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The Everyman
Story by Stefanie Marie Rivera
If baseball is theater, perhaps an apt title is Everyman, the 15th century morality play about fleeting materialism. In the modern MLB version, Carlos Delgado personifies the protagonist because he is a man possessing a multitude of talents: charm, wit, charisma, exceptional intelligence and athletic abilities. In the play, as in the game today, the everyman ultimately realizes that his talents cannot accompany him to the grave. He will have only his good deeds in the end.
Truth be told, Delgado came to that realization long ago. He began developing as a baseball player from the age of six, when he first joined a baseball league in Aguadilla . His love of the game and support from his family lead to the inking of a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays at merely 16. He took the money from his first contract and reportedly donated $1,000 for uniforms for one of Aguadilla 's little league teams.
After graduating from high school in the summer of 1989, Delgado joined St. Catharine, Toronto 's Class-A affiliate in the New York-Penn League. At St. Catharine, Delgado had the opportunity to grow as a baseball player. He went back and forth from Class-A, Class-AA and the majors for the next four years until 1994, when he was finally given the opportunity to become a part of the Blue Jays as a designated hitter.
In the beginning of that ‘94 season, Delgado was hitting at a torrid pace, tying the record for home runs hit by a rookie with eight set by Kent Hrbek; but as American League hurlers noticed the lefty's weakness against breaking pitches, Delgado fell into a slump. The Blue Jays sent Delgado back to the minors to find his swing. That winter, Delgado came back to Puerto Rico to play for the Senadores de San Juan in the Puerto Rico 's Winter League. There, he put in some quality at-bats against top-notch talent; one a tough pitcher that Delgado insists is the hardest he's ever faced.
“A name that might not be so recognizable, Doug Brocail,” reminisces Delgado, during a break in filming of a commercial inside the Roberto Clemente Walker Stadium in Carolina . “He played with Mayagüez while I was with San Juan in the Baseball Winter League. He is one of the hardest pitchers to hit. After he left Puerto Rico, he played in the major leagues where we played against each other a few times, but because he was a starting pitcher in Puerto Rico I got to face him more often. Yea, Doug Brocail.” The tough at-bats against Brocail helped Delgado find his rhythm; he started to see the ball again.
During his time with the Blue Jays—from 1989 to 2005—Delgado posted some stellar numbers in what some are saying is a certain Hall of Fame career. Despite suffering through some slumps and operations due to injuries, Delgado hit over 30 homers in 10 straight seasons, while keeping his slugging average above .500 for nine years in a row.
In 2005, Delgado played for the Florida Marlins, but after a lackluster season, he was one of the players released when the owners blew the team up looking to shed salaries. Delgado signed with the New York Mets in 2006, where he plays to this day. It is with the Mets that Delgado has gotten the closest to winning a World Series. In 2006, the team won the National League East and then advanced to the NLCS; for Delgado that's not enough. “I want to win a World Series,” I've never had the opportunity of going to one and, even less, winning one. So my goal is to win a World Series.”
In 2009, the Mets will play in a new home, Citi Field. All eyes will be on the national league team. Delgado believes the team is up to the task, knowing full well there are plenty of skeptics out there. The non-believers point to the team's near identical meltdowns in 2007 and 2008. The Mets squandered a seven-game lead with 17 games to play in 2007 and a 3 ½ game lead with 15 to go in 2008, thanks to horrendous relief pitching. The New York Mets front office addressed serious bullpen woes with the signing of J.J. Putz and closer Francisco Rodríguez. Those signings and other intangibles have Delgado hopeful the Mets can return to 2006 form.
“I believe that we have a very capable and competitive team. These last two years have been very hard; we fought till the end,” explains Delgado. “This year we have young players that have become an integral part of the team, like David Wright and José Reyes, that when one looks at them you might say they are young but they have five and six years of experience; one more year is going to make them better players. I believe that [ace pitcher Johan] Santana will have a better year because this his second time around; he knows the league better and he should be acclimated to the city of New York by now. I truly hope this will be our year, but it is difficult to predict.”
The Clemente Factor
For any Puerto Rican player in the major leagues, the shadow of Roberto Clemente looms large as the model to emulate. Clemente's grace, everyman personality, pure talent and sudden death left a legacy in the major leagues of an honorable man and player worthy of first-ballot unanimous indoctrination to the Baseball Hall of Fame. With the rise of Latino players in the majors throughout the years, analysts have been on the lookout for the next Clemente, and of all current Puerto Rican players in the big leagues, few have embodied the role model as Delgado.
As a boy, Delgado idolized Roberto Clemente. Born in 1972, the same year the star player died in a New Year's Eve plane crash, Delgado had only videos to remember Clemente, but the legendary right fielder still made a lasting impression on the future superstar slugger. He even wears Clemente's number on his jersey. Throughout his career, sports analysts and reporters have made numerous comparisons between the two players as men and as baseball players.
“There are moments when people mention you in the same sentence as Roberto Clemente, who I believe was an excellent player and human being even up to the point when he died in 1972. That was 36 years ago,” Delgado says. “Still, to this day, his legacy is alive in our society and in the game of baseball. That is the true definition of a legacy. So as a Puerto Rican player, you can only try to emulate his path.”
