When Luis Arraez returned to Giants camp after helping Venezuela win the World Baseball Classic in March, he wasn’t toting his gold medal around his neck.
That’s because he decided to leave it in the hands of an even bigger champion in his life: his mom, Maria.
“My mom has always given me everything throughout my life,” Arraez said in Spanish. “I had to give it to her.”
Arraez’s mom, who goes by Mari, has been there for every step of his baseball journey, which began when his father, Ernesto, hung a ball from a mango tree and encouraged his son to strike it with a plastic bat to hone his left-handed swing as a kid. Ernesto was Arraez’s first coach, but Mari helped further his development by shuttling him around to his games when he was growing up in his hometown of San Felipe, Venezuela.
“She’s been there my entire life, ever since I was born,” Arraez said ahead of Mother’s Day on Sunday. “The day I was born, on April 9, she was there. She’s been there through the hard times. Everyone is there through the good times, but your mom is your mom.
“She’s always liked baseball and sports. She’s always supported me ever since my dad told her, ‘Hey, take him to school so he can play baseball.’ My mom has always been there with me.”
