To understand how Eury Pérez came to be one of the best pitching prospects in the game, you have to go back to where it all began.
As a child, Pérez was called Palillo (“Little Stick”) because of how tall and lanky he was. The 6-foot-8 right-hander now towers over his parents and sisters, who still live in Santiago — the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic — in the neighborhood of Villa Liberación, La Otra Banda.
Eury’s father and grandfathers once played béisbol on the amateur level. Generations would toss a ball in a nearby field, where a young Eury fell in love with the game.
His family has never seen him pitch as a professional in person, but they’ll get that chance tonight.
“It Ain’t Over” opens in and around New York and Los Angeles today, which would’ve been Yogi Berra’s 98th birthday. It’ll be released in more cities next week.