At the end of last month, my New York Mets traded for an outfielder by the name of Yoenis Céspedes.
Yoenis Céspedes Milanés to be exact.
This good baseball guy is a 29-year-old native of Cuba, which means that for his life before he came north to play in the major leagues, there isn’t a whole lot of pure storytelling readily available. Wikipedia allows that his paternal name is Céspedes and maternal name is Milanés, and that he was born in Campechuela in the Granma Province. He was a member of the Cuba National Team and played in the Cuban National Series.
He came to the Major Leagues in 2012 as a member of the Oakland Athletics, but was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 2014. This year he played for the Detroit Tigers before the Mets picked him up his big bopper bat for the stretch drive for a hopeful division title.
Yoenis Céspedes, you see, won the Home Run Derby attached to the All-Star game in 2013 and 2014. He is a big bopper.
The Mets have gone on a winning tear since acquiring Cespedes and overtook the Washington Nationals for first in the National League East. Many baseball fans have found that funny.
And check this out.
Jerry Seinfeld, funny guy no matter how you look at it, has attached himself to Cespedes via his Twitter account. First Jerry related the player’s funny name to the infamous fictional holiday from the comic’s beloved sitcom.
Then they had a discourse about Cuban sandwiches.
It’s a bromance.
It’s a match. (From mlb.com)
After that, a parakeet was caught by cameras at CitField, and of course the world noticed the similarity to the color wrist bands worn by Céspedes. Some now say it’s a canary. No matter. The man took to the comparison.
This is funny. And fun. Let’s Go Mets! That’s the cheer at Citi Field Céspedes is a free agent after this season. No funny business, Mets’ front office. The masses want you to sign the dude!
so funny, and i miss him already!
I can see why, Beth. He’s a wonder to watch every game!
Now that’s funny. And while I am a staunch Mariner’s fan. I feel the need to say, “Go Mets”.
Thanks for the west coast cheer, Tracy. I shall throw in a “Go Mariners” in return!
Fantastic, Mark! Can. Not. Wait. to share this with my men. And my daughter, Devin, who is the biggest Seinfeld fan in the family, too funny!
When I saw Jerry’s stand-up show live, Angie McFly, I thought I’d gone to the big ballgame upstairs. 🙂
That is a fabulous name. And while I know nothing about baseball, I do know that Cubans love them some baseball. In fact, my Uncle Ruben, who was born in Cuba and moved here in 1960, still plays in a senior baseball league at the age of 67. And last night I was watching Discovery’s new show “Cuban Chrome,” and the men working on cars did not want to miss the game and were sad they could only hear it on the radio. It’s a huge deal. I think they said there are 12 baseball stadiums in the city of Havana? And it’s priced cheaply so most citizens can attend. Go, Cespedes!
Go Uncle Ruben! That’s fantastic, Kerbey. I love that he’s still playing the game at 67.
Yes, and with a bad ankle that he hurt in the 60s. I can’t tell you how many “cry ankle” jokes he’s told me, being the uncle.
Oh, I like him even more now, Kerbey. 😮
You may not know all that much about baseball, but apparently you know way more about Cuba than I do. And I spent 9 years of my youth in Canada, so I can’t use the embargo as an excuse for my lack of Cuba knowledge!
LOL. Well, once we start trading w/ them again and export basic needs such as Neosporin and Hydrocortisone there (they are unbelievably short on any sort of drugstore items, vitamins, etc), I may hop on over and have myself a mojito. BoFN international meeting will be held there in Spring 2017. Oh, Dave–I remember my aunt telling me (she is a hospital administrator) that when she visited, she discovered that waiters make more money than neurosurgeons due to Communist wages. No incentive to work hard or better your knowledge when your wages don’t increase. Plus, waiters can get paid in handy US tourist dollars (and probably not report them all to Fidel).
Yes!!! Let’s have our BoFN international meeting (Consortium??) in Cuba in spring 2017. Works for me! I’ll probably be doing some odd clinical rotation, but important priorities like the international BoFN fest come first!
Wouldn’t that be a diamond in the rough location, my friend? 🙂
Cespedes is darn impressive! I’m a fan! I don’t have the free time to follow baseball all that closely these days, but I have seen a few clips of Cespedes’ amazing arm – throwing out guys from the outfield with remarkable precision – and I’m definitely a big believer in the guy!
He threw a guy out at third the other day, Dave, with a throw that missed the cutoff man because it was too much of a cannon to the bag. Boom! Out by a foot. 🙂
What a baller! That guy is so impressive!
Last night! Five-for-six, three homers! The Mets have to sign Cespedes, King Dave.
“. . . Mark takes that Festivus pole and whallops his new post across the green for a flawless half court shot . . .”
“. . . Mark lights up that Havana cigar and gives us front seats for an unprecedented floor show in that great Copacabana in the sky . . . Who could ask for more? . . .”
“. . . there’ll be no airing of grievances this year after you sit back and bask in Mark’s latest feat of strength . . . a Festivus miracle . . .”
I am now flush in blurbs, Diddy. And blushing in honor. Thank you, Diddy machine. 😮