Behind every successful American sports story lies the journey of players striving for glory with their teams. In the case of the Los Angeles Dodgers, one notable teammate of Shohei Ohtani has shared an emotional narrative about his early baseball beginnings in his hometown.
In an interview with “Mas con Mota,” a Spanish-language MLB podcast, the Cuban player Andy Pages recounted how he acquired his first bats before embarking on his professional baseball career. “My bats were hard to come by, especially when I wasn’t yet representing any team or anything,” Vargas explained.
Vargas continued, “I just practiced and played in my neighborhood. My father, who worked in carpentry, approached a friend who worked with wood. He said, ‘Listen, I need some bats for my kid.’ That friend was the first to make me a bat, allowing me to play properly in my country.”
In this scenario, Vargas learned to play with bats that weren’t professionally made like those in MLB, understanding through these challenges that talent often emerges from adversity. For Vargas, these bats were a cherished gift from his father and his father’s friend, marking the beginning of his baseball journey.
Pages unveils intimate details about his bats
Renowned for his prowess on the field, Pages delved into the personal journey behind the bats he wielded en route to playing in Major League Baseball. The Cuban native, no stranger to adversity, recounted not just the delivery of his bats, but the profound sentiment they held amidst his challenging ascent to MLB stardom.
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Pages reminisced, “It’s tough to recall every hit and those statistics amassed with my bats. But the rich, natural wood hue, which we call ‘varnish’ in Cuba, evokes memories of the standard bats back home.“
Reflecting on his transition to the MLB
Sharing insights on his evolution from the rugged fields of Cuba to the dazzling lights of MLB stadiums, Pages offered a glimpse into the stark contrasts in his career trajectory with the Dodgers.
“There are inevitable tough moments in this game,” he admitted, acknowledging the pressure at baseball’s pinnacle. “If it were all smooth sailing, it wouldn’t be the challenging test it is. During those times, I often remind myself of my origins, of having nothing and being unknown, which fuels my perseverance.“
