TEMPE, ARIZONA — All the interviews I have conducted here in Arizona with the players who are on this year’s LatinoMVP ballot for the 2023 season have been very good interviews. Some short, some longer, all in Spanish even though some of the players could speak some English. My experience talking to Latino players for 34 years is that if the players are Spanish dominant, I prefer to speak to them in Spanish. I have learned that speaking in Spanish to players without an interpreter allows the players to be more comfortable and express themselves much better. Therefore, all my interviews have been conducted in Spanish and then translated to give our majority English dominant readers the best of our interviews with the players.
The following interview with Carlos Esteves, who has been nominated for the A.L. LatinoMVP Relief Pitcher/Closer award has been of the best interviews that I have conducted in Arizona. As they say, sometimes you leave the best for last.
Carlos Estévez was named an All-Star last season for the first time in his career – Image Credit: USA Today
I was introduced to Carlos in the Clubhouse by Grace McNamee, Manager of Communications. Kudos to the Angels as they were one of the few teams that informed Carlos Estévez that he was a candidate and on the ballot for the LatinoMVP awards. Thus, when I was introduced to Carlos, he already knew that he had been nominated. This makes our job easier as the player is expecting us and knows what our interview is about.
Carlos and I walked outside, he guided me to some benches where we both sat and had a pleasant conversation. I explained what he already knew that he was a candidate for the American League LatinoMVP award. However, I explained how that the most prestigious award given to Latino baseball players. I also explained how and when the award first began in 1990 to honor a Puerto Rican baseball player, Rubén Sierra, a third-year outfielder for the Texas Rangers that many felt should have been the 1989 American League MVP. He had heard and knew of Rubén Sierra (Something I found surprising).
Rubén Sierra’s LatinoMVP award presentation at Yankee Stadium in 1990 – Image Credit: Latino Sports
I explained how in 1989 many sports writers and others, specifically Puerto Rican and Latino thought that perhaps Sierra was overlooked for the BBWAA award and that is how the award began. Many activists like me believed that we needed to do something to correct something that many believed needed correcting. I explained how we gave Rubén Sierra that first award in April 1990 at Yankee Stadium. I also laughed and told him the trials and tribulations I had to go through to give that award in Yankee Stadium. I laughed and told him how that was going to be a future book. He laughed and said he looked forward to reading it someday.
The following is the interview with Carlos Estévez:
LS: Now that you have heard the history of these awards, what are your thoughts on how this award started?
CE – Something excellent, of course because you know that unfortunately things have always been that way they in our history and years ago Latinos had always been, overlooked, or many times passed over. So now it’s good to know that this award has so many years of history and thank God has helped to change some things in the game. It is good that the award continues to be around this business. because baseball is a business. Look, we are Latinos, we are here, and we are not going anywhere, and we are making this game better. This award has been persistent since those years since what happened with Rubén Sierra and thank God it has endured and has drawn more attention to the knowledge not only of Latinos but also of all Americans.
LS: It is impressive that of the more than 16 players that I have interviewed, you are the only one who knew who about Ruben Sierra. How is that?
CE: Since I was a child, I saw a lot of baseball and when I first heard of Rubén Sierra, I knew his name as “el Indio Sierra” (That was Rubén’s nickname), not Rubén. It was my dad who told me his name was Rubén. I loved watching him, that man hit the ball hard and I loved seeing him playing ball. The way he played the game was very different for that time because he lived the game, he enjoyed the game. Those who saw him on television would say, damn, that guy has a hard face (serious looking), but then later you saw him celebrating a hit, celebrating something, then you could see that he had fun in what he did. It’s good that this award has lasted this long and that it started because of El Indio Sierra.
LS: How do you feel being on the ballot for this prestigious award that is celebrating its 34th anniversary?
CE: Excited, happy. I was surprised by what you said that few of the other players did not know what the award was. Since I was told, I said how good it is to have an award like that and damn it’s good that I’m on that list. I’m very happy. When I told my dad, who has been watching baseball for many years, he commented, “Damn, it’s also good that you’re on the ballot for that award, one more achievement for your career.” I’m happy and I hope that I will be on that ballot for many more years to come and that I will win it someday.
LS: Do you know that several players, for example, Albert Pujols won it eight times, Mariano Rivera won it seven times, Miguel Cabrera has won it three times and Big Papi won it twice. There are many opportunities to win the award. But I want you to understand that simply being on the ballot is a tremendous honor. They say that being on the ballot for this award is like being nominated for a Grammy, the Grammy of baseball.
CE: (Both laughing) Of course, this is the Grammy for baseball players! Surely how good, I am very happy. I am very happy just to be nominated, forget everything else. They nominated me, if the award comes, that would be excellent and it is appreciated and hopefully in the coming years I will be like those tigers who were on the ballot for several years and winning it seven, eight times all for the excellence of the game.
LS: If you win the award, you know that we must go to the Angels Stadium during Hispanic Heritage Month in September to present you the award in front of your fans. What do you think about that?
CE: That would be excellent. This way people are more attentive to the Latin community. Thank God the Angels have a good Latino fan base, and you know, Latino blood flows throughout the area, so that would be excellent. This way, more and more people start to know more about the award. Whoever says anything different about what I think about the award, well, amen to them. I would respect their opinion, but I don’t share it. The award is a very good way to teach that no matter where you come from, no matter your background, or what community you from, you can always see an idol who is doing things well, the award is also motivational. It doesn’t matter if things get difficult or what neighborhood you come from, you know that there is always a “bright side”, so you must move forward.
LS: Obviously last season your name was suggested by many journalists from our association who are the ones who select the season’s players to put on the ballot for the awards. The way it functions is that at the end of each season, the members of the Latino Sports Writers & Broadcasters Association (LSWBA), our association, which is for us what the BBWAA has for the Anglos, are asked to send in the names of the most outstanding Latin players. The names that appear the most on the lists are the ones we put on the ballot. For you to be on the list that means that many of our members must have been impressed by your performance last season. What were you doing last season to have been selected for the ballot?
CE: Thank God, I went to the all-star game, and I finished the season with 31 saves in 35 opportunities. I pitched 60 and some innings and I struck out more than I pitched innings.
LS: Again, congratulations for being on this 34th annual ballot for the prestigious LatinoMVP awards. However, before I leave, we have a present for you. A commemorative sports T-shirt that was made only for the players on this year’s ballot.
CE: Wow, nice. Thank you.
Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content
Instagram: @latinosportsoficial
Facebook: Latino Sports
Twitter: @latinosports
