Favorite Athlete: Alvaro Espinoza
Joe Posnanski | Aug 2, 2013 |
When Alvaro Espinoza was the Yankees' shortstop, sometime during The Second Interregnum (a/k/a The Mattingly Years, between Jackson and Jeter), I'd go to 25 or 30 games a year at the Stadium. The place was rarely more than half full on weeknights; loud music and noisy scoreboard games weren't blaring at every break in the action. Steinbrenner was in jail or suspended or something, which gave the Yankees a purity they haven't had since. It wasn't just sport, where winning matters, but art, where what matters is one person doing a thing, at one moment in time, in a way that no one else could.
Mattingly was the best player, Henderson was the best athlete, but Alvaro Espinoza was an artist. He chased down pop ups like a little boy catching bubbles, his back to the plate, weaving, unhurried, the ball seeming to float, waiting for him to meet it. I saw him nonchalantly take a lob in from the outfield on a routine single, and while the batter took his turn and put his head down for an instant to trot back to first, Alvaro pivoted and whipped a sidearm throw behind him to get the out. He would backhand a ball in the hole, his feet already planted and pointing toward first, and come over the top in a single motion – an economy of motion that allowed for no Jeter-like flying hop and turn.
And, as with all great artists, there was a hint of melancholy to Alvaro. A sense of a career doomed by a slow bat (but what a bunter!), poor eyesight and the inevitable return of Steinbrenner. But that's the beauty of it: the schmerz, the joy in the shared sorrow that awaits us all. You know it's all for naught, but that somehow makes a person's attempts at art all the more beautiful to behold.
-- Jonathan Hock is one of America's best sports documentarians -- his brilliant 30 For 30 docs on Marcus Dupree and Jim Valvano's N.C. State champion are must sees. He sent in a 100- and 300-word version of this Alvaro Espinoza essay ... I couldn't deprive you of the 300-word one. Jon and I are also co-founders of the Alfred Slote Is Awesome Club. We keep planning the first meeting.
Create your profile
Only paying subscribers can comment on this post
Check your email
For your security, we need to re-authenticate you.
Click the link we sent to , or click here to log in.