Contreras Article

[White Sox Josh]

Pitching for his fans in Cuba too

Right-hander Jose Contreras says he represents the Sox—and his followers in his homeland

By David Haugh

Tribune staff reporter

 

September 22, 2005, 10:58 PM CDT

 

Before Jose Contreras peels off the T-shirt under his White Sox game jersey Friday night after his biggest start of the season against the Minnesota Twins, the lucky shirt that asks "What's Up?" in Spanish on the front—Acere, Que Bola—he will phone home.

 

Contreras will phone home not long after his last pitch to speak to either his mother, Modesta, or one of his eight siblings about his life in Chicago, about how much his wife and two kids miss everyone back in tiny Las Martinas and about how well he pitched.

 

On days such as Friday, despite most of the family still living in a region of western Cuba so rural it only offers spotty cell-phone service, they already know how well Contreras pitched by the time the phone rings. Always they know.

 

"The first thing I do after a game is call my mom or brother or someone, and I don't know how they do it, but they get the information before I can tell them," Contreras said. "It's pretty funny."

 

It makes Contreras laugh … because it beats crying.

 

The man who casts such an imposing, intimidating presence over hitters has shed many a tear in private moments since the night in October of 2002 when he disappeared after a Cuban national team game in Mexico. Unbeknownst to his closest friends and even his wife, Contreras secretly flew to Tijuana and drove to asylum just across the United States border in search of the better life he promised his family.

 

"I haven't been back in three years, and I don't know when I'll go back; no one knows," Contreras said Wednesday through an interpreter, Ozzie Guillen Jr. "When people like Freddy [Garcia] and other players get to go home with their families in their respective countries in the off-season, I feel envy and a little bit of jealousy. It can be hard."

 

When they buried his father, Florentino, last year, Contreras, 33, listened to the funeral over his cell phone as he looked at a picture of his dad. He went 21 months before being reunited with his wife of 17 years, Miriam, and daughters Naylan, 12, and Naylenis, 4, in June 2004, six weeks before the Yankees traded him to the White Sox.

 

Determined to put her family back together, Miriam and her daughters had joined 22 other refugees in a 30-foot speedboat that delivered them to freedom in Big Pine Key, Fla. The girls spent the summer in Chicago watching Daddy pitch before returning to the family's home in Tampa to attend school, but Miriam planned to be at U.S. Cellular Field on Friday to see Contreras take on the Twins, as she is for every home game.

 

"When I would lose a game before and they were not here, it was hard, but now it's a little easier to take," Contreras said. "And when you win, you feel that much better because you can share it with your family."

 

Contreras still sorely misses the rest of his family, the siblings he grew up with on his dad's vegetable and tobacco farm, and the fans who adored him back in Cuba. As Cuba's three-time male athlete of the year in the decade before he defected, Contreras was to his country what Lance Armstrong is to America; a man who inspired the populace and mingled with politicos.

 

He grew up studying to be a veterinarian and, besides a little sandlot baseball, enjoyed judo and volleyball more than the sport that made him an international star. He never even stepped onto a mound until he was 18, but once he did, the ball exploded into the catcher's glove. "I had to learn how to pitch," he said.

 

He learned quickly, going 117-50 with a 2.82 ERA for the Cuban national team and becoming such a dominant sports celebrity in Cuba that even Cuban President Fidel Castro fawned over him. Castro nicknamed him "The Titan of Bronze," invited Contreras to dinner and gave him a sports car as a bonus to supplement his $275 annual income as the Cuban national team's ace.

 

More reflective than his menacing 6-foot-4-inch, 245-pound mound presence suggests, Contreras paused for several seconds before answering a question about his connection with Castro.

 

"The government is one thing and the country of Cuba and my people are something different completely," Contreras began. "It's like the United States government and your country. You don't have to agree with the policies to be proud of your country."

 

He paused and looked up to make eye contact, expressing sincerity that needed no translation. "When I go out to pitch, I go out to pitch not only for the fans here in Chicago but my fans in Cuba and the Cuban people," Contreras said. "I represent something bigger than just pitching for one team."

