Edita Sanchez Guzman predicted her eldest son’s fate soon after Magneuris Sierra was born. There was something about the way the baby balled his fists.
As family members stopped by to see the baby in the rural outskirts of San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, she would encourage them to see his powerful arms and hands.
“He’s going to be a ballplayer,” she would say. “Just look at his fists.”
A month and 21 years after Sanchez first made her prediction, Sierra made his major-league debut with the Cardinals last Sunday. Powerful and speedy legs now are Sierra’s defining characteristic.