San Diego has found its ideal star

On Sundays, he was a boy among men.

They play ball in Tijuana on Sundays, all comers welcome, if you’re good enough.

Maybe you played in the major leagues, or the minor leagues. Maybe you played pro ball in Mexico. You might be hoping for your big break, or you might have given up on it. You might be 24, or 34, or 44.

Or you might be 14.

Adrian Gonzalez was. He is the pride of both sides of the border today, the best player in Southern California, the emerging face of the San Diego Padres.

He is not a one-man offense, but it’s pretty close. He leads the National League in runs batted in, for a team that rarely scores.

Of every four runs batted in for the Padres, he has one. Never in major league history has one player accounted for 25% of his team’s RBIs, according to STATS LLC. The record, set by one of his predecessors as the San Diego first baseman: Nate Colbert, who drove in 24.6% of the Padres’ runs in 1972. (The all-time top 10, which includes five Hall of Famers, appears in STATS Corner below.)

Gonzalez is the perfect ambassador for the Padres, in a way Tony Gwynn or Trevor Hoffman never could be. The Padres play in a market bounded by an ocean to the west, a desert to the east and Vladimir Guerrero and Vin Scully to the north. By necessity and by choice, they pitch themselves to Baja California, selling tickets and T-shirts and swinging friars at their store in Tijuana.

Gonzalez was born in San Diego. His family moved to Tijuana one year later. His father, David, a onetime first baseman on the Mexican national team, ran an air conditioning business that did so well the family eventually kept one home in Chula Vista and another in Tijuana.

He and his brothers adored the Padres. He went to Qualcomm Stadium -- “Jack Murphy at the time,” he said -- and dreamed that he might wear that uniform one day.

“We loved baseball,” he said. “We loved Tony Gwynn.”

By the time Gonzalez got to high school, he lived a dual life. He crossed the border into the U.S. at the start of the week, so he could attend Eastlake High in Chula Vista. He crossed the border into Mexico at the end of the week, so he could play in those Tijuana games.

“We had our high school friends and our baseball friends,” said Gonzalez’s big brother Edgar. He’s 30, and he’s also an infielder on the Padres.

Adrian Gonzalez is 26. Hoffman is 40, and a few lockers away.

“I remember watching him during the playoff seasons, and how unbelievable he was at coming in and shutting the door,” Gonzalez said. “He still is.”

He has not forgotten those joys and thrills.

“I know what it’s like to be a fan, to be a kid looking up at a player,” he said. “I want to be the player that gives back to the community.”

So he does, in English and in Spanish, in San Diego and in Tijuana, in clinics and charity golf tournaments, in working with kids, in bilingual chats on the Padres’ website.

“I’m a believer in Christ,” Gonzalez said. “In my faith, you have to give back. It’s not about you.”

He is not the only player who gives back, of course, but he is a star who speaks to you, in your language. The memory of meeting a middle reliever is not quite so cherished.

Gonzalez is the first baseman the Angels hope Casey Kotchman can become, the first baseman the Dodgers hope James Loney can become.

He is batting .296, with 19 home runs. No major leaguer has hit more, save Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies, and Gonzalez plays in the grand canyon of Petco Park.

“He should be the All-Star selection this year,” Hoffman said. “He’s doing it in a ballpark they say is too big.”

The Padres have not had a player elected an All-Star starter since Gwynn retired seven years ago. Gonzalez does not rank among the top five in voting, with a star-studded field that includes Lance Berkman, Prince Fielder, Derrek Lee and Ryan Howard.

“What’s that guy’s name in St. Louis?” Padres Manager Bud Black said, mischievously. “He’s pretty good.”

Yet Albert Pujols does not lead the Cardinals in runs batted in. Ryan Ludwick does, because most teams shy away from pitching to Pujols, and frankly it’s a wonder that any team pitches to Gonzalez.

The Padres’ top four outfielders -- Brian Giles, Scott Hairston, Jody Gerut and Paul McAnulty -- have combined for 19 home runs, same as Gonzalez. The Padres’ No. 5 hitters -- most often Kevin Kouzmanoff -- are batting a league-low .206.

Guerrero needs a big bat to support him in Anaheim, but not this desperately.

“They do pitch around me a little bit,” Gonzalez said. “A lot of times, when a teams says, ‘Pitch around him,’ they still try to throw a strike. For the most part, I’m swinging at balls and the strike.

“I’m not a guy that enjoys walking. I don’t see a strikeout as a negative.”

See ball, hit ball, even bad ball. Just like Guerrero?

“Not to that extent,” Gonzalez said. “I don’t swing at everything. He’s got an ability to hit a pitch over his head and a pitch on the ground.”

Gonzalez says he does not care if he makes the All-Star team, and you believe him. It’s been a pretty good year already.

On all those afternoons at Jack Murphy Stadium, Adrian and Edgar Gonzalez would talk about playing in the major leagues. Adrian, the younger brother, the first pick in the 2000 draft, got there first.

Edgar bounced around the minor leagues, and Adrian talked him out of quitting, more than once. He played in six organizations -- and 12 states -- before the Padres called him up last month. He hit his first major league home run last week, three days before he turned 30.

Adrian Gonzalez is the first baseman for his hometown team. For now, Edgar Gonzalez is the second baseman. Life is good, in any language.

--

bill.shaikin@latimes.com