On Tap with...Noel Gonzales-Luna

In the final “On Tap” of the year, we interview, senior co-captain and second baseman Noel Gonzales of the baseball team.

Q: What was your ‘welcome to college’ moment?

A: The first time we took [batting practice] on the field freshman year, the other guys on the team made me look like a club player.

Q: What was the greatest highlight in your sports career?

A: It’s got to be the walk-off I hit this year to come back and beat Harvard in extra innings. There’s nothing better, and I hate Harvard with a passion, especially because they act like a bunch of rah-rah softball chicks on the field.

Q: What is the funniest story you have about your coach?

A: Every year lots of geese fly over and poop all over our field. One time [head] coach [Scott] Bradley was chasing them off, and one goose started flying right at him. He punched it in the jaw and absolutely laid the goose out.

Q: Who is your quirkiest teammate? Why?

A: [Freshman] Nathan Baird. He’s a pretty smart kid, but he acts more like a clueless little puppy dog. We’re pretty sure he spends most of his spare time at Chuck E. Cheese's and chasing squirrels.

Q: What was your most embarrassing moment?

A: One time I was pinch hitting and didn’t realize the other team had just put in a lefty to pitch. I went up there to hit left-handed and had to switch over to the other side. At first, Coach thought I was being savvy, trying to take away the pitcher’s changeup or something — psych.

Q: What's the best part about being an athlete on campus?

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A: All the respect we get.

Q: What's the worst/hardest part about being an athlete on campus?

A: Waking up at 6:30 a.m. three times a week in the fall sure ain’t fun.

Q: What's your favorite thing to do when not practicing?

A: Just hanging out with friends at Cottage or at the apartment a couple guys on the team have. I also like just talking baseball with whoever.

Q: If not baseball, what other sport would you play?

A: Track and cross country. I was real into it in high school before baseball got intense. But in a different life I would’ve been a professional bull rider. Is that a sport? That’s what I wanted to do when I was real young, living on a ranch.

Q: What would you do if you were your coach for a day?

A: I’d have a pitchers vs. position players game to settle the discussion once and for all.

Q: What's your favorite class you've taken at Princeton?

MAE 445: Entrepreneurial Engineering. My group got to go to China for a week because a company liked the product we invented. It was awesome.

Q: Who gets the most guys/girls on the team? Who has the most game off the field?

A: Definitely [freshman] Johnny Mishu. Every time we go out, he calls dibs on half the girls, talking about how much he really likes her.

Q: Do you have a pre-game ritual?

A: I guess the closest thing is that I have the same guy put on my eye black before all our day games, [freshman] Kevin Link. I mean, the guy is like Picasso with an eye black stick in his hand. He does great work.

Q: Do you have any particularly inspiring music?

A: This year I got into a rhythm where I listen to “Your Touch” by the Black Keys on game days. Kenny Powers got me hooked on it.

Q: What is the most embarrassing song on your iPod?

A: It's probably “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus. I’m going to have to blame [senior] Ross Staine and [junior] Brian Berkowitz for that one, but sometimes you look at yourself and just gotta shake your head.