Miguel Vargas, Lazaro Vargas join by baseball journeys
LOS ANGELES — When requested what number of hits his father, Cuban baseball legend Lazaro Vargas, recorded throughout his illustrious profession within the Cuban National Series,
And but, regardless of a excessive stage of admiration for his father’s embellished profession, Miguel, from a really younger age, wished to create his personal identification.
Miguel by no means emulated Lazaro’s batting stance or dragged his bat by the grime from the dugout to the batter’s field as his father was identified to do. He averted carrying No. 20, the quantity Lazaro made well-known throughout his enjoying days for Industriales in Cuba.
They had been small issues, however purposeful, as he tried to distinguish himself from the legacy his father created.
“I wanted to be me,” Miguel mentioned in Spanish. “I didn’t want to be looked at as just his son. I wanted to be as good as him or even better.”
And now? Miguel has carved his personal path to baseball stardom, and his father couldn’t be extra proud.
“He’s definitely better than me,” Lazaro mentioned. “He has better tools than I had. He hits more than me, he runs faster than I did, and he’s so much stronger than I was.”
Feeling stress from being the son of an completed participant isn’t unusual. However, in smaller nations like Cuba, the extent of expectation is heightened considerably. The Gurriel brothers handled related noise in Cuba and after they defected. In truth, the Gurriels modified the spelling of their final title (it was initially Gourriel) merely to tell apart themselves from their father, Lourdes Gourriel, an Olympic gold medalist and Cuban star for 20 years.
“I really felt [the pressure] when I was starting out in Cuba,” mentioned Marlins first baseman
Miguel was nonetheless a toddler when Lazaro wrapped up his 16-year profession for Industriales in Cuba. But as he grew older, he realized how completed his father had been within the sport.
Lazaro completed his profession with a .322 common, recording 991 profession hits in simply 872 video games. The stats, together with a ridiculous 136 hit-by-pitches over his profession, communicate for themselves. Among gamers within the National Series, Cuban’s high skilled league, Lazaro is taken into account one of many two greatest Cuban-born third basemen ever, together with Omar Linares.
As good as he was in Cuba, Lazaro actually made his mark in worldwide play.
In 1992, Lazaro and the Cuban nationwide workforce traveled to Barcelona because the favorites to take gold throughout the Summer Olympics — and that’s precisely what they did. Lazaro went 17-for-37 within the match and have become the primary participant to hit for the cycle within the Olympics, doing so within the gold medal sport towards Chinese Taipei.
Two years later, Lazaro suffered a devastating knee damage. Doctors instructed him that he would have bother strolling for the remainder of his life and that his enjoying profession was over.
And but, one 12 months later, a wholesome Lazaro gained the batting title within the Cuban National Series, serving to him safe a spot on the 1996 Olympic workforce. He went 12-for-35 in that match as Cuba gained a second consecutive gold medal. Lazaro grew to become so fashionable on the island that he’s featured on the 15-cent postage stamp in Cuba.
“I can assure you that he never took three weeks’ worth of pitches like Miguel did in Spring Training this year,” joked Tigers supervisor A.J. Hinch, who, as a catcher for Team USA, competed with Lazaro within the ‘96 Olympics, and was referencing Miguel not being allowed to swing in Spring Training for a couple of weeks due to a fractured proper pinky finger. “That country in that era was producing incredible baseball talent that never got to see the Major Leagues.”
Lazaro mentioned the considered enjoying within the United States didn’t cross his thoughts a lot. Wondering “what if” is one thing he often does now, however there’s no remorse about by no means leaving the island to pursue different alternatives.
It was a unique period, Lazaro famous, because it wasn’t till René Arocha defected in 1991 that gamers even mentioned that risk. By that point, Lazaro was already 27 years previous.
“I didn’t know how people lived in the United States. I didn’t know what the system was like,” Lazaro mentioned. “I never really thought about it. If I did come to the United States, maybe Miguel wouldn’t have been born. That’s how life is.”
Miguel at all times knew he wished to play within the Major Leagues. Growing up, he was usually the most effective — and youngest — participant on his groups. When he was 14, Miguel joined Industriales within the Cuban National Series.
His teammates included Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Yuli and
“One day I had a take sign on, and [Miguel] swung with three balls and no strikes and I had to bench him,” Lazaro laughed. “The day I finally got to play him, I told him I was going to play him but not just for show. I told him he better not strike out or let a bunch of ground balls get by him. That day he played really well, and that’s when I knew he had all the tools and the heart to play this game at a high level.”
Playing on that workforce as a 14-year-old additionally proved to Miguel that he was able to competing at the next stage. Later that 12 months, he represented Cuba in a U15 match in Mexico. After that match, Miguel approached Lazaro and his mom about his need to depart the island and pursue an expert profession within the U.S.
