BSN Exclusive: Alonso opens up about his origins in Cuba

 

When Colorado signed a minor-league deal with Yonder Alonso on July 10, the 32-year-old had batted .178 in 258 at bats with the Chicago White Sox and the deal appeared to be of minimal consequence for both sides.

The Rockies front office and manager Bud Black knew Alonso had more good baseball left in him, especially as the latter had a familiarity with the first baseman from their days together in San Diego between 2012-15.

Arriving via trade on the Padres roster as a 25-year-old rookie, Alonso had previously been a member of the Cincinnati Reds, selected in the first round in 2008 out of the University of Miami.

The path to a Division I school came through Coral Gables High School and before that, the story began slightly less than 100 miles off the coast of Florida on the largest island in the Caribbean: Cuba.

As only the sixth Cuban-born player in Rockies franchise history, Alonso is in a small group of players to hail from the island nation: RHP Rolando Arroyo (2000), RHP Vladimir Núñez (2004), C/OF Eli Marrero (2006), RHP Liván Hernández (2008), and RHP José Contreras (2009).

Coincidentally, when Alonso was a youth growing up in South Florida, Hernández was a star for the Marlins and World Series MVP of the Fall Classic in 1997.

“He was the guy (in Miami),” said Alonso. “And (his half-brother Orlando Hernández) El Duque…. I’ve known about El Duque forever since I was a little kid.”

The origins of how Alonso and his family escaped Fidel Castro’s Communist Party of Cuba is a tale of risk and reward, as well as life and death. 

“My Dad, my Mom, my sister basically left on a small plane and got here to the States. And that’s when pretty much everything started, the American Dream,” Alonso began.

“We’re pretty tight. We got here, we had no family. No cousins, no Grandma. Nobody. So pretty much lonely at times, but understanding that there was a bigger vision out there for the opportunity here in the States.

“It was nerve-racking. (I was) scared and going to a different country and a different place. You don’t know the language, you don’t know their food or anything, you don’t know where you’re going to sleep that night, things like that. So we bounced around and then we got settled a little bit and ended up renting a little office. That’s where we lived for about 8-9 years.

“My parents worked pretty much all day and night. I went to school. I was always in after school care, the Boys and Girls Club, which I’m a huge fan of and do a lot of stuff for them. But pretty much lived all my childhood days either on a baseball field or at school or at the Boys and Girls Club,” he said of those early years in America. 

With his parents’ strong work ethic, teammates at all seven stops in the majors have taken notice of Alonso’s effort. In Colorado, Nolan Arenado is a fan so far. “He’s been doing a really good job,” the third baseman said of Alonso and his .333/.429/.667 slash line. “He’s come here to work. I’m really enjoying playing with him. I’ve gotten to talk with him and get to know him some more. It’s been really fun.”

Arenado knows the tale of defection all too well; it’s the story of his father.

“Pretty similar. (Alonso’s defection from Cuba) was a little more intense than what my dad went through. It was an amazing story. You appreciate players like that. You can see why he’s always in a pretty positive mood. He’s been through a lot in his life. So, it’s something you can learn from.”

The details of what Alonso and his family went through to land on U.S. soil are not easy to stomach, especially for anyone with empathy for others willing to put their life at risk for the promise of a better tomorrow. 

Alonso shared his experiences on leaving Cuba and growing up in South Florida in a fantastic piece on The Player’s Tribune. “(It was) a little piece on myself, kind of like what it would be now writing to a kid who’s going to be ten years old and about to read it,” he said of the tear-jerking letter to himself.

Arenado also gives it a vote of approval, saying, “I saw that. That’s one of the better one’s I’ve read.”

Thankfully, the multi-generational saga has a happy ending, but not without the influence and importance of baseball. 

“My Dad played it for twelve years in Havana,” Alonso shared. “I was always around baseball. My uncle played. My godfather played. So baseball was always part of me. It was pretty much how I learned English, on a baseball field with teammates at a younger age, along with school and after school care and things like that.” 

While over 200 Cuban-born players have made it to the major leagues, as compared with approximately 500 from Venezuela or nearly 800 born in the Dominican Republic, Alonso has found a compatriot at each destination along his journey. 

In Cleveland, it was rookie Yandy Díaz; outfielder Guillermo Heredia was there for him in Seattle; most recently, three months in Chicago paired him with another Cuban first baseman, José Abreu.

Though only 28 Cuban-born players have appeared in a game in 2019, one of those few was his first teammate in Cincinnati and probably his closest friend in the game, closer Aroldis Chapman, known as the Cuban Missile.

“He was my roommate in the minor leagues, and then in the big leagues when I got up – he had been up already. I stayed in his house. He’s friends with my parents and my sister and everybody,” Alonso said of his relationship with the six-time All-Star.

Regardless of the Cuban brethren, the topic of their previous life doesn’t get discussed much. “We talk and stuff like that, but you don’t really talk about stuff in Cuba,” Alonso said of the conversation with those teammates. “You’re getting ready for the everyday stuff and that’s basically what we’d talk about – more baseball than anything else.”

Thomas Wolfe may have created the concept that you can never go home again, but Alonso has, somewhat improbably. “Nobody knew I was going. No, I didn’t even tell my cousin or my aunts or anything like that. I showed up at their house, and they all freaked out. So it was pretty crazy,” he said of his return back to Cuba for the first time in almost 20 years.

“I went back three years ago just to visit for three or four days just to see my cousins and my aunts and stuff like that. Never been back since, but we definitely talk. I think it’s gotten easier to at least communicate with them. So, we talk via Facebook and stuff like that, so it’s a little better.”

Regardless of the success Alonso has been having with Colorado so far, everyone from fans to the Front Office are glad to have him as part of the Rockies family.