Ex-MLB star Luis Gonzalez says the moment he was asked to be a pallbearer for John McCain was one of the highest honors of his life ... but admits it was weird, since McCain was still alive at the time.
Gonzalez will be one of the 6 men selected to carry McCain's casket at his funeral on Thursday -- and tells TMZ Sports the late Arizona senator had been planning out the event for months.
"I've known for a while," Gonzales tells us ... "[McCain's team] had contacted me a while back, a few months back to ask if I'd be willing to be a pallbearer.