BOSTON – In 2017, as general manager of the Puerto Rico team for the World Baseball Classic, Alex Cora, tried to recruit Christian Arroyo for the Puerto Rican team that would end up being the famous “Team Rubio”.
In the end, Arroyo – who had yet to make his major league debut after being the Giants’ first draft pick in 2013 – did not participate in the tournament. But the Tampa, Florida-area native speaks proudly of his Puerto Rican roots and now, as second baseman for a Red Sox led by Cora himself, he is trying to help Boston defeat the Astros in the League Championship Series. Americana and go to the World Series.
“Arroyo is not afraid to say that he is one of us,” Cora said during the series.
In this SCLA, there is a strong Puerto Rican litter between both teams, a total of 10 between players, coaches and manager. But unlike the others, who were born on the Isla del Encanto, Arroyo has never been to Puerto Rico and doesn’t speak Spanish either.
Arroyo’s father, Israel, is a New Yorker with Puerto Rican roots and divorced from Christian’s mother when Christian was two years old. Playing baseball from a young age in the Tampa Bay area, Arroyo was not surrounded by Puerto Rican culture as a child. Now, especially with so much Puerto Rican flavor in this series, he yearns to change that.
“Actually, I didn’t get a chance to get very soaked in it, but it’s something I definitely want to get involved with,” he said. “It is part of my heritage. I have never run away from that and it is quite good to see him come out in this environment and to be able to appreciate it.
“I definitely feel part of it more now.”
Playing at the Major League level with the Giants, Rays (his favorite team as a kid) and now Red Sox, Arroyo has encountered many Puerto Rican major leaguers. In particular, his opponent in this series, Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, assured him some time ago that Puerto Rican players support each other, something Arroyo has started to do.
“It is a difficult game. We all want the other to be successful. We don’t want the other to fail. Of course, when we are playing against, we want to beat him ”, explained Arroyo. “But when we’re not playing against each other, it’s good to see guys of the same Latino origin succeed.”
Arroyo says that in a funny tone, the Puerto Rican players laugh with him because he is Puerto Rican and does not speak the Spanish language. In fact, learning Spanish is a goal for the infielder.
“I have so many Latino colleagues that it would be nice to be able to converse with them in Spanish,” said the 26-year-old. “For me, it’s about assimilating your heritage. There is a huge Latino fan base here in Boston and everywhere that loves baseball. “
It’s not just the language. With the guidance of his Puerto Rican colleagues, Arroyo has become a fan of Latin music, naming the songs “25/8” by Bad Bunny and “Me Acostumbré” by Arcángel with Bad Bunny as two of his favorite songs. And he fondly remembers the Puerto Rican food of his paternal grandmother.
Arroyo assures that he wants to get to know Puerto Rico sooner rather than later and does not rule out playing winter ball on the island either.
As for playing with the Puerto Rican team in the next Clásico in 2023, if invited?
“I think it would be a big thing,” said Arroyo, who represented the United States eight years ago at the U-20 World Cup. “It would be a difficult decision, but I would definitely consider it. It would be quite special ”.
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