"Not since Mo Vaughn has a Red Sox player shown more intelligence about his craft and his outside world than Adrian Gonzalez.

It seems the first baseman has an answer for every topic he is approached with, one that he's thought about and dissected. He is rarely caught off guard, and there's a lot going on in his head — not only about hitting, which he's doing about as well as anyone in Major League Baseball at the moment, but about his life away from the game. Boston has been an adjustment for the San Diego-area native, but he's adapting and those around him are adjusting to him.

Gonzalez, who went 0 for 3 in last night's 3-0 win over the Rays, entered as the major leagues' top hitter (.347) and RBI man (60) and was first in doubles (22). He also led the American League in hits (94), total bases (159), and multi-hit games (29). He also has taken over the lead in the AL All-Star voting for first basemen with 2,027,537 votes, leading New York's Mark Teixeira (1,774,024).

Vaughn, of course, had monster seasons with the Red Sox, capturing the 1995 American League MVP award. Vaughn was one of the more thoughtful players in recent Sox memory in terms of providing in-depth answers to questions and strong opinions on issues involving him personally and baseball in general.

Before last night's Red Sox-Rays game, we talked with Gonzalez about a few subjects, including the differences between the AL and the NL."