IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Baseball in the Streets

July 24, 2019 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


From the streets of Merida, Mexico to the pitching mound of Victory Field, Eduardo Vera's dream to be a Major League Baseball player has never wavered.

He was first introduced to baseball in the neighborhood where he grew up, spending hours outside playing with other kids. They would play with sticks and rocks, almost anything they could find.

His neighbor played on a little league team and guided his first steps in a journey that would land Vera closer to his dream than he ever knew was imaginable. Their parents got together and decided to start sending Vera to little league practices for his first taste of organized baseball.

"Since I was 10 years old, I told my dad, 'I want to be a Major League player.' I went and I just fell in love with the game," Vera said. "My dream started there."

With no idea how his future would play out, Vera played in the little league for three years before signing with a Mexican team at age 13. When he was 16, he started learning more about the signing process and how to extend his baseball career - and dream - as far as possible.

He had tryouts with different teams, and the Pittsburgh Pirates came knocking when he was 17.

"The Pirates watched me with this team in Mexico," Vera said. "I waited for like six months or so and they came back with a contract and I signed."

His career with Pittsburgh began in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, a full 1,266 miles away from his hometown in Mexico. He spent two seasons with the DSL Pirates before moving to Florida and the Gulf Coast League system.

In 2015, he experienced a setback: Tommy John surgery.

"It crossed my mind that it was over. It was hard. I felt a lot of pain sometimes," Vera said. "But at the end of the day, I just tried to work hard, and it was like a click moment for me because after that I just started pitching better, throwing harder. I just felt more mature physically and mentally after that."

He returned to the field in 2016, again with the GCL Pirates, before his career started to take off in 2017. He spent the entire year with West Virginia in Single-A ball, and then jumped two levels in 2018 to finish the season with Altoona.

His journey from Mexico and the Dominican Republic to Florida, Altoona and now Indianapolis didn't come without its struggles. The organizational aspect of the Minor League Baseball system was something he didn't quite grasp until he jumped in.

"I had to be on time for everything and I had to be more serious about everything so that was kind of hard, but it's your dream so you just have to work harder all the time," Vera said.

Another barrier was language, but Vera spoke the basics of English before coming to the United States. Through talking with teammates, he started learning more and learning how to speak fluently.

Some of those teammates from the United States were in the Mexican League trying to build their career to get back to the big leagues, and those players were some that he looked up to and admired as he was trying to get signed.

Vera's not alone in being an international player on the Indians roster. This season alone the Tribe have hosted 16 different players from eight countries outside the United States. Eight of those players are from the Dominican Republic, two from Venezuela, and the rest are a mix from Panama all the way to South Korea. Vera is the only player from Mexico and the first to don an Indians uniform since Ali Solis in 2013.

Now, just 24 years old and one step away from his childhood dream, Vera feels good about where his career has landed him thus far.

"I'm so proud of myself that I've been through a lot. It's been like eight years in the minor leagues, and now that I'm a starter in Triple-A, it's just a huge accomplishment for me," Vera said. "I definitely want to make it to the big leagues and that's my dream, but to come this far has been really good for me."

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