I got to spend some time with Aroldis Chapman on the phone this weekend. He just got back from the Latin Grammy’s this weekend in California and said, he had a blast. He says he is living the American Dream. He became an American citizen this year, and with winning the World Series and everything that has followed, he didn’t get a chance to vote, however he looks forward to voting next year.
He says, that he is proud of being a world champion and was very happy to be able to contribute to the success of the Chicago Cubs. He said that 2016 turned out to be a the fantasy for him and getting traded to the Yankees was great because as most Cubans know, the Yankees have always been Cuba’s team.
“The organization treated me first class,” he said, “And the fans were like no other.” He also said, Chicago fans are great but there is something about a Yankee fan that is hard to explain. I asked him straight out, if the Yankees were his preference in the free agent market and he said, “I would love to be a Yankee again.”
I said, then why can’t we just make it happen? He responded by saying, “This is business and the Yankees know that.” He does say that he knows that the Yankees were there when he was going through his difficult legal difficult problems last Winter.
“They took a chance on me,” he said, “and I will always be grateful.” I got to spend a lot of time with this young man and I must say that he was always respectful and descent.
Major League Baseball is entertainment. We are in the entertainment capital of the world. Like Elvis, Sinatra or in the Steinbrenner era of Reggie, New York deserves to have Chapman and his 105-mile fastball.
I know that the Yankees would love to have him back for the fans and will do all they can, however as I told Chapman it takes two to tango.
Ray Negron can be heard every Sunday on his show “Impact” 0n 1050 am ESPN Deportes from 11 am to 1 pm and read on Newsmax.
