A Dream Deferred
Eddy Alvarez realized Olympic glory, baseball dream by working hard, his way
By J.M. Casper
For many of us, the year 2020 was about dreams deferred. For Eddy Alvarez, 2020 was about a dream attained that was once deferred.
The 2014 U.S. Olympic speed skater and silver medalist defied the odds and made his Major League Baseball debut for his hometown Miami Marlins.
“That was my true victory,” said Alvarez, who earned a medal in the 5000-meter relay. Baseball has been something that’s always been in my blood. It was just something I was bound to do no matter what. I was going to play baseball.”
The 30-year-old rookie made national headlines when he got his first Major League hit off New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom, widely considered the best pitcher in baseball; he went 3 for 4 that day with a double. Just like that, he was trending on social media and a guest on the Today show.
“The journey is a story in itself,” said Alvarez, who had three multi-hit-contests in his 12 games with the Marlins in 2020. “At the Olympics, once I got there it was more about the full experience and skating to the best of my ability. Whatever happens, happens. Baseball, once I got to the Major Leagues, I told myself, ‘Now it’s begun.’”
When he stood on the Olympic podium in Sochi, Russia, and the silver medal was placed around his neck, he considered it a bonus. Making it was his dream. He worked for it and succeeded. Alvarez then hung up his skates and went back his chasing his other dream. After he graduated high school, Alvarez had put baseball on hold to devote all his energy to making the US Speedskating Team.
“I saw my baseball career skyrocketing, but there was always something in the back of my head that was missing. That was trying to make it to the Olympics.” revealed Alvarez, who turned down a baseball scholarship to pursue skating. “I just wanted to go represent my country and my background and kind of finish the circle.”
“As a child, I always had a dream to make it to the Olympics,” said Alvarez, who fell in love with skating at 5 years old when he received a pair of inline skates as a gift. “I never put a stamp on winning an Olympic medal. I kind of knew I had my back against the wall playing two sports, being raised in South Florida, where there isn’t much ice. I am going to do whatever I can to be the best skater I can be. The silver medal was the cherry on top.”
Baseball is woven into the fabric of the robust Cuban-American community in his native South Florida. Winter sports, much less so. Alvarez is not one to accept the status quo and follow trends. He is fond of bucking them, as one of the few Latinos of Caribbean heritage to participate and excel in a primarily alpine sport. He overcame knee surgery to place third at the 2012 US Championships, where he trained in Salt Lake City to earn a spot at Worlds. In 2013, he helped Team USA finish second at the World Cup, before getting an off-ice preview of Sochi at the ISU Short Track Championships.
“I love the fact I’m a Cuban American man who represented the United States in the Olympics. I was proud to wear the red-white-and-blue,” said Alvarez, who attributes his success to the bond he shares with his family, especially his grandmother, a Cuban immigrant. “This country gave opportunity, freedom, and a new beginning to my family. Receiving the medal on the podium was almost like praising this country for giving this chance to them to then allow me to have those opportunities.”
Most athletes would’ve considered Olympic glory the pinnacle of their athletic career, but Alvarez used the same dogged determination that took him from Florida to the Winter Olympics back to the baseball field after a six-year hiatus. The spring after Sochi, already older than many players in the Major Leagues, the 24-year-old signed a minor-league contract in 2014 and started from the bottom. He took lessons he learned on the ice back to the diamond.
“I learned how to be an athlete,” Alvarez said. “I learned the true art of resiliency and grit. I already did it once in skating. I kind of already knew what to expect, where a lot of young guys are just learning these things for the first time. I already went through the grind, the process, the peaks and the valleys, you name it, to get to Olympics. It was almost like I went through pro baseball with a little bit of a cheat sheet because mentally I was prepared.”
Alvarez said 2020 was hard on him as was it for everyone. He had toiled for five years in the Chicago White Sox minor league organization but was coming off a career season vying to make the Marlins when the pandemic shut down MLB Spring Training. When quarantine began in March, the expectant father had to worry about staying in shape while making sure his pregnant partner stayed healthy; his career was in limbo.
“We all want a fresh start in 2021. It’s pretty crazy, what’s happening in the world right now. I truly believe that we as a race are going through a certain transition period,” said the new father of a baby boy. “I am going to take a quote out of one my teammate’s mouths, Miguel Rojas: ‘You have to be a good person before can be a good baseball player.’”
Most people told him he couldn’t do it. Size, age and experience were all working against Alvarez. Then again, not many Floridians succeed on ice. Finally, he got the call every baseball player dreams of, to play for his hometown team.
“I don’t think anyone should be put into a box nor should you allow yourself to be put into that box,” said the newly minted outfielder, who is vying to return to the Marlins in 2021 as a “super-utility player.” “I had a thrill for speed, but I also had complete admiration for and passion for baseball, so those decisions were hard. I loved each sport individually. I was just blessed to have the ability to choose which one I was going to do at one time. Do things that make you happy. If there’s something in your life that you feel like you need to chase, chase it.”
Alvarez is still chasing his dreams, this time wearing spikes, not skates.
Joshua M. Casper is an author from Brooklyn, New York, who documents the intersection of history, culture and sport. His work can be found on Medium and at https://joshuamcasper.wordpress.com
