62 Yency Almonte
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#62 Yency Almonte BORN: JUNE 4, 1994 | MIAMI, FLORIDA TWITTER: @SHOWTIMEALMONTE | INSTAGRAM: @SHOWTIMEALMONTE • Son of Ramon and Sandra Paredes, who still reside in his hometown of Miami, Fla. … has an older brother, Denny, who played in the Minor Leagues for the Seattle Mariners organization, reaching Triple-A. • Began playing baseball at the age of three years old ... his dad signed him up for t-ball where he played shortstop and pitched ... his dad taught him all about the game of baseball. • Played baseball as a kid with Albert Almora who is now a member of the Chicago Cubs. • His favorite childhood memory was when he hit his first home run at the age of eight and sprinted the bases thinking it was just a hit to the gap. • Attended Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Florida … he was drafted out of high school by the Los Angeles Angels in 2012. • He assists his father in the offseason as a coach for the academy he owns. • Enjoys going fishing and playing basketball with friends ... his favorite food is Latin food ... he is fluent in Spanish. • His favorite ballpark is PNC Park because of the way it looks and the backdrop. • Would like to someday visit Hawaii. #2 Alexi Amarista BORN: APRIL 6, 1989 | BARCELONA, VENEZUELA • Alexi Amarista (AH-mah-REE-stah)... has two daughters, Aleximar Sophia and Mia Angelina. • Raised in Barcelona, Venezuela, a city on the northern coast in the state of Anzoàtegui. His passion for baseball was instilled in him by his father and grandfather. • His father was a professional softball coach in Venezuela ... his father passed away in November of 2010. • Was given the nickname “Little Ninja” by Padres catcher John Baker because, according to Baker, “Teams don’t see Amarista coming. He sneaks up on them.” #44 Tyler Anderson BORN: DECEMBER 30, 1989 | LAS VEGAS, NEVADA TWITTER: @ANDERSONTJ08 | INSTAGRAM: @TYLERJANDERSON44 • Son of John and Mary Anderson … has two older sisters and one older brother, who has passed ... has a very big family. • Began playing baseball at the age of four years old ... played first base (left handed) and short- stop (right handed) ... his dad taught him how to play baseball. • His father, John Anderson played baseball collegiately and also, professionally. • Attended Valley High School in Las Vegas, Nev. where he was originally selected in the 50th round of the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Minnesota Twins. • Went on to attend the University of Oregon, where he studied political science … was part of Oregon’s original class as the Ducks brought back baseball for 2009 after the program was dis- continued after the 1981 season … he became the first Oregon Duck to be selected in the first round of the MLB Draft since San Diego chose Dave Roberts first overall in 1972. • His grandfather was in the Navy for 20 years. • Enjoys playing golf in his free time ... favorite food is Mexican ... favorite ballpark is Coors Field, he said “well because look at it”. • Likes to vacation anywhere with a good beach, mountains or good night life. #28 Nolan Arenado BORN: APRIL 16, 1991 | NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA • Nolan Arenado (NOH-lin ahr-uh-NAH-doe) ...son of Fernando and Millie Arenado … he is of Cuban (father) and Puerto Rican (Mother) descent. He loves Cuban food and visited Cuba for the first time during the 2017 offseason. • Has an older brother, Cousy, who played baseball growing up but was a serious surfer and was good enough to earn endorsement deals for his ability … his younger brother, Jonah, is currently in the San Francisco Giants Minor League system … his cousin, Josh Fuentes, is a member of the Rockies farm system. • Attended El Toro High School in Lake Forest, Calif., where he was a shortstop and a catcher … was teammates with Austin Romine (Yankees) at El Toro … they both had their high school numbers retired. • Committed to play baseball Arizona State University prior to signing with the Rockies. • Enjoys playing whiffle ball, ping pong and golf … if he didn’t play professional baseball, he says, “I would try to play professional golf or be a high school baseball coach.” • Favorite Music includes Kings of Leon, Travis Scott and Post Malone … his favorite movies are the Dark Knight movies and his favorite TV show as a kid was “Hey Arnold!” • Faith and family are of the utmost importance to Arenado and he comes from a strong support system. “My family is the most important thing,” Arenado says. “It’s God first, then my family. My cousins, my aunts, my uncles, they’re always there supporting me. My uncle is a pastor. He gives me the type of wisdom that I need.” • In the offseason, Arenado still lives in the same house, and same bedroom, in which he grew up. “I had my house for sale a couple months ago and we could have sold it within a week,” Fer- nando says. “But Nolan said, ‘We’re not selling this house.’ I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, ‘Dad, this is our home. This is our neighborhood. This is our city.’ We have the keys to the high school gym. We go around to the batting cages and help the kids. We know everybody. So we took the house off the market.” #81 Anthony Bemboom BORN: JANUARY 18, 1990 | ST. CLOUD, MINNESOTA TWITTER: @ABEMBOOM12 | INSTAGRAM: @ABEMBOOM12 • Son of Greg and Debbie … has one sister, Bailey. • Attended Sauk Rapids (Minn.) High School . • Attended Iowa Western Community College from 2008-2010 prior to transferring to Creigh- ton University, where he majored in communication studies. • In his free time he enjoys fishing and golfing. • Resides in Omaha, Neb., in the offseason. #35 Chad Bettis BORN: APRIL 26, 1989 | LUBBOCK, TEXAS TWITTER: @CBETTIS35 | INSTAGRAM: @CBETTIS35 • Son of Cody and Nadine Bettis … has an older sister, Larhee, and an older brother, Cody Jr. ... his parents currently reside in Dallas, Tex. • Began playing baseball at the age of three/four years old ... started out playing shortstop and third base ... was taught how to play baseball by his dad. • As a kid he also played basketball and ran track. • Attended Texas Tech in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas. • Married to Kristina Bettis … they have a daughter, Everleigh, born March 2017 … in the off- season they reside in Gilbert, Ariz. • Chad was diagnosed with testicular cancer in November 2016 … underwent surgery immedi- ately … plans to use his story to begin a foundation that will bring awareness and prevention to testicular cancer. • Enjoys playing golf, camping and shooting in his free time … his favorite food is Mexican … he is collector of baseball cards. • His favorite ballpark is Fenway Park, because of all the history. • Avid barbecue guy and enjoys cooking. #19 Charlie Blackmon BORN: JULY 11, 1986 | DALLAS, TEXAS TWITTER: @CHUCK_NAZTY | INSTAGRAM: @CHUCK_NAZTY • Son of Myron and Ellen Blackmon … he has one younger sister, Katie, and he resides in Atlan- ta, Ga., during the offseason. • After attending junior college at Young Harris College in Young Harris, Ga., where he was a pitcher, Blackmon attended his “dream school,” Georgia Tech, and became an outfielder … while at Georgia Tech, Blackmon had “some classes” with Denver Broncos wide receiver Demariyus Thomas … drafted in 2008, he finished his degree in finance during the 2013 offseason • Blackmon is an avid fisher … he enjoys fishing on off-days and during the offseason. • Blackmon grew a beard that would eventually become his trademark. Blackmon told the Den- ver Post: “I’d grown a bunch of beards over the years. This one I started when I was in Australia last October (2013), when I was watching the Red Sox in the World Series. They had these big, rough, manly, lumberjack beards. I wanted one of those.” The beard is now Blackmon’s trade- mark; there are “Chuck Nazty” foam beard and T-shirts available for sale. When asked to de- scribe his beard in one word he says, “Mayhem.” • During the 2014 offseason, after becoming an All-Star that season, Blackmon took a trip to Eu- rope. Rather than staying in lavish accommodations and enjoying the high life with his celebrity friends, Blackmon backpacked through Europe by himself. He stayed in hostiles, not knowing where he would go next, and figured everything out on the fly. Two of the highlights of his Euro- pean adventure were singing Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” at a karaoke bar in Italy and attend- ing a FC Barcelona soccer match at the Camp Nau. Barcelona was his favorite city on the trip. • Blackmon’s batter intro song, “Your Love” by The Outfield, has become an all-time favorite for Rockies fans. He says his favorite band is Ace of Base and if he didn’t walk to the plate with “Your Love,” it would probably be “Here Comes the Hotstepper” by Ini Kamoze. • Once made the half-court shot at the Denver Nuggets game … he loves Star Wars. #16 Stephen Cardullo BORN: AUGUST 31, 1987 | HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA TWITTER: @DULANDER38 | INSTAGRAM: @STEPHEN_CARDULLO • Son of Steve Sr. and Kelli … has a brother, Chris, and sister, Stephanie … resides in Coral Springs, Fla. in the offseason. • Attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, where he played football and baseball … walked on at Florida State where he played baseball for four seasons (2007-10) … a member of the ’08 College World Series team … played in the 2010 College World Series, hitting .417. • As a junior in 2009, became just the second FSU shortstop honored as a first-team All-Amer- ican (Dick Howser) … named a semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award presented to the nation’s top shortstop … All-ACC Tournament as a senior in 2010 … named to the NCAA Tallahassee All-Region Team as a senior .