Miami’s López carries mom’s memory to prominence

Miami Marlins pitcher Pablo López loved and appreciated his childhood. He played baseball with his dad as his coach. He received a strong education in which he learned four languages and graduated from high school at an early age.

He had two impressive role models who had careers he respected. His father Danny was a general practitioner. His late mother Agnedis Serra was a medical pathologist. Pablo López even grew to love the career paths his parents took.

“I really liked medicine as I grew up,” said the 23-year-old from Cabimas, Venezuela.

His seemingly charmed existence was crushed when his mother died when he was 11. At that young age, he remembers having a sense of what was going on with his mother while not actually fulling comprehending what was happening.

It’s hard for anyone to grasp the severity of losing a parent, let alone as an 11-year-old. It would take a while for López to fully understand what really happened.

He is certain of one thing, though.

“I know she’s always with me,” López said.

In his mind, she was with him, albeit briefly, on June 30, 2018, when López made his major league debut against the Mets at Marlins Park, to help him.

“I thought a little bit about her,” López said. “I had my heartbeat very accelerated. I was nervous. So, 30 seconds before taking the pitching rubber, I took a step back, I looked up, took a deep breath and thought about her to kind of calm myself and focus more.”

His parents have always served as inspirations to him. At age 16, López graduated high school, was accepted into medical school and had the opportunity to follow in his parents’ footsteps.

With an accelerated education, López was eligible to sign as an international free agent. So, he had a tough decision to make: follow his parents’ footsteps and go to medical school or pursue a professional baseball career.

“I realized very quickly that I couldn’t do both at the same time,” López said.

Both options had their pros and cons, and he credits his father with helping him. His father, after all, was a doctor and had played baseball in Venezuela.

“My dad told me: ‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enter into the industry, into the sport of baseball,’” López said.

The rationale the elder López provided made sense.

“At the rate you’re growing, your brain is always growing and college will always be there,” the Marlins’ pitcher remembers his father saying. “On the other side of the coin, the body will be weakening, and if, suddenly, in the future you want to enter the (baseball) industry, you won’t be able to.” Thus, his decision was made. But, before it was official, he still needed to convince one more person: his grandmother, Luisa. She wanted López to continue his education, but he struck a deal.

“I made a promise to my grandmother (that) I’m not going to school at this moment — when I was making the decision — but it was one of my plans, one of my dreams that I want a college degree,” López said. “It doesn’t have to be in medicine, you know in the future I might be too old for medicine, but it can be a degree in whatever.”

López signed with the Seattle Mariners to pursue the baseball career. It could’ve become easy to doubt his decision. In 2014, after his first professional season, he underwent Tommy John surgery.

Fortunately for him, he had his father to help him in his rehabilitation. López ascended through the Mariners’ lower levels, reaching Class High-A in 2017. He was traded that season to the Marlins as a part of a package for David Phelps.

In 2018, he started the season in Class AA Jacksonville before being called up to Class AAA New Orleans in June. He was one step away from his goal. Three weeks into his stint with the Baby Cakes, though, López felt something was off.

López pitched an 1 ⅔ innings when he was pulled from the game. “I thought it was weird, but it had happened to me before where they want to regulate your pitch count and all that,” López said. “I didn’t throw a fit, I (just) went to the dugout all calm.”

His teammates knew something was amiss. Then the speculation arose.

“One of the other players makes a sign to me and tells me, ‘Pablo, it could be that you’re receiving the call,’” López said. “I said ‘No, no I don’t think so.’”

It turned out his teammates were right. The next night he was called into manager Arnie Beyeler’s office. He had been called up by the Marlins.

“(My dad) was the first person I called,” López said. “My dad was always my baseball coach, and I wanted to share that beautiful, important moment immediately with him.”

The next call was to his grandmother Luisa’s home. Except there was an unexpected voice when the phone was picked up. “I called my grandma’s house, and she was the one who answered the phone,” López said. “Normally, she never answers the phone, but in that moment, she answered it and it was really beautiful.”

He would never have the opportunity to make the call to his mother, but he’s at peace with that. He believes she was the first person to know.

“I know she’s watching me in everything that I do, supporting me, guiding me, (giving me) a lot of wisdom at all times,” he said. “And I know that she would be very happy. I can’t see her, but I know that she is. I know that she was, is and always will be my No. 1 fan.”

Featured Image: Mark Brown / Getty Images Sport