Aceves a Yankee hero in Mexico
http://baseballmexico.blogspot.com/2009/12/yankees-pitcher-aceves-helps-open-youth.html has a nice story of Yankee pitcher Alfredo Aceves returning to his home country to open the youth season in Mexico City. Aceves spent six seasons in the Mexican League before the Yankees purchased him from Alfredo’s Mexican league team and then signed him to a contract in 2008.
Youth need an outlet to expend their vibrant energy and what better way than sports. Of course, organized sports cost parents money and it’s tough to have your kids join an organized league if they can’t afford the entrance fee. Still, it is good to see a player like Alfredo go back to his country and encourage the youth. He may not be Fernando Valenzuela, but the kids seemed pretty happy to see him and be given an opportunity to mingle with a big leaguer. Way to go Alfredo.
It is too bad a government can not subsidize youth sports more instead of spending all their money fighting drug wars. It would be far better for kids to be learning baseball (or even soccer - Ugh) than selling drugs on the street corner. Better yet, it would be quite charitable if major leaguers could take some of the million dollars they earn playing sports and use some of that to finance the youth to play organized sports, whether that be in the inner city or the slums of a third world country. Without sports to channel my energy, I would be in a worst place right now. Perhaps so would they.