The Players Behind My Love for Baseball

Growing up Cuban-American in South Florida, baseball was my first love. Whether I was playing the game or watching it, baseball always felt like more than just a sport to me. Over the years, my appreciation for the game was shaped by the players I admired most. Five players, in particular, stand above the rest for me: José Fernández, Babe Ruth, Ichiro Suzuki, Christian Yelich, and Sammy Sosa.

Each of them connected with me for different reasons, whether it was their talent, personality, story, or the way they played the game. These are the players who helped shape my love for baseball.

José Fernández

José Fernández, also known as “El Niño” by his teammates, is my favorite athlete of all time. No athlete has ever impacted me emotionally the way he did. As a Cuban-American from Miami, his story hit close to home. Hearing about how he escaped Cuba on his third attempt and saved his mother after she fell into the ocean during the journey made his story feel larger than baseball.

Then he became the ace of my favorite team, the Miami Marlins, and every fifth day was electric. He played the game with pure joy, like a kid, just as his nickname described him. It reminded me of how I played baseball as a child and in high school. He never treated the game like a job; he had fun.

He accomplished so much in his short four-year career. Fernández already had a National League Rookie of the Year Award, two All-Star appearances, a third-place Cy Young finish, and a career 2.58 ERA. He looked destined for Cooperstown.

Everything changed on September 25, 2016.

I still remember exactly where I was when I heard the news. At first, I thought it was fake when I saw it online. Then I turned on the TV and saw the images of the crashed boat on the rocks. That’s when reality hit, and the emotions poured out. The next night, I went to the Marlins’ tribute game, and to this day, it remains the most emotional and magical sporting event I’ve ever attended.

Fernández’s death devastated not just the baseball world but the city of Miami itself. He was seen as Miami’s son.

Former teammate Giancarlo Stanton described him perfectly when he said, “He was a kid among men.” That quote summed him up perfectly. He combined youthful, fierce energy with dominant skills, which enabled him to strike out veterans with ease.

The day José passed away was the day the Marlins changed forever. It was the beginning of another unnecessary rebuild.

Even after details emerged months later about what may have happened that night, it never changed the impact he had on me or the legacy he left behind.

To this day, hearing stories about him saving his mother or watching Dee Gordon hit his emotional home run during the tribute game still gets me emotional. After Fernández passed, I became even more invested in baseball and in the Marlins specifically. I make it a point to attend several games every year.

During my junior and senior years of high school, I wore number 16 in his honor. I’ll never forget José “El Niño” Fernández, and I’ll always make sure future baseball fans know who he was.

Babe Ruth

“The Great Bambino,” Babe Ruth, was my original favorite baseball player. Even people who have never watched baseball know who Ruth is. He was the first baseball player I ever learned about as a kid.

I still remember going to Barnes & Noble and picking out a book about him. Once I found out we shared the same birthday — February 6, exactly 105 years apart — he instantly became my favorite player.

As I got older, I learned more about his legendary career and how much he changed the sport. He was baseball’s first true superstar.

He is widely considered the original “two-way” player. Over a century before Shohei Ohtani burst onto the scene, Ruth was dominating as both a pitcher and an outfielder.

His résumé speaks for itself: One-time MVP, two-time all-star, seven-time World Series Champion, one Batting Title, one ERA Title, and recognition as one of the five inaugural members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Growing up, when I thought about baseball, I thought about Babe Ruth.

Ichiro Suzuki

In my opinion, Ichiro Suzuki is the greatest baseball player of all time.

By the time I truly got into baseball as a teenager, Ichiro was already with the Marlins. Even though he was past his prime at that point, it was still incredible watching him add to a Hall of Fame career in person.

Ichiro had everything you could want in a player. Offensively, he was one of the most disciplined and consistent hitters the game has ever seen. From 2001 through 2010, he recorded at least 200 hits every single season. In 2004, he set the MLB single-season hits record with 262. His career batting average of .311 is remarkable, especially considering he spent 19 seasons in MLB and never dipped below .300 after the third game of his career.

Defensively, he was just as legendary. Ichiro won 10 Gold Gloves in his first 10 MLB seasons and became known for having one of the strongest arms baseball has ever seen.

One of his most iconic moments came early in his MLB career when he threw a runner out at third base from right field with an absolute laser. After that, runners rarely tested his arm again.

