MLB’s Puerto Ricans still feel hurricane impact
When they joined their U.S.-based teams for spring training, Puerto Rican players left behind relatives who are still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, almost six months after the Category 4 storm devastated the island.
The recovery has been slower than expected, with more than 10% of residents still lacking electricity and most of the rest enduring frequent outages.
Nine-time All-Star Carlos Beltran, who retired after winning a World Series championship with the Houston Astros in the fall, has been among those expressing their disappointment over the relief efforts from the Trump administration. On Monday he skipped the team’s visit to the White House, as did star shortstop Carlos Correa, a fellow Puerto Rican.
Both were among a contingent of players from the U.S. commonwealth, including St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, who have contributed money, supplies and their toil to helping communities back home.
All agree there’s still a lot of work to be done. Here’s a look at what some of the players found when they returned home in the offseason and what they were able to do.
❚ Player: Edwin Diaz, RHP, Seattle Mariners Hometown: Ceiba, on the eastern coast. Damage: Diaz’s apartment and his parents’ home survived the hurricane in fairly good shape — except for the predictable loss of electricity — but his grandmother’s house was flooded and rendered useless. She lost virtually all of its contents, along with her car. The basketball arena in Diaz’s native town of Naguabo was destroyed, and the seawall sustained major damage.
Is the power back? It returned to Diaz’s place about three weeks after the storm, but his parents’ house still doesn’t have power from the grid — they lost it when Hurricane Irma hit two weeks before Maria — and likely won’t for some time. They get their electricity from a generator he bought for them.
Helping out: The military personnel would inform Diaz when they were going to hand out water and supplements to the neighborhood, and he would lend a hand. He and Gold Glove catcher Martin Maldonado organized a fundraising softball game in Naguabo, with the participation of Mariners teammate Robinson Cano, Molina and Cubs infielder Javier Baez. Diaz and Molina also handed out $100 supermarket vouchers.
Reflections: “I was lucky to get power back pretty quickly, after three weeks, because I live close to the (Roosevelt Roads) military base and they had to get them electricity. … I’m thankful to the military folks because they provided great help, and they’re still doing it.”
❚ Player: Kike Hernandez, utilityman, Los Angeles Dodgers Hometown: Toa Baja, close to the north coast west of the capital city of San Juan. Damage: Hernandez spent most of the offseason training in L.A. but returned home for a week around both Thanksgiving and Christmas. He noticed widespread damage and debris everywhere, in addition to lots of resi- dents still without power. His family joined him stateside for the playoffs.
Is the power back? It returned at his parents’ home sometime in November.
Helping out: Hernandez is involved with Habitat for Humanity of Puerto Rico, which aims to help rebuild homes in the island. Reflections: “It breaks your heart to go there two months later and see how it still looked. And then for my parents to tell me it was way worse two weeks before that, it opens your eyes even more.”
❚ Player: Martin Maldonado, C, Los Angeles Angels Hometown: Naguabo, on the east coast. Damage: His current home didn’t sustain major damage, but the house where he grew up — and where the family lived for 25 years — was destroyed.
Is the power back? It was finally restored at his mother’s house right around the time spring training began in mid-February. She relied on a generator before that.
Helping out: Maldonado teamed up with Diaz and others in putting together the charity softball game, which provided a respite to affected residents and raised funds. He found the government’s response lacking: “There are still people going to bed hungry,” he said.
Reflections: Maldonado went home in November, more than a month after the hurricane hit on Sept. 20. “Everybody told me things were better by the time I got back, but it really amazes you to see what happened to some of my friends’ houses, or seeing the damage to El Yunque (the rain forest). It was very sad.”
❚ Player: Dereck Rodriguez, minor league RHP, San Francisco Giants Hometown: The son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez now lives in South Florida but returned to Puerto Rico to play for the Mayaguez Indians in the abbreviated winter ball season, which was 18 games long.
Damage: Because of flooding and other damage to most ballparks, most of the games were played during the day. Rodriguez said he saw a photo of Roberto Clemente Stadium, usually the home field of the Carolina Giants winter league team, and the water level had risen above the outfield fences.
Reflections: “It was important to go back and bring a bit of joy to the people,” he said of playing winter ball.