But there are reasons for the comparison. There's Delgado's selfless work through his Extra Bases Foundation. And then, there is his relatively normal life when in Puerto Rico, choosing to live in his hometown of Aguadilla instead of splurging on a lifestyle of the rich and famous. His unpretentious nature and his work ethic towards the game are just part of his natural progression towards becoming the talented player he is.
In this year's World Baseball Classic, Delgado not only represented Puerto Rico , but also obtained the Clemente family's blessing to use Clemente's number 21 on his jersey. The famous number has been absent on island diamonds since the Puerto Rico Winter League officially retired it after the 1998 season. Delgado couldn't hide his amazement at the opportunity when he spoke to New York Daily News sports writer Anthony McCarron after hearing the news.
“I have to make sure I don't embarrass myself.” Delgado told McCarron. “People thought he was a good player, but the stuff he did off the field goes beyond the 3,000 hits, the Hall of Fame. This guy dedicated his life to helping the needy. Obviously, in that era players didn't make the kind of money they do today, but he gave a lot. People still talk about him 36 years later… schools are named after him, stadiums, parks. His life and his legacy are very important to Puerto Rico .”
A month after that momentous occasion, when Metro interviewed Delgado, the reality of wearing that number had set in. “I believe it is going to be an emotional moment when we [the Puerto Rico team] step out on to the field,” he said. “I feel incredibly honored and I know we will represent the number in a dignified way.”
And so they did. The Puerto Rico team showed prowess in Round 1 of the Classic, shutting out the competition and entering Round 2 without a loss. After an impressive mercy rule win against the U.S. team in Round 2, the Boricuas lost the next two games to Venezuela and an avenging U.S. team. Delgado proved that he deserved to wear the 21 on his back with his two homers, five RBI's, four hits and a .438 average.
Clemente's influence, Delgado's selfless nature and the awareness of people in need led Delgado to create the Extra Bases Foundation. A non-profit organization founded in 2001, Extra Bases aims to improve the quality of life of individuals and charitable groups in need by complementing efforts from other charitable entities and government agencies. Delgado established Extra Bases after he realized that he needed to find a better way to respond to the increasing number of solicitations from charitable organizations and individuals. The slugger sought out a team of knowledgeable people in charity work, including current Sales and Marketing Director Robert Rodríguez (See sidebar Pelota Dura p.45 ), to help him organize and create the philanthropic organization.
Seven years later, Extra Bases has been able to raise and donate $2.5 million to various organizations in Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo , the United States , Canada and Latin America . “That is not counting the unknown amount of money Delgado has donated to people he sees in need,” Rodríguez says. “I say unknown, because he has done it on his own and out of his own pocket. He doesn't announce it to anyone and we respect it.”
Extra Bases doesn't have an income, so the organization's staff gets paid by Delgado out of his own pocket. That is his way of ensuring that the money that comes in through its activities can be distributed completely to the charities. Besides operational expenses, Carlos donates $100,000 to the foundation each year.
Extra Bases has hosted a variety of activities on the island, from fashion shows, to baseball fantasy camps and even domino tournaments to guarantee substantial funding each year for charities.
“We've done various things trying to find a creative way to catch people's attention, all the while understanding that the economic situation is hard,” explains Delgado. “But with the money we've been able to do many things, such as give eight students full scholarships to Sacred Heart University and just like this past Jan.15 when we were able to distribute approximately $300,000 among 17 charities, not including the smaller scale cases we see throughout the year.”
Currently, the Extra Bases Foundation has plans to tie Delgado's quest for the 500 home run mark with fundraising. “We plan on gathering funds in a new project called Rumbo a los 500, not only because I am close to the 500 home run mark (Delgado has 472 homeruns at this writing) but because we want to be able to gather $500,000 in a year.” The plan for the Rumbo a los 500 project is to offer pledges to whoever is interested through the Extra Bases website. “This is just one of the many projects to raise funds we are hoping to put in motion,” Delgado says.
The adage “home is where the heart is” resounds twice for the all-star slugger, who hungers to complete the 500 homeruns this season, win a World Series and spend more time with his family. Still retirement always looms when you are a ballplayer in your late 30s. When asked about his plans, his family came to mind first.
“As of right now, what I have in mind is to really spend more time with my family once I retire. I mean, isn't that why people get older, to retire to spend more time with their families?,” asks Delgado. “Yes, I would still love to be involved in the game in some way, not necessarily on the professional level but maybe in the minor leagues, or in development, trying to impart the wisdom I've gained during my experience with the up-and-coming players, helping to guide them because I truly believe that if one helps to guide them in any way, one is doing a good thing.”
Despite his status as baseball superstar on his way to notching his 500th home run, Delgado the philanthropist and family man insists he is just another Puerto Rican man who happens to have a few extra zeros in his paycheck.
“Carlos Delgado is a simple man, an honest man and intelligent man with a good sense of humor from Aguadilla ,” he says. “That's it, that's me.”. |
