There might not have been that many Latinos in this years Home Run Derby as years past, but Cuban born, Yoenis Céspedes Milanés made up for it. Yoenis who did not make the All Star Game, but was invited by American League Home Run Captain, Robinson Canó made the captain look every bit the intelligent leader he is by winning the popular contest for his American League.
Every Latino fan in the stadium, or watching on television usually looks to find how many Latinos are on the field and in the home run derby. However, Yoenis made many forget counting the number of Latino players on the field and made them count the number of home runs that this 27-year-old Cuban was banging over the walls, restaurant glass in left, or the Chevrolet truck (that he won) in center field.
Yoenis must have felt right at home with a sweltering evening heat that powered him to hit nine dingers in the final and a whopping 32 overall to beat Bryce Harper for the title.
This might have been his first appearance in the MLB All Star event with much more attention than he might have been getting in his two seasons with the Oakland A's, but he handled it like a season pro. Céspedes was asked about that pressure prior to the contest "they asked me if I was going to be nervous because I would be participating in front of possibly 50,000 people. When I was in Cuba, I participated in five Home Run Derbies; it wasn't 50,000 people, but it was 30,000 or 32,000 people and I wasn't nervous." Cuba might be a third world developing nation, but Yoenis proved that Cuba is a first world nation when it comes to developing baseball players.
Read more at www.latinosports.com