{"id":37036,"date":"2024-05-01T14:51:42","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T18:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/?p=37036"},"modified":"2024-05-10T18:33:27","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T22:33:27","slug":"how-writing-sports-stories-reconnected-me-with-my-grandpa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/how-writing-sports-stories-reconnected-me-with-my-grandpa\/","title":{"rendered":"How Writing Sports Stories Reconnected Me With My Grandpa"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve never had a passion for sports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But baseball, it\u2019s in my blood\u2014I\u2019m Cuban.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My grandpa, Francisco \u201cPipo\u201d Valiente, was a baseball fanatic who played second-base in neighborhood ball games in Cuba.<\/span><\/p>\n

When he was in his 80s, Pipo\u2019s blood pressure would spike when he watched his favorite teams, the Miami Marlins and the New York Yankees, compete from the comfort of his reclining chair in Hialeah.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During our weekly domino tournaments, baseball games were a TV staple. I can still see my grandmother, Norma, who had Alzhiemer\u2019s disease, tapping her index finger on the domino table.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPelota y pelota,\u201d she would sigh. Baseball and baseball.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My grandfather died in 2017, but his passion for the old ball game left a mark on me.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Los Tres Gatos: Pictured at far left is my grandfather Francisco \u201cPipo\u201d Valiente with two of his friends before a neighborhood baseball game in Cuba in 1970. Pipo was a second baseman. PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCY GOMEZ<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I started my tenure as editor-in-chief of <\/span>The Reporter<\/span><\/i> last year, I wanted to be involved in the paper\u2019s baseball coverage, but since I didn\u2019t know anything about sports, that fantasy was unlikely to become a reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

But life always has a way of pushing you where it wants you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My first sports story was on <\/span>Mike Balado<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u2019s appointment as the head of Miami Dade College\u2019s athletic department in August. It was one of my first times asking uncomfortable questions in an interview.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Balado had been fired from his previous job as Arkansas State University\u2019s men\u2019s head basketball coach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It took 30 minutes worth of questions to address the matter, but the experience reaffirmed that as a journalist, you need to ask the tough questions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The following month, I covered <\/span>Lazaro Llanes<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u2019<\/span> appointment as the Sharks\u2019 head baseball coach and <\/span>Alex Fernandez<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u2019<\/span> appointment as the senior advisor to MDC athletics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My heart wanted to pump out of my chest as I scooted onto the clay infield to interview Llanes, a former scout for the Marlins and the Milwaukee Brewers, and Fernandez, one of the greatest pitchers MDC has ever produced.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But as our conversations unfolded, their easy-going, down-to-earth personalities helped me see something many 21st century teens like myself need to be reminded of: people are just that\u2014people.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I covered more sports stories, I witnessed the influence sports have beyond the fields they are played on.<\/span><\/p>\n

In December, I reported on the reopening of North Campus\u2019 <\/span>Demie Mainieri Field<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The famed field, which had been dormant for nearly three decades, honors MDC\u2019s legendary coach Demie \u201cDoc\u201d Mainieri, who launched the baseball program at North Campus in 1960 and served as its head coach for 30 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the baseball giant accrued 1,012 wins in his career, I saw Mainieri\u2019s true legacy in his players.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They remembered Mainieri as someone who taught them how to do their job without expecting a reward and to play baseball unselfishly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe taught you how to be a <\/span>team member<\/span><\/i>,\u201d said Chicago Cubs scout Nick Belmonte, who played for Mainieri in the 70s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To kick off the new year, I covered the <\/span>first night game<\/span><\/a><\/span> held at the Kendall Campus baseball field in its nearly 60-year history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The energy was electric as eight 80-feet LED light towers illuminated the Sharks\u2019 exhibition game versus St. Thomas University.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharks catching coach Rudy Arias, who played for the College from 1975-77, lit up as he spoke just before the first pitch as a rainbow hung over the field.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWatching this right now, it\u2019s such a beautiful thing,\u201d Arias told me on the field that night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I then switched gears and got the opportunity to report on <\/span>Atavya Fowler<\/span><\/a><\/span>, an MDC softball player with a custom shoe design business that has caught the eye of Major League Baseball players like Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Harold Ramirez and St. Louis Cardinal\u2019s catcher Iv\u00e1n Herrera.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the story that has touched me the most was an obituary on beloved coach <\/span>Charlie Greene<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The 94-year-old, who spearheaded the baseball program at Kendall Campus and served as its head coach for three decades, died on March 13.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although I didn\u2019t meet Coach Greene when he was alive, I met him through the memories of\u00a0 the people he impacted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Players like former New York Yankees pitcher Gil Paterson, who grew up without a dad, saw Greene as a father figure and staunch advocate for timeliness, camaraderie and integrity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was disciplined\u2026I was late for the bus one minute and he didn\u2019t want to take me on when we went to play in the playoffs. [I was] like, \u2018What? I\u2019m your best pitcher!\u2019 He said, \u2018I don\u2019t care, I don\u2019t care,\u2019\u201d Paterson recalls. \u201cHe cared, but I\u2019ll tell you what, he wanted it done the right way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

My reporting\u00a0 has allowed me to see the baseball diamond as an arena that fosters relationships and teaches life lessons.<\/span><\/p>\n

I bet my grandpa would agree.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bright<\/a>
Bright Lights: Kendall Campus held its first-ever night game on Jan. 19 thanks to the addition of eight 80-feet LED lights. ANDR\u00c9S GIRALDO\/THE REPORTER<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve never had a passion for sports.\u00a0 But baseball, it\u2019s in my blood\u2014I\u2019m Cuban.\u00a0 My grandpa, Francisco \u201cPipo\u201d Valiente, was a baseball fanatic who played second-base in neighborhood ball games in Cuba. When he was in his 80s, Pipo\u2019s blood pressure would spike when he watched his favorite teams, the Miami Marlins and the New […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13482605,"featured_media":37041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,14,2749,2802,2803],"tags":[54,3579],"class_list":{"0":"post-37036","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-forum","8":"category-sports","9":"category-kendall-campus","10":"category-baseball","11":"category-softball","12":"tag-baseball","13":"tag-grandfather"},"yoast_head":"\nHow Writing Sports Stories Reconnected Me With My Grandpa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nikole Valiente looks back at her time covering sports and how it has rekindled memories of her grandpa, who was an avid baseball fan.\" \/>\n<meta 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