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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: 2ND ROUND POOL FMarch 17, 2017Mike AvilesHector SantiagoSan Diego, California Q. A lot of the teams in the Classic, Puerto Rico included, have guys that are not necessarily born in Puerto Rico, but grew up in Puerto Rican families in the United States. How important is it to you, and how much pride do you take in wearing the Puerto Rican uniform? HECTOR SANTIAGO: Yeah, I mean, I missed the last tournament trying to make the team in Chicago. But from day one, when I had to pick a team or even had the opportunity to come play, it would have been Puerto Rico. Growing up in Jersey, I grew up in a very Puerto Rican atmosphere. Wherever our vacations were, it was in Puerto Rico. So being part of the Puerto Rican heritage is a great honor for me and my family to go back and play for Puerto Rico. MIKE AVILES: Likewise for me. Just because I didn't grow up in Puerto Rico, per se, I grew up in New York, and I grew up in the Bronx. I grew up around my grandparents pretty much, and they only talked Spanish to me my whole life. So for me it's a sense of pride to play for Puerto Rico. This is my third Classic, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I've never considered myself anything other than Puerto Rican. My mom and dad were both born in Puerto Rico, and the generation of kids in my family, starting with me, my brother, my sister, and my cousins, we were all born the States, but everybody else was born in Puerto Rico. For me it was a personal decision, but it's very prideful. I know how much it means to my grandparents and my parents and everybody back home, so it's a pretty easy decision. Q. Mike, it's been quite a year for you. It's been about a year since you got way better news than anything baseball could provide. Something that we were all really following, and I think you felt supported by all of us. Then you go to the World Series and now this great run by Puerto Rico. Can you reflect over that year, and especially getting in that game in Mexico? Was that kind of like an exclamation point almost? MIKE AVILES: It's been crazy. I'm not going to lie. It's put my life into perspective with everything going on. I know from the last Classic until now, it's been just a lot of I guess you would say turmoil or hecticness. But for the most part, my life has been crazy since day one, anyway. I don't know any different. That's normal for me. So with the diagnosis of my daughter, and then her being cancer free and going through the bone marrow and all of that, and going through playing last year, and in the process of all of that it was always the walking out the door was always the hardest thing. It was that fight of should I go to the field, should I stay here? What do I do? How do I help my family? And I knew at the same time that I needed to go out there and provide for my family, and that was the way I was going to be able to help my family so I could stay sane and be there for my wife and my kids. It's been great. My daughter's doing great. She's healthy. She's got way longer hair than me right now, beautiful curls. She's running around all over the hotel full of energy, more energy than anything. And the only side effect from everything for her was that she has to wear glasses right now. And if that's all it is, I'll take that any day of the week, and I know she will. So in her words, she kicked the sicky bug's butt. THE MODERATOR: That's something we can all celebrate. Q. Going back to that first question, you alluded to growing up in the United States but yet being in touch with your Puerto Rican heritage. Can you guys both elaborate on that a little bit more? Maybe besides your grandparents maybe speaking Spanish, what other touchstones, I guess, were there of Puerto Rican culture that you grew up around? MIKE AVILES: I grew up in the South Bronx, and if anybody's ever been in the South Bronx around Yankee Stadium, I mean, it's pretty much Latins all over the place, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans. I remember my grandfather always saying: I don't need to speak English because everybody around here speaks Spanish. And I didn't know any different until I started playing ball and traveling everywhere else. The culture we always had, right down to Christmas, having our Pernil, Arroz con gandules, all the food, the alcupurrias, all that stuff, to me it was normal. I never knew anything different. It was always our culture. The Puerto Rican flag was always in the house. There was never anything that I knew any different. It's just growing up that's all you knew. It was we're Puerto Rican. It wasn't, oh, I'm American. It was always I'm Puerto Rican, and that's been that since day one. So for me personally, when there was an opportunity in 2009 to play for the National Team, my grandmother looked at me and said: If you say no, I might disown you. It was one of those things like, are you kidding me? This is one of those things. We watch baseball, this is what we do. This is what we love. For us it was just second nature. It wasn't like it's not a choice. It's just that's who we are, and that's what we did. We just grew up in the same culture. It just so happened to be in New York. Everybody knows the term New Yorican. That's what everybody calls me all the time, but I've considered myself Puerto Rican. HECTOR SANTIAGO: I've gotten called New York Rican all the time, even though I'm from the Newark. But honestly, it's the same thing. Growing up with the food, the culture, playing dominos, all of that Latin culture. Like I said, I was never called American. I've always been called Puerto Rican. All the things he said going back to, well, you're celebrating holidays, food, all the stuff that comes into being a Latin American player; it comes back to being Puerto Rican. Kind of following exactly what he said. I don't want to repeat everything he just said. Q. Back in 2006, did you imagine being here in the future representing your team? MIKE AVILES: Me personally? No, but I was hoping, because in 2006 was my first year in Triple-A, and I'll never forget watching the Classic and saying I hope I have a chance to play for Puerto Rico. It was never I hope I have a chance to play for the U.S. It was always I hope I have a chance to play for Puerto Rico because I knew how much it meant to my grandparents and my parents if I could put on this uniform. To me, it means more to me if I can put this uniform on for them rather than for myself. I know how prideful they are watching their grandson. I know how prideful my parents are watching their son putting on this uniform. For me there's no words to pretty much put that in perspective. Because to see them happy, that's my happiness. It's no different than looking at my kids when they're smiling and they're excited. That's my happiness. So I understand the symbolism and everything there. So it was since day one, I've always wanted to, and the moment they called me in 2009 and '13 again, it wasn't even a question. I was like: You don't even have to ask me anymore. Yes, just tell me where to be and what time, and I'll be there. HECTOR SANTIAGO: In 2006 I was just trying to figure out what the draft was. So I was just learning about Minor League baseball and stuff like that. But, yeah, coming up through the Minor Leagues and going to play winter ball in Puerto Rico in 2008. So I played winter ball from 2008 to 2014. So been playing out there for all those years. Then in '13 when I got asked to play, for me, my first WBC, and I wasn't able to go because I was trying to make the team in Chicago. It was kind of a fight whether I wanted to risk the chance of making the team in Chicago or go and play in Puerto Rico. I decided to stay in Spring Training in Big League camp, try to make the team career-wise, and I was looking forward to this one. So playing for four years and committing to this and making sure I was able to play in this WBC. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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