Renaissance Man Gregorius Fills Bronx with Goodwill

It was mid-summer in 2014 when the Yankees realized time was running out. Derek Jeter would be retiring in less than two months, leaving a gaping hole not only at shortstop but in the clubhouse where the Captain has reigned supreme for nearly 20 years. There were few prospects within the club’s minor league system, meaning general manager Brian Cashman would have to look elsewhere for Jeter’s replacement.

The club had been aware of a prospect named Didi Gregorius who was climbing the ladder with the Reds and Diamondbacks. Cashman decided the kid checked all the right boxes – young, athletic, personable and hard-working. Not long after Jeter said goodbye to baseball, Gregorius was in pinstripes following a three-way trade with Arizona and Detroit.

Gregorius, now 29, didn’t set out to be the new Jeter, only to be himself. A native of the Netherlands who grew up in Curaçao, Gregorius speaks four languages, including Spanish. He serves as the great communicator between the Yankees’ different nationalities and ethnicities. Didi is also an accomplished artist and photographer and has further distinguished himself on Twitter, where he has nearly 300,000 followers.

Even though he’s regarded as the happiest man in the clubhouse, it’s been a bittersweet season for Gregorius. He was on the Injured List until June after tearing cartilage in his wrist last October. Without him the Bombers ended up losing to the Red Sox in the Division Series, although shifting Gleyber Torres to shortstop in the interim helped soften the blow.

With this year’s playoffs just around the corner, Gregorius is still looking for the consistency that made him a middle of the order threat in 2017-2018: his batting average, slugging percentage and OPS are all down from their respective peaks, although manager Aaron Boone says, “we know what Didi is capable of and how much he’s able to help this team. He’s a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish.

None of this is to say Didi’s personality has changed or his influence has diminished. To the contrary: he’s as much the Yankees’ cultural liaison today as he was upon arriving in the Bronx in 2015.

Marickson Julius Gregorious, in fact, remains a billboard of baseball’s modernism, equally capable of reeling in the cerebral J.A. Happ as he is the subdued Gary Sanchez.

“I’m proud of my roots,” Gregorius said. “People from Curaçao have a lot in common with Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, so that’s my culture, too.”

Gregorius was blessed with a killer DNA: his father, Johannes, pitched for the Honkbal Hoofdklasse, while his mother Sheritsa Stroop pitched for the Dutch national softball team. Six-foot-three and lean as a greyhound, Didi is nevertheless powerfully built. He dabbled in soccer and basketball before finally honing in on baseball.

Plan B was to become a doctor, but the Reds signed Gregorius as an amateur free agent in 2007. He could’ve also hooked on with the Mariners or Padres, but it was the Reds who promised Gregorious he could begin his career in the U.S. The other two clubs wanted to ship Didi out to either the Dominican or Venezuelan summer leagues.

It wasn’t long before the industry started to learn about Didi’s unique upbringing. Not only were his parents elite athletes, but Didi’s grandfather, named Chikitin, stood 6-foot-7 and pitched for Lucky Strike, the premier team in Curaçao in the 1950s. He passed those talents on to his son, Didi’s dad, who he nicknamed Didi, who in turn handed that nickname down to his two sons (Didi’s brother is named Johannes Jr.).

That meant three Didis in one household.

“Sometimes the three of us would be standing around, and someone, just for fun, would yell ‘Hey, Didi,’” Gregorius said with a laugh. “And we would all turn around.’’

The love of baseball ran strong through the family bloodlines.

“I loved soccer and for a while I really thought about becoming a doctor,” Didi said. “But baseball came first. (Barry) Bonds and (Ken) Griffey (Jr.) were really big in our household back in the day. My father wanted me to bat right-handed to protect my throwing arm, but my brother convinced me to hit lefty, just because Bonds and Griffey did. My brother was a big influence for me. He was the one who taught me how to paint and draw.”

Talk about a premonition: Didi sketched a portrait of Jeter in 2014, pasting it to his Twitter account following the Captain’s farewell tour. Two months later, Didi was traded to the Yankees.

Gregorius’ expressionism on Twitter has turned him into a cult hero on social media. What makes Didi fun to follow is a separate emoji for every teammate, although he won’t ever refer to himself in the tweets.

No, it’s always Gleyber (baby bottle emoji), CC Sabathia (Santa Claus), Aaron Judge (a judge), last year’s Sonny Gray (the sun) and several others no one can quite figure out.

This much is certain, though: there’s never a shortage of cheer coming from Gregorius’ corner of the room. In an era of advanced analytics, there’s still no way to quantify goodwill.

Featured Image: Jean Fruth/ La Vida Baseball