ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Rays' Randy Arozarena and the Rangers' Adolis García are close friends, and the Tampa Bay slugger expects a special performance when they meet in the first round of Monday's Home Run Derby.
“I feel very happy to be able to compete with him,” Arozarena said Thursday through a translator. “He’s the godfather of my daughter. We’re obviously really good friends. We talk to each other a lot. Actually, the word hadn’t come out that he was participating out yet in public, but he had told me that he was going to compete. So I told him back, ‘Hopefully we’re not going against each other.’”
But that's not the case,
“We’re going to try to share the victory, because we said if I lose to him that he’s going to win the derby, and if I beat him then I’m going to win the derby," Arozarena said. “So that’s how we’re going to share it. We’ll find out on Monday who won.”
Arozarena and García became tight during their time together in the St, Louis Cardinals minor league system. Arozarena said the pair of Cuban-born players were convinced great days were ahead.
“I would say probably not so much the Home Run Derby, but we both knew that we’d be superstars,” Arozarena said. “We knew we were surrounded by a lot of good players and a lot of players that turned out to be superstars, and I know he’s competitive. I know I’m competitive. And like I said, I knew we would be here, not necessarily the Home Run Derby, but definitely as superstars.”
Cuban players are well represented in the eight-man field, with Luis Robert Jr. of the Chicago White Sox also participating.
“It’s really nice to have three of them in this derby,” Arozarena said. “Especially, it’s going be good for our country and the towns that we’re all from.”
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