PHOENIX, AZ — Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to interview three players of the Milwaukee Brewers — Joey Ortiz, Jackson Chourio and Freddy Peralta. Each of the players were nominated for the prestigious LatinoMVP awards and their names are on the 35th annual ballot. For the last three years, Latino Sports has been expanding our coverage of the awards and interviewing some of the players who appear on the ballot during Spring training.
Though we send letters to all the teams in February congratulating them and the player and requesting that they inform the player on our behalf, the fact is that many are never told and don’t know about their selection unless we inform them. Thus, when I have approached a player and told them about why I would like to interview them many are surprised of hearing about it for the first time.
Every player that I have interviewed has not only been surprised, but honored to have known the history of the award and that they were selected to appear on the ballot.
This is the second interview I did with the Brewers as the first came with Jackson. This one is with Joey Anthony Ortiz. Joey is a 26-year-old from Garden Grove, California.
Image Credit: MLB
Unlike many of the other Latino players in MLB, Joey is a homegrown Latino.
I asked him about that and his journey to MLB. He explained he did it the “old fashion way.” He came up the ranks from high school, attending New Mexico State college and being drafted in 2019 by the Orioles in the fourth round with 108th overall pick.
He was honored to know about the award and that he was nominated. He thanks those responsible of adding his name to the prestigious 35th annual LatinoMVP awards ballot and stated that if were to win that he would be proud to receive the award in his home stadium in front of his family and fans.
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