Sinatra-loving Aquino flies shots to the moon
By Hal McCoy
CINCINNATI — There is a country song by Tim McGraw with the lyrics, “Always be humble and kind.” It could have been written for Cincinnati Reds rookie Aristides Aquino.
With what the 25-year-old native of the Dominican Republic is doing, he could be a chest-thumping, bat-flipping, slow-trotting, look-at-me kind of guy.
Instead, he is so humble, shy and soft-spoken that he could be mistaken for a church deacon.
It doesn’t faze him that fans in Cincinnati go berserk when he comes to the plate, that the bathrooms and concession stands are empty when it is his turn to bat.
They don’t want to miss the moment. He might do it again. He might hit another home run. In his first 17 major league games he hit 11 home runs, the most home runs in the shortest career span in major league history.
“I’m really humble since I was a kid,” he said. “It is the values that my family gave me. And I’m really proud that I am this kind of person.”
It doesn’t faze him that street vendors already are selling a shirt with his likeness on the front with his nickname, “The Punisher.”
It was a nickname a minor league teammate gave him, “Because he said I punish the pitchers and punish the baseball.”
Asked if he likes the nickname, he smiles broadly and says, “I love it.”
What astounds fans in addition to the home runs that explode off his bat as if launched by mission control, is the walk-up music they play for the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Adonis. While most Latino players use salsa, funk carioca or reggaeton, Aquino walks to the plate to the sound of Frank Sinatra singing, “Fly Me to the Moon.”
Aquino speaks English, but as a safety net he uses translator Julio Morillo for interviews, usually speaking softly with his head down. But when Sinatra was mentioned, Aquino lifted his head, smiled broadly and said in English:
“I really like him. I love Frank Sinatra. The way he sings slow it made me think about the words of the song to try to understand English.”
As they like to say, it is a minuscule sampling so far, but if long-time Reds fans squeeze their eyes just a bit when Aquino is in the batter’s box, they might imagine they are seeing Eric Davis.
And it isn’t just because Aquino wears Reds uniform No. 44 and Eric the Red wore Reds uniform No 44. While Davis held his hands a bit lower than Aquino, Aquino stands nearly erect in the batter’s box, just the way Davis did.
Aquino, like Davis, covers more ground in the outfield than a gazelle crossing the Serengeti Plains with a cheetah in pursuit. Aquino hits the ball so hard it screams in pain, just the way Davis did.
In just 17 games since his August 1 call-up, Aquino is drawing nationwide attention hitting after an 0-for-7 start to his major-league career that had some fans scowling and guffawing that, “This kid is overmatched.”
So where have the Reds been hiding this kid? Aquino played some games in spring training and the few at bats he took grabbed more than cursory attention.
“He opened our eyes, that’s for sure,” said Reds manager David Bell. “We also had to make sure, though, because of the point he was at in his career. He had to show us during the season at Triple-A, just to make sure it was real.”
Oh, it is as real as the moon, the sun and the sky. How do 28 home runs stack up as a showpiece at Class AAA Louisville? His nickname, “The Punisher,” is legit. He is seductive, productive and destructive.
Reds broadcaster Jeff Brantley, a former major league pitcher, had the displeasure of facing Davis and is now a press box observer.
“I remember the first time I saw this kid and it was three or four years ago when he was at spring training in Goodyear,” said Brantley. “I saw him hit a ball, it was foul, but it carried over a field and into a distant parking lot. I’d never seen one hit that far, fair or foul, at that park and haven’t seen one since. That grabbed my attention, for sure.”
Brantley, too, sees the Aquino-Davis comparison.
“I do, I see it,” said Brantley. “Aquino is a little bit rangier. Eric was a bit more compact. But the power in the small sample size? Very reminiscent of Eric, along with the speed and the way he goes and catches the ball.
“It makes you take a little bit of a double-take when you look at that kid,” Brantley continued. “He is a big, long tall kid that can do about anything and that’s kind of scary.”
Aquino, like Davis, has hit some home runs so far that Kentucky State Troopers were radioed to be on the lookout for an unidentified flying object.
Aquino wasn’t born when Davis was terrorizing teams at the plate, on the field and on the basepaths.
Davis was retired when Aquino first began playing baseball in The Dominican at age 6.
“The tradition in the Dominican is that if you are a boy, you have to go out and play baseball,” he said. “So that’s what I did. My mom and my dad made me go out there and play the game. They love it and I love it.
“In the Dominican, you play all day. If you are not on a field playing, you are in the backyard playing.”
Equipment? Not always real baseballs and real bats. Sometimes, as Aquino said, “We made balls out of old socks and we broke off tree branches to use as bats.”
Of the Davis comparisons, Aquino said, “He was a legend and he could do everything — hit, run and throw. It is really nice that people are comparing me to him.”
Aquino says none of what he does on the baseball field is an intentional copy cat of Davis.
“To be honest, I have been hitting like this because I wanted to do it, not because I want to mimic Eric Davis,” he said. “If I end up like him, it is something I do naturally, but I’m not trying to copy him, not even in my stance.”
His hero, though, is Roberto Clemente.
“I have to go way back and say Clemente. I love him.”
Aquino was signed by the Reds when he was 16. He spent nine years in the minors sharpening and defining his skills with more than 3,800 at bats. But nine years is a long time riding the buses and rarely eating his favorite food, steak. But Aquino never doubted that his time would come.
“That’s why I pray every day,” he said. “I work very hard for the things I am achieving today so that it would happen.”
His recent emergence is a byproduct of hard work this spring and some personal attention from Reds assistant hitting coach Donnie Ecker. He made what everybody is calling some minor tweaks.
Aquino was asked if he is surprised by what he is doing and he quickly said, “No.” Asked if he believes he can continue doing it, he says quickly, “Yes.”
And Aquino knows he is quickly becoming a national hero in his baseball-mad country.
“Yes, I know they are really happy there and are very proud of me,” he said. “They knew what I was capable of doing here and they knew I was ready to do what I am doing.”
When he isn’t playing baseball, Aquino spends his off time talking to his family back home, listening to music or watching television. His favorite show is “Money Heist.”
It is for sure that there is no money heist involved in what the Reds are paying the precocious rookie. Every penny is more than worth it.
What Aquino didn’t know is that his first name, Aristides is the same name as the horse, Aristides, that won the first Kentucky Derby in 1875. How apropos is that? Two thoroughbreds.
Featured Image: Joe Robbins / Getty Images Sport