Post-María, baseball is booming in Puerto Rico

By Hiram Alberto Torraca

For an island trying to recover after the ravages of Hurricane María, the Puerto Rico Series between the Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins comes at an opportune moment. Beside bringing Major League Baseball back to the island, it shines a deserving spotlight on the growing boricua talent both on the playing field and in the coaching ranks.

For now, it doesn’t matter that everything else is recovering at a snail’s pace; baseball in Puerto Rico is booming. This is a feel-good week, to say the least. All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor made sure of that by blasting a full-count, two-out, two-run jonrón to right field in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game to break a scoreless tie and set off a celebratory roar that was heard around the Caribbean.

Who was happier, Lindor or the fans, it was hard to tell.

After slapping the hands of fellow Puerto Rican and first base coach Santos “Sandy” Alomar Jr., a six-time All-Star catcher in his day, Lindor waved his arms up and down, joyfully exhorting the sellout crowd of 19,516 as he rounded the bases.

“This is where I grew up,” Lindor said. “These are my people. It’s extremely special.

“I’m in Puerto Rico in front of my family, in front of my friends, in front of this beautiful Puerto Rican crowd,” Lindor added. “I’m just excited. I touched second base and looked in the dugout. Everybody’s hands are up, so I put my hands up. I looked around the stadium, everybody’s hands are up, so I keep putting my hands up and running. You are celebrating. It was extremely emotional.”

It was a full-blown lovefest. After the Lindor disappeared into the dugout, the fans began chanting “Lindor, Lindor, Lindor.” The shortstop finally climbed to the dugout’s top step, turned to the crowd, removed his helmet and raised both arms while cheers reverberated across the whole San Juan metropolitan area.

Cleveland went on to beat Minnesota, 6-1. The good news is that there’s one more game today with another rising Puerto Rican star taking center stage — Twins righty José Berríos, who has opened the season 2-1 with one shutout and 24 strikeouts while giving up only one walk in 20.2 innings.

potential and passion

Lindor and Berríos are part of a new generation that is brimming with potential and passion. The season opened with 19 players on major league rosters who were born on the island  — the largest number since we had 20 in 2011.

In addition, Boston Red Sox skipper Álex Cora and his Washington Nationals counterpart, Dave Martínez, lead a record 16 Puerto Ricans serving as managers and coaches.

That’s not counting at least another three players promoted after the season started, plus another half-dozen or so Nuyoricans and players of Puerto Rican heritage, including the Mets’ Seth Lugo and T.J. Rivera, to name two who played for Los Rubios in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

If you called for a pickup game with teams selected according to their mothers’ background, Puerto Rico could claim Houston Astros center fielder and 2017 World Series MVP George Springer as well as Colorado Rockies third baseman and five-time Gold Glove Award winner Nolan Arenado and Toronto Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman, the winning pitcher when the United States beat Puerto Rico in last year’s WBC final.

New dawn

Which is why the retirement of outfielder Carlos Beltrán — who threw out the first pitch on Tuesday — after 20 seasons did not signal the end of an era, but the beginning of a new dawn.

Besides Lindor, Berríos and Alomar, on the field in Puerto Rico this week are Indians catcher Roberto Pérez and Twins left fielder Eddie Rosario, one of the 30 players in history to hit the first pitch they saw in the major leagues for a home run.

Throw in Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, Chicago Cubs second baseman Javy Báez, Los Angeles Dodgers utility Enrique “Kiké” Hernández and Seattle Mariners closer Edwin “Sugar” Díaz, and you have a core that could evolve into the island’s next “Dream Team.”

The first Dream Team — the 1994-95 Senadores de San Juan that represented Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Series — included some of the best players ever from the island.

One future Hall of Famer, Roberto Alomar, was the leadoff hitter. Next up were Édgar Martínez and Carlos Baerga. Carlos Delgado hit cleanup, followed by sluggers Juan “Igor” González and Rubén Sierra. Rounding out the order were Bernie Williams, Carmelo Martínez and Rey Sánchez, who had won the batting title that winter in Puerto Rico.

Left out of the starting lineup by manager Luis “Torito” Meléndez and his coaching staff was another future Hall of Famer, Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez.

Next Dream Team?

How good were they? That Dream Team starting lineup combined for 36 All-Star selections. Alomar won two World Series and 10 Gold Gloves with the Toronto Blue Jays. Williams, a batting title and four World Series with the New York Yankees. González earned two AL MVP awards and two home run titles with the Texas Rangers. And Édgar Martínez won two batting titles while hitting. 312 over his career.

Add Rodríguez, and you have an additional 14 All-Star selections, 13 Gold Gloves and one MVP award.

That’s an extremely high bar. But from what we’ve seen already from Lindor, Correa and company, there’s ample reason to expect a renaissance. Correa, 23, was the 2015 AL Rookie of the Year, beating out Lindor for the award by 15 points. And last year, despite missing 53 games to a hand injury, Correa hit .315/.391/.550 with 24 home runs and 84 RBI, punctuating the season with his first World Series ring.

Lindor, 24, earned the first of his two All-Star selections along with a Gold Glove in 2016. Last year, on his way to another All-Star Game and a Silver Slugger Award, he smacked 44 doubles and 33 home runs. That’s something no other shortstop born in Latin America has ever accomplished in the same season.

Gold Glove Streak

Overlooked because of today’s emphasis on launch angles, exit velocity and home runs is that Puerto Rico produces all-around players who also excel at defense. Roberto Clemente was the first, winning a record 12 Gold Gloves in right field. But he certainly hasn’t been the only one.

For the past 30 years at least one player from the island has won a Gold Glove each season. The streak started with San Diego Padres catcher Benito Santiago in 1988 and was kept alive in 2017 by another backstop, the Los Angeles Angels’ Martín “Machete” Maldonado.

In all, Puerto Rico has collected 45 Gold Gloves during the streak. Besides Rodríguez’s 13 and Roberto Alomar’s 10 — the records for catchers and second basemen, respectively — the honor roll includes catcher Yadier Molina (8), Santiago (3), Beltrán (3), catcher Bengie Molina (2), Sandy Alomar Jr. (1), second baseman José Lind (1), outfielder José Cruz Jr. (1), third baseman Mike Lowell (1), Lindor (1) and Maldonado (1).

Because 28 have won by catchers, there’s a mural at Estadio Hiram Bithorn titled Tierra de receptores or “Catcher Land.”

And we haven’t even mentioned Báez, who because he plays multiple positions, may never win a Gold Glove. The originator of the “no-look” tag during the past WBC, he’s arguably the best gloveman in all of baseball. He’s certainly among the most versatile. The last two seasons, Báez played 139 games at second base, 98 at shortstop, 70 at third, 10 at first, two at left field and one at right field.

You got to catch them and also throw them. Besides Correa and Lindor at shortstop, another player with a canon on his shoulder is Rosario. Statcast recorded one throw from left field to home plate last September at 96.6 mph. Which is why, after notching 31 assists his first three seasons, runners have stopped challenging his arm.

This season, Rosario has already recorded a Web Gem. On Mar. 31 in Baltimore, he raced toward a sinking line drive, slid sideways, got his glove under ball, tipped it up in the air and snatched with his barehand.

In English that’s called a circus catch. In Puerto Rico, style points are the mark of a good player. Make no doubt about it, this new generation has game. And it’s clearly on its way.

Featured Image: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images Sport