Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez’s parents travel from Cuba to see son play for the first time

When Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez stepped as much as the plate within the first inning Tuesday evening, he had three additional particular company cheering for him.

Contemporary after arriving from Cuba, his father, Agustín Eduardo Álvarez Salazar, teary-eyed mom Mailyn Cadogan Reyes and brother Yonder Alvarez Cadogan every proudly wore a No 44 Alvarez jersey as they gazed wide-eyed on the area, watching the Houston star play professionally for the primary time.

“That is considered one of my largest moments in my complete life,” his father advised The Related Press in Spanish by a translator. “And I might be capable to say so many phrases, however the fact is that there aren’t any phrases to specific what I’m feeling proper now.”

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Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez watches his single in opposition to the Minnesota Twins through the third inning of a baseball recreation Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022, in Houston.
(AP Photograph/David J. Phillip)

His son did his half, too, getting an early hit because the AL West leaders beat Minnesota 4-2.

To be at Minute Maid Park to see Alvarez play for the primary time in his fourth main league season was a protracted and arduous operation that concerned many roadblocks.

“It was an in depth course of to get right here,” Salazar mentioned. “We’ve needed to undergo a number of difficulties to get right here at the moment.”

Regardless of these struggles, the household by no means misplaced hope that they’d make it to see their son play within the majors. They arrived on Friday.

“It by no means crossed our minds that we weren’t going to have the ability to be right here,” his father mentioned. “We all know that with the intention to make issues occur we’ve got to confront difficulties and that’s why we’re right here at the moment.”

So how did Alvarez, who has lengthy spoke of his want for his household to see him play, reply when he discovered that they’d lastly be watching him after such a protracted wait?

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The dad and mom of Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez, Agustín Eduardo Álvarez Salazar, rear, and Mailyn Cadogan Reyes stroll to their seats to look at the Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros play a baseball recreation Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022, in Houston. Alvarez’s dad and mom obtained to see him play as an expert for the primary time Tuesday evening after arriving from Cuba Friday.
(AP Photograph/David J. Phillip)

“He was simply completely satisfied and excited as a result of we have been all ready for this second to come back,” Salazar mentioned.

Alvarez was moved to understand how particular it was for his dad and mom to lastly see him play after being away from them for therefore lengthy.

“It means the whole lot,” he mentioned in Spanish by a translator. “Clearly, after I got here into the US it was not simple. And after I arrived right here, I arrived on my own. I knew I had their help, however clearly they weren’t right here.”

Alvarez defected from Cuba in 2016 and established residence in Haiti earlier than signing with the Dodgers as a global free agent in June of that yr. That August he was traded to the Astros. He made his MLB debut in June 2019 and went on to win American League Rookie of the Yr.

His dad and mom missed that stellar rookie season in addition to his two journeys to the World Series. They mentioned the final time they noticed him play in particular person got here all the way in which again in 2014.

Alvarez mentioned he was essentially the most nervous he’d ever been in a recreation Tuesday evening, much more than in any recreation of both World Sequence he is performed in.

Whereas they have been away from their son they anxious a bit after all, however they didn’t have too many issues as a result of they knew there was a whole neighborhood keeping track of the 25-year-old.

“I wish to thank Houston as a result of … they’ve adopted Yordan as their very own child,” his father mentioned. “And that’s one thing that makes us really feel protected and in peace. And I’m glad for that.”

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His father beamed as he watched his son’s first at-bat Tuesday. For his mom your complete evening was a bit an excessive amount of.

When reminded of a recreation earlier this yr when Alvarez referred to as her again residence to say he’d hit a homer for her on her birthday, she grew to become overcome with emotion and wept overtly — wiping away tear after tear as they streamed down her face.

“I’m simply proud,” his mom mentioned. “And it is a feeling that solely a mother is aware of what it appears like. I don’t have phrases to specific what I’m feeling proper now and what’s going by my thoughts proper now.”

It was simple to see how proud Alvarez’s dad and mom are of their son, who entered Tuesday tied for third within the majors with 31 homers. And though they’re thrilled together with his success on the sphere, they’re equally excited for who he’s off it.

“The very first thing that makes us really feel proud is the human being that he has change into, that we raised such a very good child,” Salazar mentioned. “Since he was a child, we noticed the expertise that he has, however we by no means thought or imagined how far he was going to go and the way far he has been in a position to get to. So, we’re simply asking God to bless him and keep his well being.”

The dad and mom of Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez, Agustín Eduardo Álvarez Salazar, left, and Mailyn Cadogan Reyes watch the Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros play a baseball recreation Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022, in Houston. Alvarez’s dad and mom obtained to see him play as an expert for the primary time Tuesday evening after arriving from Cuba Friday.
(AP Photograph/David J. Phillip)

For now, the household is staying with Alvarez at his residence in Houston. They aren’t certain how lengthy they’ll get to remain. However for nonetheless lengthy it’s they’re absorbing each second.

“Hopefully they keep right here without end,” Alvarez mentioned after the sport.

Requested what the long-awaited evening meant to them, each mom and father responded nearly in unison with the identical phrase.

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“Un sueño hecho realidad,” they mentioned in Spanish.

Translation: A dream come true.