Add Diamondbacks OF Luis Gonzalez to the list of sports figures
to salvage a pre-game national anthem performance. Prior to
Monday's 10-8 getaway victory in Philadelphia that snapped a
five-game losing streak, Gonzalez came to the aide of a teenager
holding the United States flag in a ROTC unit while the anthem
was being played. "He was passing out, he was getting ready to
fall down," Gonzalez said. "I was stretching with (strength
coach David Page) right behind him in left field. I kept looking
at him and he didn't look right. He kept leaning to one side,
so I told Page 'I think he's gonna pass out'." Gonzalez ended
up holding the flag. "So I ran over there and (Page) got on the
other side and we kind of held him up and I just took the flag
out of his hand and held the flag. So I was the only one out of
military uniform compared to everybody else." Gonzalez admitted
the scene reminded him of former Portland NBA coach Maurice
Cheeks coming to the rescue of a teenage girl and helping her
finish singing the anthem. "Yeah, when (Cheeks) grabs the mike
and helps the girl sing, yeah, I thought about that when I did
that," Gonzalez said. His teammates kidded him after the
incident about his flag-holding abilities. "My teammates were
getting on me for not holding the flag high enough," Gonzalez
said. "I'm stuck out there with a flag. I don't know what to do.
I'm looking around waiting for somebody to grab the flag
because I still had to get ready for the game." Gonzalez was one
of the few bright spots for Arizona in the Philadelphia series,
going 10-for-16 for a .625 average, and also hitting his 300th
career home run on Sunday.