Although his guest had repeatedly promised to come visit him in Venezuela, Cardinals first baseman Jose Martinez didn’t believe it until the plane arrived.
At least he had rented a house for Yadier Molina.
“A lot of (people), they don’t want to go to Venezuela right now,” Martinez said. “And for him to come, it was pretty special because it shows that you cannot forget where you come from.”
With Venezuela plunged into a deep and sometimes violent recession that has increased the number of protests, kidnappings, and deaths in the past year, Major League Baseball and its member clubs urged players to avoid the country, unless it was home.