Kansas City pitcher Edinson Volquez arrived in New York on Saturday after leaving the Royals to attend his father’s funeral and looked forward to taking the mound for a potential World Series clincher against the Mets.
“I’m pretty sure my dad is going to be proud of me when I pitch tomorrow on the mound,” Volquez told reporters after Kansas City’s 5-3 Game 4 win gave them the chance to claim the crown on Sunday.
Volquez had taken the mound in Kansas City last Tuesday as the American League champions’ Game One starter, unaware that his father Daniel had died from heart failure at the age of 63 back home in the Dominican Republic.
The 32-year-old pitcher was only told of his father’s passing by his wife after he came out of the game.
“I think that was the best way to tell me because I didn’t even know,” he said. “If my wife told me before that, I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to pitch. She decided to tell me later.”
Volquez pitched well, giving up three runs in six innings in a game that lasted 14 innings before the Royals prevailed.
The right hander said he was would write his father’s name inside his cap or glove for inspiration.
“He was everything for me. I remember he bought me my first glove and my first spikes, brought me to the field,” Volquez said. “He knew that’s what I want to be, I want to be a baseball player.
“I wish he could be here right now and enjoy every game that I pitch.”
Fellow Royals pitcher Chris Young, who started Saturday’s Game Four, lost his father in September on the day before his first start for Kansas City in two months.
Young threw five no-hit innings that day and said he felt his father’s spirit was with him.
The 36-year-old Young, who notched the Game One win in relief, said he would have some words of comfort and advice for Volquez if he asked him what to expect on the mound.
“Just go out and focus on making one pitch at a time and knowing that his dad is with him at all times,” Young said.
“His dad is watching from a different view point and enjoying every minute of his success and I have no doubt he’ll come out and be great.”
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