Miami – The ball is still somewhere in his grandfather’s home in North Carolina, even though his grandfather, Nicolas Alvaraez, passed away last year.
That baseball, the story behind how that baseball came to be in Alvarez’s possession and the day that Miami Marlins’ left-hander Jesus Luzardo truly fell in love with the game of baseball, are forever linked. And they will converge on Sunday in an almost cosmic way when Miguel Cabrera steps into the box to face Luzardo.
“That hasn’t hit me yet,” said Luzardo, who has become a staple in the Miami rotation. “It’s just going to be super special. I can’t even really put it into words. It’s something I always dreamed about, but I could never imagine that I would get to do it.”
Luzardo is from Peru but he has familial roots in Venezuela. He grew up in Miami and was 6 years old when the Marlins, fueled by 20-year-old rookie Cabrera, made their postseason run that culminated in a World Series championship.
The 6-year-old Luzardo attended one of the World Series games with his grandfather.
“Miggy was shagging in batting practice and my grandfather had a big Venezuelan flag,” Luzardo said Saturday, retelling the story. “We got Miggy to throw him a ball and for my grandfather, that was huge. Miguel Cabrera was an icon in Venezuela. My grandfather kept that ball his whole life.”
That ball meant so much to his grandfather that Luzardo wanted it to remain at his grandfather’s house even after he died.
“He and my father are the two sources of me falling in love with baseball,” he said. “They never pushed it on me, but they wanted me to play. His love for the game is something we could really relate to, just talking baseball and watching baseball games together.”
That day in the old Miami stadium might be Luzardo’s first baseball memory.
“I remember the energy,” he said. “All the fans we had down here. That’s when baseball was huge down here. For me, it really meant a lot. But I was six, so I don’t remember a whole lot. But I do remember going and I remember that moment when Miggy threw us the ball.
“And them beating the Yankees was an important part of my baseball memories.”
Luzardo, 25, and in his fifth big-league season, is having a breakout year. The Marlins are 5-2 in his last seven starts and he’s allowed just seven earned runs in 42.2 innings over that stretch, holding hitters to a .185 average.
His 97-mph heater and dynamic slider will be a challenge for the Tigers’ offense, even Cabrera.
“He’s been an idol to everyone from Venezuela,” Luzardo said of Cabrera. “Being here growing up and seeing him come up as a young superstar and then turn into what he’s become, it’s incredible to be able to see his career through that whole span.”
Saturday was a big day for Luzardo, too – Venezuelan Heritage night. He’s had the opportunity to meet some of the other former Venezuelan-born players he grew up watching, like Anibal Sanchez, Alex Gonzalez, Edgardo Alfonso, Dave Concepcion, Omar Vizquel and Carlos Gonzalez.
“It has been really cool to see some of the guys I grew up rooting on,” he said.
Twitter@cmccosky