No contento con eso acepto la invitación al home run derby, una competencia que es patrocinada por una de las grandes empresas del país, y que acaba de cumplir 20 años realizando este evento, además de Acuña, se hicieron presente, Eugenio Suárez, Gleyber Torres, Wilson y Williams Contreras, el segundo de ellos venía de ser campeón en las dos últimas ediciones, también estuvieron, Balbino Fuenmayor, Diego Rincones, Eduardo Escobar, Juan Yepez y el Astro Boy, Jose Altuve, un evento que pese a la lluvia durante el día en la ciudad de Caracas, se pudo realizar sin inconvenientes, y lo mejor de todo, a casa llena.
Se hicieron las rondas de eliminación, luego un todos contra todos y posteriormente la gran final, final que tuvo como protagonistas a un jugador de ligas menores como Diego Rincones y un super estrella, que es el caso de Acuña Jr. este último se llevó la competencia destronando el bicampeonato del menor de los hermanos Contreras, pero lo que realmente fue llamativo, no fueron los kilométricos batazos de la noche, fue la humildad de los peloteros grandes ligas y la actitud de Acuña fue la más sobresaliente, tenía mucho tiempo sin ver un pelotero que despertara tantas emociones, a mi parecer, esto no se veía desde que el gato Galarraga jugaba con Colorado.
Baseball is a children's sport that is played by adults, is that in this sport, not only conflicts and quarrels are the protagonists, days like those of Monday 28 of this month, make us see how much a baseball player can enjoy practicing this discipline, Ronald Acuña Jr. He is a clear example of what I am talking about, a young man who has a unique and natural talent, who despite having a millionaire contract with the Atlanta Braves, did everything possible to be active during this baseball season in Venezuela.
Not content with that, he accepted the invitation to the home run derby, a competition that is sponsored by one of the biggest companies in the country, and that has just celebrated its 20th anniversary with this event, in addition to Acuña, Eugenio Suárez, Gleyber Torres, Wilson and Williams Contreras were also present, the second of them came from being champion in the last two editions, also present were Balbino Fuenmayor, Diego Rincones, Eduardo Escobar, Juan Yepez and the Astro Boy, Jose Altuve, an event that in spite of the rain during the day in the city of Caracas, could be carried out without inconveniences, and the best of all, to a full house.
The elimination rounds were made, then a round robin and then the grand final, a final that had as protagonists a minor league player like Diego Rincones and a superstar, which is the case of Acuña Jr. the latter took the competition dethroning the bicampeonato of the youngest of the Contreras brothers, but what was really striking, was not the kilometer long hits of the night, it was the humility of the major league players and the attitude of Acuña was the most outstanding, I had a long time without seeing a player who aroused so many emotions, in my opinion, this was not seen since the cat Galarraga played with Colorado.
El muchacho de la Sabana, me ha remontado a esos años de gran béisbol, en donde los domingos se jugaba a las 11 de la mañana y solo en Valencia se realizaban juegos a las 5:30, porque el estadio fue construido al revés, Acuña es un hombre que no le teme a la multitud y que es capaz de jugar una partida de pelota de medias o un juego de chapitas con grupos de personas en las calles, las chapitas no es más que usar como bate un palo de escoba y como pelota chapas de botellas, como fanático me siento alegre y con gran satisfacción, de ver como se están llevando las cosas hasta el momento en la liga, es una especia de luna de miel, entre quienes amamos este deporte y sus directivos.
Atrás parece que quedaron esos años duros, de separación de los fanáticos y el deporte rey en Venezuela, de ver estadios desolados a llenos totales como el de anoche, o los tradicionales Caracas Y Magallanes, aún faltan cosas por hacer para recuperar por completo esa identidad de aficionados, liga y equipos, que ha servido de inspiración para hacer películas y para que padres colocaran nombres de sus peloteros favoritos a sus hijos, y hasta en sus negocios, lo que parecía hace tres años imposible hoy parece ser toda una realidad.
The explosion of the fans, which was experienced at the UCV stadium, after Acuña hit the home run, which gave him the title as monarch of home runs in Venezuela, was something indescribable, and although unfortunately I could not be present at the stadium, I felt an emotion, only comparable to those I felt in the 90s, in those epic finals between Cardenales de Lara and Leones del Caracas, players like Antonio Armas, Andres Galarraga, Omar Vizquel for Caracas, while for Lara, Robert Perez, Luis Sojo and Edwin Hurtado, they aroused great emotions in the fans and moved masses in every stadium they attended.
The boy from La Sabana has taken me back to those years of great baseball, where on Sundays games were played at 11 in the morning and only in Valencia games were played at 5: 30, because the stadium was built backwards, Acuña is a man who is not afraid of the crowd and who is capable of playing a game of stocking ball or a game of chapitas with groups of people in the streets, the chapitas is nothing more than using as bat a broomstick and as ball bottle caps, as a fan I feel happy and with great satisfaction, to see how things are going so far in the league, it is a kind of honeymoon, between those who love this sport and its directors.
It seems that those hard years of separation between the fans and the king of sports in Venezuela are behind us, from seeing desolate stadiums to full stadiums like the one last night, or the traditional Caracas and Magallanes, there are still things to do to completely recover the identity of fans, league and teams, which has served as inspiration to make movies and for parents to name their children after their favorite baseball players, and even in their businesses, what seemed impossible three years ago, today seems to be a reality.
Todo a punta a que el crecimiento del nivel de la liga, no será solo por esta temporada, la mejoría será gradual, pero firme, quizás en los próximos años, no estarán tanta figuras como en la actualidad, pero los peloteros que vienen emergiendo tendrán un lugar fijo para demostrar de que están hechos, gracias a la comunidad de @fulldeportes puedo realizar este tipo de artículos, que lo hago con la mayor de las alegrías, porque para nadie es un secreto el amor que siento por este deporte, y que gracias a Dios lo pude practicar y firmar al profesional hace unos cuantos años atrás, lamentablemente no pude transcender y llegar a donde todo pelotero quiere llegar, nos estamos leyendo en futuras publicaciones mis estimados amigos.
I wish with all my heart that more ballplayers of this human quality come, that they do not forget their roots, and that in this way the passion for baseball is encouraged with greater love, is that if we analyze, this figure is an example for many children who dream of becoming a person like him, a big leaguer, and it is that he is not only an image to follow for the smallest, ballplayers already consolidated in the big leagues, were motivated to participate, thanks to the Abusador, as it is also known Acuña, he was in charge of making a campaign among his companions, so that they were present in this championship and he achieved it.
Everything points to the growth of the level of the league, it will not be only for this season, the improvement will be gradual, but steady, perhaps in the coming years, there will not be as many figures as today, but the emerging players will have a fixed place to show what they are made of, thanks to the community of @fulldeportes I can make this kind of articles, I do it with the greatest of joys, because for no one is a secret the love I feel for this sport, and thank God I could practice and sign the professional a few years ago, unfortunately I could not transcend and reach where every ballplayer wants to get, we are reading in future publications my dear friends.