A 12 months later, Miguel went to Japan for a U18 match. When he returned to Havana, Miguel was solely fascinated about exhibiting off his new sneakers and backpack to his associates.
Instead, two days earlier than his fifteenth birthday, his dad and mom sat Miguel down and notified him they had been leaving for Ecuador, step one to serving to him understand his lifelong dream.
“I had a lot of emotions, obviously,” Miguel mentioned. “I think we all made the decision. My mom definitely cried when she left her mom there and her family. It’s hard for all of us. But I was ready, and I knew the moment was going to come when the time was right. I just wanted to play in the Majors.”
After leaving Cuba, the Vargas household stayed in Ecuador for six months earlier than going to the Bahamas. Lazaro skilled Miguel, together with Miguel’s older brother, Alejandro, at a close-by facility.
“I remember that I would wake up in the morning, we would practice in the morning, I would go back home to eat and take a nap,” Miguel mentioned. “Then at night I would go to the gym. That was my life for a year and a half.”
Once within the Bahamas, Miguel believed he would signal instantly after turning 16, which is customary for high worldwide prospects. Instead, he endured an emotional two-year journey stuffed with ups and downs.
“I remember telling my parents I didn’t want to play anymore,” Miguel mentioned. “The life of Cuban players is tough. You don’t see a lot of friends and all you have is baseball. There’s always the unknown of whether you’re going to sign or not.”
As these ideas crept into Miguel’s thoughts, Lazaro suggested him to consider issues for every week. If he nonetheless felt that method afterward, the household would regulate accordingly. Lazaro then reached out to White Sox discipline coordinator Mike Tosar, who on the time was within the Dodgers’ worldwide scouting division.
Tosar had scouted Miguel and was impressed together with his bat-to-ball abilities. He flew to the Bahamas, together with Ismael Cruz, the Dodgers’ vp of worldwide scouting.
They arrived to seek out very poor discipline circumstances. A storm had ripped aside all of the fields within the space. The backstop was on high of dwelling plate. There was no outfield fence. And the grass was as much as their knees. Because there was no person else round, Miguel’s mother was within the outfield shagging fly balls whereas Lazaro pitched to their son.
Miguel wished to indicate off his pace regardless of the sphere circumstances and he ended up pulling a hamstring within the course of. He nonetheless impressed the Dodgers together with his instruments and need.
“He was hitting balls into a house,” Tosar recalled. “We couldn’t really get the distance, so we went on a distance-tracking app through GPS. We saw home plate, we saw the roof and where the ball hit and we marked it and it was over 400-something feet. He must’ve been 17 at the time. It was legit.”
At the time the Dodgers solely had $300,000 to supply Miguel as a result of that they had exceeded their spending whole internationally the 12 months earlier than. That quantity was beneath what he hoped to signal for, and the Dodgers knew he was price greater than that.
But with different groups, together with the Dodgers, awaiting Shohei Ohtani’s worldwide determination that 12 months, loads of organizations weren’t in a position to spend as a lot cash in smaller nations such because the Bahamas. That affected Miguel’s negotiations and his potential suitors.
With no gives on the desk, the Dodgers pounced on the alternative to signal Miguel at a lower cost, and the younger Cuban infielder took one other massive step in his life, signing with the group.
Over the final 5 years, Miguel has constructed himself into one of many high prospects in baseball, hitting 49 homers and posting a .878 OPS throughout his Minor League profession.
This season, Miguel has develop into the on a regular basis second baseman for the Dodgers. Like any rookie, he has had his justifiable share of rising pains however has proven enchancment because the season has progressed. What his ceiling will likely be stays to be seen.
The spotlight of his profession to date, although, got here on Aug. 3, 2022, when the Dodgers known as the then-22-year-old as much as the Majors.
In his first MLB at-bat, Miguel lined an RBI ground-rule double off veteran right-hander Alex Cobb. As he touched second base, Miguel glanced up on the household part at Oracle Park and smiled. The digital camera panned to the Vargas household. Right within the center was Lazaro, who raised each of his arms in triumph as he sported a blue Industriales jersey.
“I wanted to represent my dad,” Miguel mentioned. “I knew that if I could do it, that means he could’ve done it, because I listened to everything he told me when he trained me. In my mind, I always knew he was capable of playing in the big leagues.”
At that second, Lazaro wasn’t the Cuban baseball legend most individuals inform tales about. He was only a dad, watching his son play the sport they each love. That was the true dream come true.
“Honestly,” Lazaro mentioned, gathering himself, “it’s way more important, and I feel even more proud seeing Miguel live out this dream than if I would’ve accomplished it.”
Content Source: www.mlb.com