The anguish of the baseball player’s wife

Game ball, and a tear rolls down Dayana’s cheek. The reason is not Portuarios’ loss, or the fact that Yasniel Gonzalez struggled offensively. The reason of her anguish is that, with this loss, Game 6 and perhaps Game 7 of the I Elite Baseball League shall be played in Bayamo, which means, more days without her husband.

In her arms, baby girl Aynoha does not know about her parents’ pain, who have met just few times in the last couple of years.

Since last season, Yasniel has been distant from home as he was called to the National Team to play the Caribbean Cup and then he started training for the National Baseball Series with Mayabeque team.

When the National Series was over, he could go home for a month in Quivican, but then he was called to play for Portuarios.

Those living in the province capital has less problems. When players play home club, they stay at home. But Quivican is quite distant from San José de las Lajas, and Yasniel has to stay at the team’s hotel.  

The truth is that his situation is the same as that of the 80% of families of baseball players, which worsens now with the Elite Baseball League, since one team may be made up of players from different provinces.

For Dayana, the only comfort is that every time she goes to the Nelson Fernandez Stadium, every positive performance by the clean-up hitter of the Mayabeque Hurricanes is dedicated to her.

Fortunately, Yasniel was present for the birth of her daughter five months ago, not because he had special permission, but because there was a break between tournaments. These are the sacrifices that elite athletes must embrace, which many people ignore or forget when criticizing from the stands when things are going wrong.

Yasniel is now 32 and has played for 12th seasons, El Guajiro understands perfectly the sacrifices to reach the top level, and Dayana, 29, has suffered it for only three years. Being the baseball player's girlfriend may be somehow appealing, but being his wife implies suffering with him and coping with the associated privations, especially the little time to share time together.

That is why this season has been so difficult for her, as two tournaments were held in the same year.

From the stands, she holds tight Aynoha, who looks to be pretty calm despite the noisy environment.

Dressed up with her husband’s jersey, she stands up in her seat and walk out the stadium thinking only about the end of the season. But she forgets that next March 25th, the 62nd National Baseball Series kicks off again. Yasniel must start training again. And everything starts all over again.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff