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Hector
Cruz was dropped off by a
bus in New York. He had
turned 18 years old before
leaving Venezuela two
months ago.
When he arrived at the
Mexico border, he paid
2000 bucks, which he had
exchanged for a lot of
Venezuelan bol铆vars, to a
'coyote' who
smuggled illegal
immigrants into the United
States.
He waited for eight days
before the coyote drove
him to the other side of
the world. Since his
childhood, Hector had been
hearing that the world has
two parts, the poor side
and the wealthy side. He,
unfortunately, was born on
the poor side.
Hector always lived in
Petare, a poverty-stricken
neighborhood in Caracas,
the place where he
discovered that he could
throw a fastball at 100
miles per hour (mph), even
after an exhaustive and
impressive 110 pitches.
Well, it was calculated by
experienced players
through visual
observation; of course, it
was an approximate result.
But Hector had his fan
club.
It was there that he got
the nickname of "Mano
de Hierro" (Iron
Hand). Pay attention,
these balls were the same
ones used by MLB and were
donated by the foundation
of Jos茅 Altuve, the
Venezuelan baseball second
baseman for the Houston
Astros.
So, when Hector arrived in
Eagle Pass, a city in
southwestern Texas, on the
Rio Grande, only he and
God knew what he had
experienced. However, he
was determined to make a
living as the best pitcher
in the Yankees bullpen.
Suddenly, he was forcibly
placed onto a bus.
However, what was supposed
to be bad could turn out
to be good when he
discovered that the bus
was heading to New York.
Perhaps, he is on his way
to his dream coming to
life.
After spending over 35
hours on several highways
inside the bus, he finally
arrived in the Big Apple.
Now, he needed to make his
way to Yankee Stadium, but
his hunger was so intense
that he didn't think
twice about rushing to a
hot dog cart and quickly
grabbing two pretzels
before running away. The
vendor cried out,
"Get that
thief!"
As Hector has always
played to stay on the
mound like any other
pitcher, he couldn't
run too fast, and soon he
found himself surrounded
by an NYPD officer who
cried out, "Stop!
Drop the pretzels and put
your hands up!"
Hector didn't stop.
Boom! Now, the Yankees
fans will never see his
fastball. The Yankees
broadcaster will never
say, "Swing and a
miss! Strike three by
Hector Cruz, The Iron
Hand!" The Athletic
from The New York Times
will never profile the
"Man who Comes from
Venezuela." The Cy
Young Award will never be
in Hector's hands.
Caracas will never receive
its great hero, and his
parents will never hug
their son again. It is the
end.
But sometimes destiny
could work differently,
and the police officer
missed the shot. Hector
was arrested and deported
to Venezuela. There, he
resumed playing baseball
until he was discovered by
a scout from Leones del
Caracas, a team from the
Venezuelan Professional
Baseball League.
Thirteen years later,
Baudilio Cruz, aged 12 and
the son of Hector, was
playing at University
Stadium when a Texas
Ranger scout observed his
powerful pitches.
Immediately, the scout
arranged a future contract
with the boy to allow him
to play in MLB.
Let's play ball because we all need to dream.
END
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