Rookie enjoys his stay after long trip
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Gil Velazquez picked up his phone, ready to make the call that for years he had resisted. Velazquez still loved playing baseball, but life in the minor leagues, season after season, had grown difficult. The hours and days away from his wife, Claudia, strained their relationship. He worried about money. "Maybe it's time to go home, get a real job," Velazquez thought.
Velazquez dialed his oldest brother, Jesus. His three brothers grew up playing baseball, sharing a collective dream one of them would make the major leagues. Gil was their last chance. "I'm ready to come to home," he said.
"You're crazy," Jesus said. Claudia told him the same thing.
"I made myself a promise," Velazquez said Thursday. "I wouldn't quit playing until they took the uniform off my back. That's exactly how I feel today."
Velazquez spoke while standing in the Red Sox clubhouse, in front of his own locker, wearing a major league uniform.
Velazquez, spurred by family support, grinded through 11 minor league seasons. Then came Sept 25. The Red Sox, in need of an extra infielder, added him to their 40-man roster.
Velazquez, 28 years old, was a major leaguer for the first time.
Velazquez, though now inactive, traveled with the Red Sox for the first round of the playoffs. It would take an injury for Velazquez to even receive an outside chance to enter a game. But he is here, on a big league team and in the playoffs, and to him, only that matters.
"It's kind of unreal, you know?" Velazquez said. "It was hard for me to believe when they called me saying I'm going to the big leagues. Now I'm in the playoffs. It's pretty crazy. I'm here."
Velazquez grew up in Newport Beach, Calif., about 20 minutes from Angels Stadium. He gave his four tickets to family members, and a gaggle of friends surprised him when they attended Game 1, just to watch him warm up.
Velazquez was chosen, at age 18, in the 14th round of the 1998 draft by the New York Mets. He reached Triple A by age 22. By 24, he was back in Double A. He signed with the Minnesota Twins in 2005 and bounced between Double A and Triple A for three years.
He doubted whether his family could withstand his minor league salary. He wondered if he would ever make the majors, if his career would always be filled with bus floors covered in sunflower seed shells.
"I went through some times where it was rough," Velazquez said. "And it wasn't anything about baseball. It was just life. Going through struggles, not making much money, seeing my family, my wife, go through their problems. I was in a position where I really couldn't do nothing. Those were the tough times."
The Red Sox acquired Velazquez this offseason, and he spent the season in Triple A Pawtucket. Dependable and versatile, Velazquez could play any field position. His 2008 season ended like any other, without a big league game, and he flew home to visit his mother in Victorville, Calif.
One day, the Red Sox called. They told Velazquez to report to their training facility in Florida, just in case they needed an extra body.
Velazquez appeared in his first game Sept. 26, and he smacked a single off the Green Monster. Teammates signed the official lineup card and gave it to him. He plans to have it laminated and framed. The season ended two days later, and Velazquez remained on the 40-man roster.
"It's tremendous," manager Terry Francona said. "This kid spent 11 years in the minors. Then he gets four days in the major leagues. He comes with us, and is possibly an injury away from being activated.
"We run through these kids every spring, and you give them that speech when they get sent down. 'Work hard. You never what's gonna happen.' Eventually, you see it happen." 