As Chris Wondolowski gets set for one last MLS season, the San Jose Earthquakes are reportedly going to honor their legendary striker with a well-earned gesture.
According to a Friday story in the San Jose Mercury News, the Quakes have filed for a permit to change the name of a side street near their home field of Earthquakes Stadium to "Wondo Way" as a tribute to their beloved forward. The street is currently called Champions Drive, with the permit to rename it reportedly requested on Tuesday by Earthquakes vice president Chris Gennuso.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a player more deserving of such an honor than Wondolowski, who is about as synonymous with the Quakes as any MLS player has ever been with a single franchise.
The 37-year-old rejoined the Quakes in 2009 after an initial stint in 2005 and is the most prolific goal-scorer in the league history after breaking Landon Donovan's previous record of 146 last season. Wondolowski is now up to 159 goals in 359 career MLS matches. He's scored double-digit goals in every season for the past decade and managed to lead the team in goals again last season with 15 after it initially looked as though he was going to see a reduced role under head coach Matias Almeyda.
It's one of the more remarkable rises to superstardom in league history, as Wondolowski wasn't an especially heralded prospect coming out of Chico State University and his MLS career was off to an unremarkable start before an 18-goal breakout in 2010 that kicked off his decade-long streak of double-digit goal-scoring.
Wondolowski looked like he could play another five years in 2019, but he said back in January that 2020 would indeed be his final MLS season.
