all day. That was the way it was growing up.”
     “I had Gio at a very young age,” Max says. “I had a lot of energy, so I would coach him and his friends after work. In a way, because there wasn’t a huge age difference, it made us much closer. He’ll always be my son, but it’s much more than that.”
     Gio remembers growing up in Hialeah, his friends knew the front door was perpetually unlocked in the Gonzalez house. “My friends would just walk in,” he says. “We didn’t have a lot, but whatever we had, we shared. It was an open door policy.”
     Gio has maintained the open door policy at his off-season home in southern Florida, as over a dozen family members, friends, and colleagues make their way in and out of the front door of his house while we are there to photograph him for the cover of the magazine. To Gio, it is proof of a support system that has helped propel him to greater heights.
     “When you step out on that mound,” he says, “You’ve got your family name on your back. You’re wearing your team name. You’re wearing your city name. On my glove, every game, the word Hialeah is on there. Every time I go out to pitch, I’m representing a lot of people. If I was to fail, and it was just for me, I could live with that. But I can’t fail for them. They’re counting on me.”

“You’ve got your family name on your back. You’re wearing your team name. You’re wearing your city name."

      The fact that Gio has already achieved so much in his short Major League career fills his family and, especially, his father Max, with great pride. “He’s worked so hard,” Max says. “When other kids were out having fun, he was practicing. You can have all the natural ability in the world, but what are you going to do with it?”
     Besides Gonzalez, there are several other young players on the Nationals making the most of their ability. And he feels that as he continues to get better at his craft, he is only one piece of a young Nationals team that plans to be together for a while.
     “(General Manager) Mike Rizzo did a great job of adding pieces here and there to the core group of guys he had that grew up together in the system and had already formed a great bond,” Gio says. “You start looking at our roster and there are a lot of guys that are going to be here for a while—Steven Strassberg, Jordan Zimmerman, Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman. You’ve got some guys on this team that have the potential to be Hall of Fame players. To be a part of it has been unbelievable.
     The mix of youthful talent and emerging superstar veterans came together in 2012 to exceed all expectations. Thought to be a competitive team when they left training camp, the Nationals would go on to lead the Major Leagues in victories with a 98-64 record, before losing in a heartbreaking final game of the NLDS to St. Louis. Pacing the way was Gonzalez, who lead the Majors with 21 victories and posted a 2.89 ERA with 209 strikeouts in 199 innings. His performance made him a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award and the winner of the Warren Spahn Award.
     The early success that Gio has had in Washington helped quickly sweep aside any anxiety he experienced about being traded to a new city in a new league. “I understood why the Oakland A’s had to trade me,” he says. “I’m forever grateful that they gave me my first opportunity to play in the Major Leagues. But when you’ve been in one organization your whole big league career, everything is set. You know what hotel you’re staying in. You know where you’re going to eat. You’ve seen most of the batters before. Getting traded to the National League, everything changed. You’re going to entirely different cities. Facing different players. You have to pick up a bat every game you play in. It takes some getting used to.”
     With the increased exposure that his continuing success has brought him, Gio has sought to find ways to use his raised profile responsibly. This year, he has started the GIO Foundation (Giving Individuals Opportunities), with the support of his family. “There are so many people out there who need help and whose voices can’t be heard,” he says. “When I look at the work that guys like Derek Jeter and David Ortiz are doing with their foundations, how can I not follow in those footsteps? Those guys have been role models on how to help other people off-the field.”
     Gio is trying to inspire his growing social media fan base to get involved however they can. “You don’t have to be wealthy to help some one. Every little bit helps. Even if you can’t give money, give time. When I see a sick child, and he’s wearing my jersey? I mean, what do you say? This kids has so much to deal with and he’s taking the time to recognize me? If I can do something in return, it makes all of this even more special.”
     Gio has also started a clothing line with his brother, called House of Leagues.  “I’m really getting into fashion now,” he says. “My whole family has worked on the clothing line. It’s been a nice change to be able to focus on something different in the off-season. It keeps things fresh. Baseball can be a very repetitive sport and you need something to recharge your batteries. And to be able to do it with my family, what more can you ask? They’ve been the world to me. Right, dad?” And with that, Max Gonzalez pats his son on the back, as they re-enter the crowded living room in Gonzalez’s home.