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An afternoon speaking with some Blue Jays

South Bronx, NY: One of the things I like to do when I don’t necessarily need to look for a player to interview is just to walk around and see what players are doing and based on what I see it might prompt a question from me. Here is a sample of my speaking with some Blue Jays.

I was in the locker room and Bo Bichette passed by and knowing of his Brazilian heritage I asked him as he passed by if he spoke Portuguese. He heard me, stopped, turned around and said, “no I can’t speak Portuguese.” I said, your Brazilian and you can’t speak Portuguese, he laughed and explained that his mother was born in Brazil, raised in Florida and they never spoke Portuguese at home. He then said in Spanish, “yo hablo un poco de Español” (I speak a little Spanish). I was surprised and asked if he learned Spanish living in Florida? He surprised me further me and said no. He explained, “I learned that here in the locker room, speaking to Vladimir and the other Spanish speaking players.” We both laughed. I told him that was quite impressive and congratulated him for learning a second language, especially Spanish the second most spoken language in the country and possibly the world.

I then walked onto the filed and saw, George Springer leisurely laying down on the dugout bench. I stopped and told him he looked super comfortable. He smiled. I then introduced myself and told him that I first met him prior to Covid when he visited New York and I confused him for Carlos Correa in the locker room and he responded to me then by pointing out Carlos and laughed telling me that he gets that a lot because some people think they have similar looks. I told him from a distance they could easily pass off as brothers.

I then asked him, how did he feel in his new environment in Toronto? He said his acclimated well, he likes his new team, the teammates, and his new town. He said he misses the guys in Houston, but this is his new home. I asked how he feels moving from the hot temperature in Houston to the colder temperatures of Toronto. He said that did not bother him at all because he’s originally from “up here.” (he’s originally from New Britain, CT).

I then walked back to the locker room looking Lourdes Gurriel who I wanted to greet as I had not seen him since we last met in 2015 in his home in Havana, Cuba when I was there as a consultant to Vice Sports who were filming a documentary on baseball in Cuba. Gurriel was not there, but I saw Raimel Tapia sitting by his locker looking at his phone. I had seen Tapia in Spring Training while I was there to give the 2020 LatinoMVP award to Germán Marquez. While I was waiting to interview Marquez, they announced that they had traded Tapia to Toronto and that there was a press conference where he would address the press. I was invited to attend that press event while I was waiting for Marquez. I reminded Tapia of that day and asked how has his change of teams, city and friends been?

Tapia seemed much more relaxed than the last time I saw him and told me that the transition has been good. He said that at first, he missed Colorado, but that he has gotten use to his new team and city. He also said that being around Vladimir and the other Spanish speaking players and manager has been a plus. I asked him about the temperature change from Colorado and Toronto and he reminded me that being up in Denver was just as cold.

I finally walked on to the field to watch the Blue Jays batting practice and saw another acquaintance, pitcher José Berrios. José remembered me from the several interviews we did during the World Baseball Classic and the award that we gave him and every Puerto Rican player that played in that tournament. The reason we awarded that entire team was because Puerto Rico’s national team, AKA “Los Rubios” (the blonds) helped Puerto Rico during very pressing times.  The fact that Puerto Rico’s team performance, winning game after game helped distract millions on the island who did not have electricity due to the devastating destruction of a hurricane. Their performance made the pain that many islanders were suffering a bit more bearable as towns arranged to show the games in their town plazas for all to see.

Also, because they all dyed their hair, mustache or beards blond created a craze in Puerto Rico where many youths and many adults were identifying with the team and coloring their hair blond to support their team. There was so much hype behind coloring their hair that the entire island ran out of blond hair coloring. The Puerto Rico team was undefeated and lost to the USA in the final championship game. That’s why Latino Sports honored every player with a caricature drawing by artist, John Pennisi. Every player that received that award cherished it and that is why José Berrios remembered me. Regarding the trade to Toronto, he told me he feels comfortable with his new team and that he looks forward to the next World Baseball Classic.  He also did a promo for Latino Sports.

 

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