Baseball

Luis E. Aparicio Jr

I consider myself extremely privileged to have met so many great sporting legends of the game of baseball, but the name at the very top would be that of my fellow countryman, Luis E. Aparicio Jr., White Sox's short stop, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red sox, Barquisimeto Cardinales,Tiburones de la Guaira y Aguilas del Zulia.  Luis Aparicio was born in Maracaibo - Zulia - Venezuela, on April 29, 1934. It was not  coincidental that he became such a brilliant baseball player since his father, Luis E. Aparicio Sr., was an excellent ball player, so useful he was with the glove and bat that he was offered a contract to play Major League baseball in the U.S.A.  He passed on his experience and knowledge of the game to his son, Luis E. Jr., which helped  to drive "little" Luis forward in the only way he could have reached his aspiration by listening, learning and practising the fundamentals of the game time and time again and so he carried on listening and doing the same things a little more the next time in order to enhance his natural ability and gain the skills needed to master the game of baseball which, ultimately, led him to profit from his father rich experiences in the game by propelling him to play Major League Baseball in the United States of America.  Luis E. Aparicio Jr. became the first Venezuelan to be voted into the Hall of Fame.  It is easily registered, and certainly, distinctly defined the exceptional ability that Luis E. Aparicio Jr. had as a player but curious as it might seem he never played any other position but short stop, even though, he was in Major League for 18 years.

P.Figueras