Darwinzon Hernández following his mother’s orders

Darwinzon Hernández didn’t like baseball much growing up in Venezuela. Only nine months before he signed his first professional contract as a teenager, the Red Sox prospect had his eye on another popular sport, soccer.

Fútbol, which owns the hearts of most Latin America, still has a grip on Hernández. The Red Sox’s lefthanded pitching prospect remains passionate about “the beautiful game,” but baseball owns a share of his heart now too as he works his way to the majors.

Hernández has learned to be passionate about baseball, which he began to play in part to placate his mother Damasa Afanador. Mamá definitely knew best. Hernández is now ranked among the Red Sox’s top 10 prospects.

“I never practice baseball as a child,” Hernández said. “It bored me. Fútbol was my thing. I was a good center forward. I’m certain that if I hadn’t signed to play baseball professionally I would be playing soccer at that level.

“They would already be seeing me in the vinotinto jersey.”

Hernández chuckled when he mentioned the possibility of playing for the Venezuelan national soccer team, which remains the only South American country that hasn’t qualified for the FIFA World Cup.

Baseball remains the most popular sport in Venezuela, which has produced Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio and former American League Most Valuable Players Miguel Cabrera and José Altuve.

Hernández was born in Ciudad Bolivar, the capital of the state of Bolivar, which is in the southern part of Venezuela and only 440 miles of soccer-mad Brazil.

The proximity to the country that has five World Cup titles is a major reason fútbol has such a hold on that part of the country compared to the western part of Venezuela, where baseball is king.

“I grew up fútbol,” he said. “I still go to the Cachamay (soccer) Stadium and I start wanting to play soccer. Then I remember that I’m a professional baseball player and that I can’t risk my career. Then I get over it.”

On to baseball for a love of mother

Damasa Afanador was worried. She was frustrated years before when her other son Daivid Hernández was close to signing with the Oakland Athletics.

The uncertainty of not having her child close and her mother’s jealousy prompted her to deny him the opportunity.

“I refused on that opportunity because I didn’t have experience,” she said. “When Darwinzon’s had the opportunity I didn’t waste the opportunity because I already knew how everything was.”

“A mother’s heart doesn’t make mistakes.”

The road to the diamond started on the soccer pitch. Darwinzon always had a ball at its feet. He is extremely athletic and quite adamant that he had pro potential in multiple sports.

That’s the biggest reason his mother took him for a baseball tryout.

“She didn’t want me to miss an opportunity, as was the case with Daivid, if I had the talent,” he said. “I threw 87-mph the first time that I went to train at a baseball academy nine months before I signed.”

He remained passionate about baseball, but some of the joy went away after seeing some of his teammates hit well against him.

Hernández remembers teammates even telling him that he wasn’t good at baseball. That’s when he began to take the game seriously.

He didn’t sign for a huge bonus; Boston offered him only $7,500, which he accepted quickly. Eddie Romero, the assistant general manager of the Red Sox, saw him in person before he signed.

Hernández, 21, has slowly moved up the prospect rankings. MLB.com ranked him as Boston’s seventh best prospect.

“It was a dream to see myself in a Red Sox jersey.”

“For a moment I felt like I was in the big leagues while I pitched at this level,” he said of the AFL jersey he wore. “That will happen, and when it does I expect my mom will see it.”

Hernández is no longer kicking himself for leaving his beloved fútbol behind to play baseball.

Featured Image: Joseph Dwyer / MiLB.com