El dieciséis de enero/January 16th

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¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Albert Pujols (José Alberto Pujols Alcántara)! (1980-         )

Photo from piodeportes.com (click HERE)
Baseball player Albert Pujols is a a three-time National League MVP (2005, 2008, 2009), a nine-time All Star (2001, 2003-2010), and a two-time World Series Winner (2006, 2011, both with the Cardinals). After years of playing with the Cardinals, he became a free agent in 2011 and signed a ten-year contract with Los Angeles. It was with them that he hit his 600th home run, on June 3rd, 2017 (click HERE to see - it was a grand slam against the Minnesota Twins). Born in the Dominican Republic and raised mostly by his grandmother, Pujols came to New York City with his father and grandmother in 1996. After Pujols witnessed a shooting in a grocery store, his grandmother decided to move the family to Missouri, where he arrived for senior year of high school speaking little English, but playing an incredible game of baseball (click HERE to read more in this 2012 L.A. Times profile). Soon after, he met his wife-to-be, Deidre, at a Latin dance club. The two now have five children, including their oldest, Isabella, Deidre's daughter from a previous relationship. Isabella, who has Down Syndrome, is the inspiration behind the couple's many years of supporting that community. They do so through their foundation, The Pujols Family Foundation, which also helps those living in poverty in the Dominican Republic. Pujols has often spoken about how much his wife's support has meant to him over the years, and in 2007, he recounted that after he and his hitting coach had found nothing after pouring over hours of video to try to diagnose the reason for a recent slump, it was his wife who diagnosed the problem (and solved it!) in a text message (click HERE to read more). She knows her baseball!

Pujols became a citizen of the United States in 2007 with a perfect 100% score on his citizenship test. Click HERE to hear him speak (in Spanish) about his life, family, and career on Cachica, a Dominican show*).

*Side note and question: What does "cachica" mean in the Dominican? I have never heard it before, and I found one definition saying that in Honduras it means "enojo importante" (important anger). ¡Gracias por tu ayuda!

Check out the documentary Ballplayer: Pelotero about baseball in the Dominican Republic HERE (Did you know that nearly 100 players in the Major Leagues come from this tiny country?).

For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Other January 16th birthdays of note:

Katie Jurado (María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García) (1924-2002): Groundbreaking Mexican actress during the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema who then acted in Hollywood films. First Latin-American actress to win a Golden Globe and to be nominated for an Academy Award. Honored by a Google Doodle on Jan. 16th, 2018 (image to right).

Fulgencio Batista (1901-1973): President of Cuba from 1940-1944 and dictator from 1952-1959 (when he was ousted by Fidel Castro, who became another dictator).

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