“Slugger” Nelson Cruz, who was active in the Major League until last year, has turned into an adviser to the Los Angeles Dodgers and took his first step as a leader.
In an interview with MHN Sports at the Dodgers Spring Training Club House in Glendale, Arizona, over the weekend, Cruz said, “I’m very happy and honored to be part of an organization with a deep history and tradition like the Dodgers.”
“If you look around the locker room here, you’ll see that our team includes Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts,” Cruz continued. “There are a lot of them. It’s like watching an All-Star team.”
When asked what role he played in the Dodgers organization, he said, “I’m an advisor who can be as friendly as a brother,” and added, “I approach the players first, or feel free to come up to ask questions or talk at any time.” He added, “I try to be a person who can talk comfortably when I’m frustrated and things don’t go well during the season rather than a technical role.”
A native of the Dominican Republic, Cruz made his Major League Baseball debut in 2005 with the Milwaukee uniform. After spending his heyday in Texas and Seattle, he played in the majors for 19 years, finishing with San Diego last year after playing for Minnesota, Tampa Bay, and Washington.
During his 19 seasons in the Major League, he has a total of 2,055 games, batting .274, 464 homers, and 1,325 RBIs. His overall OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) is a whopping 0.856. He also surpassed his 2,000th hit (2,053).
His personal award record is also impressive. He was named the All-Star a whopping seven times and was also named the MVP of the American League Championship (ALCS) in 2011. He also won the Silver Slugger Award, which is given to the best hitter, four times. In 2014, he won the home run king title with 40 home runs in the season and became the RBI king with 119 RBIs in 2017.
He participated in the 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) as a member of the Dominican Republic national team and won the gold medal by defeating Venezuela in the final. He enjoyed almost all the honors an individual player could have. But Cruz also regrets one thing he didn’t accomplish. It is winning the World Series.
When asked if Cruz had any regrets, he smiled and said, “Please look forward to this season.” Although he did not enjoy it as a player, he expressed his willingness to enjoy the excitement of winning the World Series as an advisor to the Dodgers this year.안전놀이터