El dieciocho de octubre/October 18th

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¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Yoenis Céspedes (1985-       )!

Photo from Dec. 2019 in forbes.com
Nicknamed "La Potencia" (The Power), Céspedes is a professional baseball player from Cuba who signed a 4-year, $110 million contract with the Mets in 2016. Céspedes grew up in the small town of Israel Lica in Cuba and was raised by his mother, a star softball pitcher for the Cuban National Team who he still calls for batting tips, and her extended family (when she was traveling for tournaments). His father, Cresencio Céspedes, who after the first year of his life was not involved in his upbringing, played for the Cuban National Team. When he was ten years old, Céspedes' mother sent him 50 miles from home to a national baseball training camp.  He was playing for the Cuban National Team in 2011when, after he was not selected for the first team, he decided to try to come to the United States. In order to be able to be a free agent, he went to the Dominican Republic first, where he established citizenship and his agent started circulating THIS entertaining showcase video to build interest in him as a player (check out minute 6:52!!!). He was first signed by the Oakland As. Read about his family's "harrowing struggle" to join him in the United States in THIS fascinating 2013 article from the San Francisco Chronicle (they were stranded for two days with no food or water on a strip of sand and some were also detained in Turks and Caicos for more than 100 days in terrible conditions for being undocumented). Céspedes did not see his son, born in 2009 in Cuba, for 7 years, as he stayed on the island with his mother (Asked is it was difficult, he said "Just imagine"). Céspedes found success with the As, and he won the MLB Home Run Derby in 2013. After playing for both the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers, Céspedes joined the New York Mets in 2015. He has been a major part of the team's success over the past five years, though he missed the entire 2019 season due to a fractured ankle. Read about the "sprawling ranch" in Florida that Céspedes calls home (and where he fractured his ankle) in THIS 2017 article from the New York Post. Finally, in THIS 2020 video, watch Céspedes' brother, Yoelkis Céspedes, speak (in Spanish) about how it feels to finally see his brother again after 8 years "sin verlo" (minute 2:47 of interview) as he chases his own dreams of playing in the Big Leagues.
Photo of Yoenis Céspedes kissing his cousin's baby from the
2013 San Francisco Chronicle article. 
For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

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