Cuban showdown: Gurriel vs. Chapman in biggest game yet
By César Augusto Márquez
Yulieski “Yuli” Gurriel and Aroldis Chapman always dreamed about playing Major League Baseball. But not in their lifetimes did they imagine that they would battle, face to face, in the American League Championship Series — eight years after last playing together on the Cuban national team.
And they could meet tonight for the second time in the series, as the Houston Astros try to stay alive and force a deciding Game 7, or the Yankees advance. The ALCS winner meets the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday in Game 1 of the World Series.
“We’re very good friends,” said Gurriel, who struck out swinging in his first encounter with Chapman, the Yankees’ hard-throwing lefty closer, in the ninth inning of Game 4 — a game the Yankees won, 6-4. “We played many times on the national team and it’s truly an honor to meet again in a league championship series. We have to play against each other on the field, but outside, we are friends.
“At first, it felt strange,” added Gurriel in Spanish in an interview this week with La Vida Baseball. “We weren’t used to playing against each other. Things have changed since because a lot of time has gone by. Back then, Aroldis was a starter, and now he’s a closer, in my opinion, one of the best in the major leagues. And being a closer makes him an even better pitcher.”
Gurriel, who defected along with his younger brother Lourdes Jr. in February 2016, is considered the best second baseman in Cuban history. Since the Astros already have a very good second sacker in three-time batting champ José Altuve, Gurriel willingly accepted the transition to first base.
This year, in his first full season in the majors, the 33-year-old right-handed batter showed that good ballplayers can play anywhere they want, hitting .299/.332/.486 with 18 home runs and 75 RBI. In the ALDS against Boston, he tore apart the Red Sox, hitting 9-for-17 in four games.
Chapman, who is four years younger, left Cuba much earlier and at a much younger age. He debuted with Cincinnati in 2010 and, by 2012, was one of the game’s most feared closers, a lefty nicknamed the “Cuban Missile” who hurls fastballs at 105 mph. All you need to know is that Chapman won the World Series with the Chicago Cubs last fall, and sports a career 14.8 K/9 in the regular season and 13.0 K/9 in the playoffs.
He’s a mean, lean pitching machine — a polite way of saying he’s a son-of-a-gun competitor on the mound.
“I’m a professional,” said Chapman in Spanish in an interview this week with La Vida Baseball. “For me it’s like pitching against anyone else, whether he be Dominican, Colombian, Venezuelan or Mexican. We’re all from the same land, but it doesn’t matter. We can be countrymen, but on the field, I see him as another batter I have to get out.”
Together, Gurriel and Chapman have enjoyed triumphant moments, getting to the finals of the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 and winning a number of other tournaments. Due to the enormous amount of defections in recent years, it remains to be seen whether Cuba will recover its dominance in the international game. But at least Gurriel and Chapman share some priceless memories.
“Back then, we had an excellent team in Cuba,” Gurriel said. “Over time, I played with Aroldis, José Abreu, Leonys Martín and Yoenis Céspedes. We were a talented generation. We had a team in Cuba that would have been good for a long time. But everything changes and a lot of us pursued our dreams. Here we are, trying to show off our talent in this baseball.
“People change, you change,” Chapman added. “Much time has passed since I last pitched in Cuba and, of course, I’ve acquired much experience. Now I know how to deal with different situations within a game and I’ve become a different pitcher.
“In Gurriel’s case, he’s a batter that has changed leagues, has faced many pitchers and has had to make his own adjustments. That’s why it’s hard to say what we know about each other will be a deciding factor in this series or down the road, because our time together on the Cuban national team was long ago.”
Chapman sticks to the present while Gurriel is willing to be retrospective.
“In the second WBC back in 2009, Aroldis was very young,” Gurriel said. “He was the starter for our second game, against Australia. He was already an incredible pitcher who threw 100 mph. But that day he was a little nervous. It was the first time he was pitching a ‘big game.’ I remember that I had to visit the mound several times to tell him to calm down.”
Chapman ended up throwing four innings, allowing one earned run and three hits while striking out seven in a game Cuba came back to win, 5-4. The rest is history. Except, said Gurriel, it could change next time they face each other.
“Let’s see what happens,” he said smiling, clearly looking forward to the challenge.
Featured Image: Abbie Parr