  May 25, 2022  Hello! Welcome to another edition of the Astros Beat newsletter.
When Mauricio Dubón was playing in center field for the first time at Minute Maid Park on Friday, he looked in the stands and saw a Honduras flag. The pride started to flow through his veins. There was no doubt who the blue and white flag represented on this day.
"Every time I see a flag, it's because of me," Dubón said. "That's what makes it special, knowing that flag is out there just because of me."
As the only Major League player who was born and raised in Honduras, Dubón is proud of his country, his heritage and the flag, and he hopes one day to inspire more from the soccer-crazed country to reach the Major Leagues.
Former Astros outfielder Gerald Young was also born in Honduras, according to Baseball Reference, but Dubón is quick to point out Young was born to American parents and raised in California. When it comes to Honduras and the Major Leagues, Dubón is carrying the torch.
"It's a soccer country," he said. "It's just hard for you to get baseball stuff back home, and that's what makes it so hard. For me, I'm just trying to make that path a little bit easier, because growing up, I never had anybody to look up and say, 'He's from the same country,' and say 'Maybe I can,' so the dream was looking impossible. And now, with me over here, it's a lot easier for them to say, 'Hey, he came from here,' and easier for me to go out there and be a role model."
Dubón, like most kids in Honduras, played soccer growing up and says he was pretty good at it. He also fell in love with baseball.
"It just had something," he said. "Since I was a little kid, I said I was going to play in the big leagues, too. It was something that I worked toward, that goal."
The only Major League Baseball that Dubón was able to watch on television growing up was the Sunday Night Baseball telecast. If he was out and about with his family, he made sure to go home early to be able watch the game and dream of the big leagues.
"It was hard, but at the same time I was motivated," said Dubón, who was traded to the Astros from the Giants earlier this month.
Dubón said the little leagues in Honduras aren't as prevalent as they were when he was growing up, but he's trying to change that. Each offseason, he returns to Honduras to work out and brings baseball equipment every time. He tries to grow the game at the grassroots level.
"I think more baseball players are going to come out of there," he said. "Little kids come to work out with me and I try to keep them motivated. Just show them that it's not impossible to get where I'm at right now. It's showing them, 'This guy made it; we can make it.'"
Dubón lived in Honduras, playing at each level in every league, until he was 16 years old. He caught the eye of a Christian baseball mission group that came to Honduras and saw him playing. They offered him to come play high school baseball in Sacramento, Calif., as a foreign exchange student. Dubón played two years in high school and wound up getting drafted by the Red Sox in the 26th round in 2013.
Dubón's parents, who both still live in Honduras, sent him to a bilingual school in their native country, making the transition to the U.S. even more possible. He says Honduras is only a two-hour flight from Houston, which makes him feel even closer to a homeland he loves.
"It was crazy, leaving my country when I was 16 years old," Dubón said. "It was always a big part of me."
MILESTONE WATCH  Entering Wednesday, Astros second baseman Jose Altuve needs one home run to tie George Springer for fifth place on the club's all-time homer list with 174 (Altuve has 173). Once he hits that homer, Altuve will be in the top five in most of the club's all-time offensive charts, sharing spaces with Hall of Famers Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, as well as icons Lance Berkman, Jimmy Wynn, Jose Cruz and Cesar Cedeño.
Altuve ranks fourth entering Wednesday in hits (1,810), at-bats (5,892), runs (905), doubles (346), stolen bases (263), is fifth in total bases (2,733), sixth in extra-base hits (548) and eighth in RBIs (653). What's more, his .307 career batting average is the best in club history (Bagwell is second at .297).
 DUSTY QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"I'm pulling for him to get some hits with two outs and nobody on and stay on first base." -- Baker on facing Guardians outfielder Myles Straw, who was traded from the Astros to Cleveland last July. Baker and third base coach Gary Pettis presented Straw with his 2021 AL championship ring on Tuesday
TRIVIA
Earlier this month, the Astros tied a Major League record by hitting five home runs in one inning -- and they all came against the same pitcher: Nathan Eovaldi of the Red Sox. No Houston pitcher has given up five homers in an inning, but who is the last Astros pitcher to allow five home runs in one game?
A. Collin McHugh B. Jose Lima C. Brandon Backe D. Woody Williams
 THIS WEEK IN ASTROS HISTORY
May 29, 2017
The Astros quickly asserted themselves as World Series contenders in 2017 by getting out to a 35-16 start by Memorial Day. Houston had won four games in a row heading into a series against the Twins that began with a Memorial Day matinee in Minneapolis. The streak appeared to be in jeopardy when the Astros entered the eighth inning trailing 8-2, but they shocked the Twins with an 11-run eighth inning and went on to win, 16-8.
Houston had been 0-659 in franchise history when entering the eighth down by six runs, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The 11-run frame was the first time the Astros scored 11 runs in an inning since July 18, 1994, against the Cardinals. Carlos Beltrán capped the outburst in the Twin Cities with a three-run homer to right. The winning pitcher? Jordan Jankowski, who pitched in only three big league games and recorded one career win -- thanks to an epic comeback.
 TRIVIA ANSWER
B. Lima
The Astros' move from the cavernous Astrodome to Minute Maid Park, where left field was only 315 feet from home plate, spooked several Houston pitchers in 2000. Atop that list was Lima, a fly-ball pitcher who flourished in the Astrodome in 1998 and 1999.
But in his third career start at Minute Maid Park -- then known as Enron Field -- Lima allowed 12 earned runs in five innings, including five homers against the Cubs. Eric Young Jr. (first inning), Ricky Gutierrez (first), Henry Rodriguez (first and fourth) and Damon Buford (first) all homered off Lima, who gave up a team-record 48 long balls that year.
FORWARDED FROM A FRIEND? SUBSCRIBE NOW
To subscribe to Astros Beat, visit this page and mark "Astros Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Astros or that they're checked as your favorite team.
|
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
This Astro carries torch of an entire country
LAST CHANCE! The MLB Trading Card Auction ENDS TONIGHT - 5/25
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)