Not even ballplayers are safe in Venezuela
It goes without saying, baseball is life in Venezuela. Unfortunately, life in Venezuela has become cheap.
The Venezuelan Violence Observatory, a non-governmental organization, reported that in 2017 that one of every five Venezuelans was a victim of a crime. And despite a 3 percent decline from the previous year, 26,616 persons were victims of homicides, making the country of Simón Bolívar the second-most dangerous in the world.
The new year has not brought any respite. What’s clear is that the violence touches the whole spectrum of society. Being a ballplayer is no protection at all. Here are stories that illustrate life today in Venezuela.
The danger of being armed
The afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 8, Willams Pérez left his house in Acarigua, a small city in northwestern Venezuela. A burly 26-year-old right-hander who pitched for the Atlanta Braves in 2015 and 2016, he was looking forward to the following week, when he would report to the Chicago Cubs’ spring training complex in Mesa, Ariz., on a minor-league contract.
Despite his relaxed mood, Pérez made sure of one thing before walking out the door with his young son. He stuck a pistol into his waistband. In Venezuela, you can never feel safe enough.
Waiting for Pérez at the Bachiller Julio Hernández Molina Stadium, a ballpark that until 2007 was good enough for Venezuelan winter league games, was César Augusto Quintero.
A 52-year-old former ballplayer, Quintero never made it to the professional level. But he willingly gave back to the game, helping kids from the area, including Pérez and catcher José Lobatón, the only two from Acarigua to make it to the major leagues.
Pérez’s intention was to hang out with Quintero and other friends. But once at the ballpark, he couldn’t resist the temptation to pick up the bat and run out on the field. He hesitated for a second, knowing that he should first hand his weapon to Quintero for safekeeping.
In the next split-second, the gun went off. The bullet hit Quintero in the chest, killing him on the spot.
Pérez carried a weapon to protect himself. And it cost his friend his life.
Pérez turned himself in to the police the next day. But the authorities couldn’t make a case. Pérez’s son was one of the main witnesses. And Pérez had a permit.
After two days, Pérez was released, and the incident was ruled an accident.
“All his relatives know that I never would have wanted to do something like this. They know that César was like family and that I’ll carry this sorrow with me all my life,” Pérez said in a press conference afterwards.
“But I want to make clear that I face no charges and am free to play where I want,” Pérez added.
Despite being free to leave the country, Pérez has nowhere to go. The Cubs released him and, as of Mar. 21, he had yet to sign with a another team.
The danger of sitting outside
That same Thursday in February, Ana Soto, the mother of Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Elías Díaz, sat outside of her front door in Maracaibo, the second-largest city in Venezuela. All of a sudden, a truck with four armed men pulled up. She was forced into the vehicle at gunpoint.
“It’s very painful when one of your family members is kidnapped. All I ask God is that they return her to me alive,” Díaz told the daily newspaper Panorama.
Díaz, 27, was fortunate. His mother was rescued unharmed four days later and five policemen were arrested and charged with the kidnapping.
Díaz has refused to speak about the incident, partly because he’s afraid of further repercussions, according to friends. Kidnappings in Venezuela have been on the rise for the past few year, to almost two a day in 2017. And, as in the case of basketball player Juan Manaure, sometimes they end badly. His 15-year-old son was abducted in December 2016 and was found dead two months later, on Valentine’s Day.
The danger of going out
Just like Pérez, Thairo Estrada looked forward to spring training, hoping to win a starting position in the New York Yankees infield. A dinner date with his wife in mid-January in his hometown of Bejuma turned him into another statistic. Four teenagers entered the restaurant demanding cash and cell phones, and one of them fired his gun, wounding Estrada in the hip.
“It all happened very fast,” Estrada told ESPN.com in mid-February. “When they figured out that I didn’t have cash or a cell phone, they shot me. Things are not well [in Venezuela].”
After surgery, the 22-year-old Estrada has progressed from riding the stationary bike to light workouts this spring and is expected to make a full recovery.
Estrada is not the only prospect who was shot this winter. Milwaukee Brewers infielder Javier Betancourt, the nephew of former major leaguer Edgardo Alfonzo, was wounded in mid-November after an altercation in a Caracas nightclub. Hit in the left arm, he also had to undergo surgery.
“Fortunately, surgery went well, and it was less serious than expected,” the 22-year-old Betancourt said during a telephone interview in Spanish with La Vida Baseball. “No one wants ever to be in a situation like that.”
Big city, small town, it seems no one is immune from danger. Oakland A’s outfielder Renato Núñez was held up at gunpoint while driving with his father around Valencia, the country’s third-largest city.
“Some guy tapped on the window,” Núñez told the San Francisco Chronicle. “When I saw the gun, I was like, ‘OK, what do you want?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, give me the chains,’ I don’t care about the car or the chains or anything, those guys can get crazy and shoot people. I was like, ‘Take whatever.’
“It’s not a good place to be right now,” Núñez added. “It’s still a great country, but the economy is so bad, people are eating food out of the trash. I love Venezuela, but it’s got to get better.”
Featured Image: Kirk Irwin / Getty Images Sport