Altuve and Acuña: a winning pair of Venezuelan MVPs
By César Augusto Márquez
The postseason is over. Awards season has closed. What are we to do?
Don’t worry. The Hot Stove League is heating up. Baseball is being played in Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Venezuela. And there are only 85 days until pitchers and catchers report. When you think about it, béisbol is a year-round game. So, this is our vow to you: El Bullpen will not stop bringing the heat in the offseason.
This past week we applauded a pair of Venezuelan MVP… speculated about the Yankees’ managerial opening… and celebrated a major league wedding. In baseball news, there’s always someone warming up in the bullpen.
Altuve’s sweep
José Altuve will need a bigger trophy case, if not an extra room. On Friday, the Astros’ second baseman won the Esurance MLB Best Major Leaguer award — as voted on by fans, media, front-office personnel, retired MLB players and members of the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) — adding to a collection just this season that includes the AL Hank Aaron Award, a Silver Slugger and, of course, AL MVP.
Everybody loves Altuve, who at 5-foot-6 tied Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto (1950) and Athletics pitcher Bobby Shantz (1952) as the shortest MVPs in history. Despite Yankee Aaron Judge’s historic season, in which he set a rookie record with 52 home runs, Altuve was the runaway choice as AL MVP, receiving 27 of 30 possible first-place votes and winning by a surprisingly large margin, 405-279.
Altuve is the first Latino to win the batting title, the World Series and MVP in the same season, a select list that includes Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and Frank Robinson. Starting with the Twins’ Cuban infielder Zoilo Versalles in 1965, Latinos have been voted MVP 21 times. A Venezuelan had never been elected until this decade, when the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera won in 2012 and again in 2013.
The other two AL MVP finalists — Judge and Indians second baseman José Ramírez — were gracious in defeat, congratulating Altuve on social media.
And, of course, Venezuelan players stepped up. Miggy and the Rockies’ Carlos González both published heart-warmers on Instagram, with Cargo posting a photo of the two from the 2016 All-Star Game that he said he had promised he would post on the day Altuve became an MVP.
Caribbean manager in pinstripes?
The Yankees remain the only team without a manager, after the usual postseason hirings. While there’s rampant speculation over Joe Girardi’s potential replacement, general manager Brian Cashman and the Steinbrenner family are playing it close to the vest. According to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, only five people have been interviewed, including Giants bench coach Hensley Meulens. The first person from Curaçao to play in the majors, Meulens speaks five languages — Papiamentu (an official language in Curaçao), English, Dutch, Spanish and Japanese — and managed the Netherlands team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Given the Yankees’ international stars — Japanese Masahiro Tanaka; Dominicans Luis Severino, Gary Sánchez, Starlin Castro and Dellin Betances; Cuban Aroldis Chapman; and Didi Gregorius, born in Amsterdam and raised in Curaçao — we wouldn’t be surprised if Meulens got serious consideration.
Beltrán’s next steps
After winning his first World Series this season in a remarkable 20-year career, Carlos Beltrán announced his retirement. Voted rookie of the year in 2007, he went on to become a nine-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glover and one of the best switch-hitters in history. Beltrán will clearly get support when he’s first eligible for the Hall of Fame five years from now. While Beltrán says he’s interested in staying in baseball, even managing the Yankees if called upon, for now — as he stated in an Instagram posting in Spanish — he will focus on rebuilding his home island of Puerto Rico after Hurricane María, saying, “There is a lot of work left to do.”
Arizona’s #ArepaPower
For the second year in a row, a Venezuelan player was voted MVP of the Arizona Fall League. Centerfielder Ronald Acuña, the Braves’ top prospect, slashed .329/.414/.639 and led the league with seven homers, 22 runs, 12 extra base hits and 53 total bases in 23 games. Just 19, he’s the youngest player to earn MVP. Last year’s fall league MVP, the Yankees’ Gleyber Torres, sent a shout-out in Spanish, saying, “Back to back, making our country very proud.”
Big-league nuptials
This past weekend, in the luxurious resort city of Cap Cana, Dominican Republic, Elvis Andrus got married for the second time this year to his girlfriend Cori Febles in a celebration witnessed by a number of major leaguers. The bride and groom, who held a private ceremony in July before the birth of their first child, were serenaded at the reception by salsa legend and Venezuelan sonero Óscar D’León. Guests included Altuve, “King” Félix Hernández, Adrián Beltré, Carlos Gómez and Andrus’ former teammate on the Texas Rangers, Prince Fielder, who for his huge size showed nimble steps and great rhythm. This guy can not only swing a bat, he can swing his hips. Gómez captured a few priceless moments:
Featured Image: Jennifer Stewart / Getty Images Sport