What makes Ichiro’s career even more impressive is that he didn’t debut in MLB until age 27, as he spent nine successful seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league. By the time he arrived in Seattle, he was already a superstar overseas.

Then he somehow exceeded expectations in America. He won both AL Rookie of the Year and AL MVP in 2001 and continued building one of the most respected careers baseball has ever seen. Along with his ten All-Star appearances and Gold Gloves, he also won three Silver Sluggers, two batting titles, and was named 2007 All-Star Game MVP.

He eventually reached 3,000 MLB hits while playing for the Marlins in 2016, and fittingly, that milestone came on a triple. Ichiro remains the only player in MLB history to record a single for his 1,000th hit, a double for his 2,000th hit, and a triple for his 3,000th hit.

Across both Japan and MLB, Ichiro finished with 4,367 professional hits — more than any player in professional baseball history.

What I admire most about Ichiro, though, goes beyond statistics. Despite his greatness, he always carried himself with humility and professionalism. Teammates described him as funny, intelligent, and respected by everyone around him. In Japan, he’s viewed as a baseball deity.

When his career ended back where it started with the Seattle Mariners playing two games in Japan, it felt like the perfect ending to a legendary career.

He missed the opportunity of becoming a unanimous Hall of Famer by one vote, which somehow seems fitting for baseball — even when a player is nearly perfect, someone always has a different opinion.

Ichiro will always be one of my favorite players for what he accomplished both on and off the field.

Christian Yelich

My appreciation for Christian Yelich starts with one simple fact: he was a Marlin.

But there’s more to it than that. Yelich was one of the few former Marlins who combined elite talent with a personality that fans genuinely connected with. He’s always come across as laid-back, humble, and easygoing, which made him easy to root for.

On the field, he’s quietly built an impressive career. Between his time with the Marlins and the Milwaukee Brewers, Yelich developed into one of baseball’s best hitters. He owns a career batting average of .285 at the moment and captured National League batting titles in both 2018 and 2019. His 2018 season was especially incredible, earning him National League MVP honors.

Along the way, he’s also earned three All-Star selections, three Silver Slugger Awards, and one Gold Glove.

Any time the Brewers come to Miami, I catch at least one game at the stadium to watch Yelich play live. For Marlins fans, there’s always going to be a little bit of appreciation — and maybe a little pain — attached to seeing what he became after leaving Miami.

Sammy Sosa

My favorite Chicago Cubs player of all time is the controversial but unforgettable Sammy Sosa.

The Chicago Cubs have always been my second-favorite team, and Sosa was one of the first Cubs players I ever learned about. His impact on baseball, especially during the summer of 1998, is hard to ignore.

That season, Sosa and Mark McGwire captivated the sports world with their historic home run race. McGwire ultimately finished with more home runs, but baseball itself was the real winner. At a time when the sport needed excitement again, their rivalry helped grow the product and made America’s pastime popular amongst the younger generation.

Even though Sammy didn’t hit the most homers in 1998, he’s still the only baseball player in MLB history to hit 60 or more home runs in a single season three times: 66 in 1998,63 in 1999, and 64 in 2001. What makes it more unbelievable is that he finished second in home runs during each of his 60-plus homer seasons.

Beyond the numbers, Sosa’s personality made him unforgettable. He played with energy, swagger, and emotion every time he stepped onto the field. As a Hispanic baseball fan myself, there was also something meaningful about seeing someone with a similar background become one of the sport’s biggest stars.

Of course, Sosa’s legacy comes with controversy. Allegations of PED use and the infamous corked bat incident have kept him out of the Baseball Hall of Fame despite his résumé.

For almost two decades, his relationship with the Cubs organization remained distant before the two sides eventually reconciled publicly last year.

Regardless of the controversy around him, Sosa remains one of my favorite players because of the excitement he brought to baseball, the memories attached to his era, and the larger-than-life personality he brought to the game.

Honorable Mentions

Some other favorite players of mine who deserve honorable mention include Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, the entire 2016 Chicago Cubs roster, and many former Marlins.

More Than Just a Face on the Team

Baseball is more than just a sport in my life; it’s connected to memories, emotions, family, and the city I grew up in. Every player on this list shaped the way I view the game in a different way. From the joy and passion of José Fernández, to the greatness and history of Babe Ruth, the pure skill and humility of Ichiro Suzuki, the smooth all-around game of Christian Yelich, and the unforgettable energy of Sammy Sosa, these are the players who made me fall in love with baseball and helped shape what the game means to me.