Pedro Martínez recibe el premio “Pionero” de Latinos in Sports
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00:00It is a great honor for me to be able to accept this recognition, mainly because it is a part
00:10where I am very sensitive. I thank TVS and our CEO, Luis, who was the one who invited me to this
00:24great project that exists to recognize the pioneers of Latin America, and that they have considered me,
00:31for me it is a sign of gratitude, of humility, and it makes me very happy because our
00:39Latin community needs to see that we are going out to sea and that hopefully, looking at me,
00:47and looking at what is being done and what I have done, and through my career, not only as an
00:53athlete, but also as a human being, as a citizen, that they can be inspired to know that they
00:59can also achieve everything that I have achieved and much more. For me it is a great honor to do it,
01:04and as a Latino that I am, I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart, thank God first,
01:12and all the people who have been able to recognize the hard work that I have been doing in everything
01:19that is my career, in my life. I think the clearest message that I can give to every Latino,
01:25mainly in my career, in baseball, is that they recognize that baseball does not end inside or
01:35outside the white lines of the field. Baseball is much more, it is our culture, it is our education,
01:41it is the upbringing that our parents have given us, it is the sample of integrity that our
01:48parents instilled in us, it is the commitment that there is, not only with our country, but with
01:55Latin America, with the future, that they understand that the higher, this is the key part,
02:03the higher they get, the greater the challenge, the higher the expectations, and the more challenges
02:12they will have to overcome. I think it is very important that they understand and take it
02:17seriously, more than anything, that they take it seriously, because the more you doubt, the more you are
02:24demanded, and the higher you get, the more people expect, mainly in our Latin America,
02:32where we are all so proud of everyone we see here. We want it to be better,
02:39and better, and that it never fails, and that demand truly causes stress, it makes you prohibit yourself from many
02:47things that you could do as one more person, but that is part of what the package brings,
02:53of being a good representative for what we choose to do, not only in baseball,
02:59but in life as well. As a human being, sometimes you have to prohibit yourself, even from being very
03:07noisy on the street, so that people understand that you have a higher education, and those are
03:12part of the things that the future, not only of baseball, but of our lives, among all Latinos,
03:20we should understand and be clear. All young boys have a great future, and as you will know,
03:27sometimes they don't have to go to the big leagues for you to see the conditions that some of the
03:32young boys have for the future, but among all of them, there is a difference between us and them,
03:41the challenges that the new generation presents right now are very different from what we had,
03:49and you have to know how to understand it in both times. Everything about them in these times is
03:55documented, as before I left class A and nobody knew who I was, I got to double A,
04:01nobody knew who I was. Now that they sign you, you already know who that boy is, and these
04:09cell phones, this one that is pointing to me, is also a danger to youth, because everything
04:16they do is documented and it is not known for what purpose. That is an extra challenge that they have,
04:23that we serve them, maybe as a model to follow when we did what we did. Yes,
04:32that is also a challenge for them, why? Because if we don't hurt them on the way,
04:37they have the commitment to also try to do it well and serve as an example to the new generation.
04:43There are many of them who say, my hero is Pedro Martínez, my hero is Carlos Beltran, my hero is
04:50Albert Cujo. Of course, it is great that they feel that there are heroes, but it is also a
04:57moral commitment and a personal commitment that they have with serving that new generation that
05:04will come after them. I am all family, when I am not at work, everything I do, I try to
05:12connect with my family. I like fishing, I like the beach, I like the fields, I like the garden,
05:19I like many things, but I try to connect with my family in the same way that my mother
05:24connected with me when I was a kid, for whatever reason, in my house. My mother was in charge of
05:31taking me to a garden, to go out for a walk with me, to explain things to me with love and also
05:38to spend time with me and that is what has made me the sensitive and humanitarian person that I am
05:45and I hope that my children and my family also understand that even though I am busy with my
05:53work and I explain it to them almost daily, that my work sometimes disconnects me from them, but not
05:59for lack of desire to be with them. And it is good that there is great communication between families
06:07so that it is understood that work, distance sometimes, is part of what comes in the package
06:14of being a family member who wants the best for his family.
06:17For my part, I just want you to see a sign of hope for what can be done,
06:22to keep fighting, fighting as we have all done, fighting like we are, all Latinos,
06:30Latinos who want to work, who want to improve, who want to be better day by day.
06:35Do it with love and with a smile, it comes out much easier.