By Ignacio Marquez
I’m not going to lie, but I was really excited going into Sunday’s activities at SJI. The reason: I was going to get a chance to cover a professional baseball game. Baseball is my favorite sport and it feels like an entirely new experience every opportunity I get to cover a game. Every match is different for so many reasons and I love witnessing what happens each time. After getting breakfast, the group headed down to George M. Steinbrenner Field, which to my liking, looked so much like the old Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The field is beautiful and being in that press box just magnified the situation. I was going to cover an Advanced-A minor league game between the hometown Tampa Yankees and the visiting Lakeland Flying Tigers, minor league affiliate of the MLB’s Detroit Tigers. Minor league game or not, I was as excited as I would be if I was covering a major league game. Before the game, we got a chance to go into the Yankee clubhouse and meet former major league utility player and five-time World Series champion Luis Sojo, manager of the Tampa club. Let me tell you, the man was one of the nicest people I’ve met. Sojo answered all the questions we threw at him with a good attitude, something not all coaches do, based on experience. What really stood out for me was the opportunity I had to ask him a couple questions in Spanish. I was able to sense a more personal demeanor in the Venezuelan-born manager who won four titles with the Bronx Bombers in the late 1990s.
“Es un orgullo haber jugado con el equipo en las grandes ligas y ahora estar en la granja de las ligas menores de las organizacion. Para mi es un orgullo definitivamente porque yo creo que es el fruto que estamos recogiendo despues de una larga carrera como pelotero y poder estar ayudando a la organizacion a desarollar a estos peloteros.”
Sojo was saying that he feels proud to have played in the big leagues and now to be a part of the Yankees farm system is great. He said he feels proud to be a part in the development of young players. What struck me the most is what he said about George Steinbrenner, the old head honcho in New York. “Steinbrenner fue un hombre que vamos a respetar y recordar con mucho carino.” He basically said the Boss was a man that will always be respected and will be remembered with great love and affection. This came as a surprise because the late Steinbrenner was almost always portrayed as a villain in the media. Everybody has an opinion of someone, but I’m happy to hear something different from what I’ve heard my entire life about the big man in New York.
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