If there’s one thing Manuel Gonzalez really loves, it’s baseball, either playing on a team, watching it live or on television.
Gonzalez, 20, lives in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood and works at a local coffee shop as a barista. He currently attends Malcolm X College where he is studying to be a radiologist.
Q: What made you want to become a radiologist?
A: I like the medical field. When I was 14 or 15 years old, I hurt my ankle playing baseball and I went for x-rays on my ankle and they explained to me what was going on. It was a really interesting experience.
Q: How often do you play baseball and what’s your favorite team?
A: Whenever I’m not at work or in school I play baseball. My favorite team is the White Sox. When I was growing up, my dad is a Cubs fan, so I took the opposite. The first game I ever saw was the Cubs against the Sox with my dad when I was 5 years old and [the Sox] beat them bad.
Q: What position do you play and what do you like about playing baseball?
I play second base for a softball team. I just like the competition of it. I love the whole concept of working as a team and you have to communicate with each other. Watching is a lot different than playing it.
Q: What would you change about game?
A: I would have more than three outs in a game. They need more than that to get more people to bat.
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Q: Is your dad still a Cubs fan?
A: Yeah, he still is, and when the Crosstown Classic comes around we watch it together.
—David Pollard, Pioneer Press
Shout Out is a weekly feature where get to know and introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago.