Roberto Baldoquin arrived in the United States later than expected last spring after the Angels invested more than $14 million in him. And the Cuban shortstop's start was inauspicious.
In his first homestand with Class-A Inland Empire, he went 0 for 17. Six days after his first hit, he strained a muscle in his back and missed nearly seven weeks. When Baldoquin returned to the team, Manager Denny Hocking sought a way to connect with him, to find some common ground.
Hocking's twin teenage daughters were soccer players, and he brought a spare ball to the ballpark one day in July, kicked it to Baldoquin, and "he started dribbling it, doing tricks, and acting like Cristiano Ronaldo," Hocking said.