 

Suddenly, the right-hander also represents the Sox's hottest starting pitcher heading into a potential postseason after a surge that began when he started hearing doubts about his place in the five-man rotation.

 

"It was a little bit of a motivation, but I never let it get to me," Contreras said. "I knew if I work hard, good things will happen."

 

And they did. In his 10 starts since July 30, Contreras is 7-1 with a 2.78 ERA, including a victory last Sunday against Minnesota that manager Ozzie Guillen called "the biggest win of the season." In that span, Contreras also has 47 strikeouts compared to 21 walks using stuff the coaching staff considers the best of any Sox pitcher. If Contreras' splitter were a headache, it would be a migraine

 

"I think he battles out of tough spots now and it's not a matter of him throwing a pitch and hoping he gets the guy out," said backup catcher Chris Widger, an ex-teammate with the Yankees. "I think now you're seeing the real Jose Contreras coming out."

 

Widger and starting catcher A.J. Pierzynski both complimented Contreras' grasp of understanding the language of baseball, but Contreras still has discussed taking an English class during the off-season because he wants to relate better to fans.

 

Contreras appreciates the way fellow Cuban Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez has helped bridge the communication gap, but he wants more than just polite nods and handshakes.

 

"If a fan wants to say something to me, they don't know what to say because I can't understand them," Contreras said. "So they can't get to know me. Even though I can talk to fans about the game, I cannot get into a deep conversation and talk about the things I want to talk about."

 

In the last month, no White Sox pitcher has been more worthy of conversation.

 

dhaugh@tribune.com

 

 

Copyright © 2005, The Chicago Tribune

Linky

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Thanks for that. Always nice to know the man behind the player especially when he succeeds while overcoming obstacles. He is a credit to Cuba and to the will and perserverance of the human spirit.

[HeGone!]

Great article. It's hard to imagine the obstacles he over came to get this far. It's great to see him having this much success.

[White Sox Josh]

I think the most powerful part of the article was when he talks about having to listen to his fathers funeral over his cell phone. I mean that is really sad.

[Whitewashed in '05]

I think the most powerful part of the article was when he talks about having to listen to his fathers funeral over his cell phone.  I mean that is really sad.

Definitley, I can't imagine how he did it and thats besides not seeing his family for almost two YEARS. I hope he can go visit his real home this offseason because just hearing him say how much he envys ozzie that has the benefit of doing that compared to him, its like how can he do it?? I bet him doing real good right now just makes his life so much better. I hope he keeps it up, not only for the sox but for himself.

[Queen Prawn]

I think the most powerful part of the article was when he talks about having to listen to his fathers funeral over his cell phone.  I mean that is really sad.

 

Knowing how much it meant to my dad to go home to bury his mom and dad, that is heart breaking that he couldn't be there.

[The Ginger Kid]

6'4" 245 and he knows judo? talk about bad ass.

 

 

I'm so glad for him, especially after what he went through in the bronx. I just wish there was a way he could pitch next weekend in Cleveland.

[Balta1701]

I'm so glad for him, especially after what he went through in the bronx. I just wish there was a way he could pitch next weekend in Cleveland.

Something tells me in game 1, and game 5 (if necessary...hopefully not)...you won't mind that he didn't pitch against Cleveland.

[SoxFan562004]

6'4" 245 and he knows judo? talk about bad ass.

I'm so glad for him, especially after what he went through in the bronx. I just wish there was a way he could pitch next weekend in Cleveland.

Well I like that if the Sox need the 1 game playoff for the division Jose will be pitching it and B-Mac will be pitching Sunday

[GreatScott82]

Good article about my boy Jose C. Makes me even a bigger fan of his. Where would we be without this guy?

[Ozzie Montana]

Good Article. Can he be seen as a hero? YES!!!

 

This guy is awesome and i'm glad we didn't trade him. What a great human being.