Béisbol! Latino Heroes of Major League Baseball NELSONNELSON

JOSH LEVENTHAL Bolt is published by Black Rabbit Books P.O. Box 3263, Mankato, Minnesota, 56002. www.blackrabbitbooks.com Copyright © 2017 Black Rabbit Books

Design and Production by Michael Sellner Photo Research by Rhonda Milbrett

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015954854

HC ISBN: 978-1-68072-046-4 PB ISBN: 978-1-68072-304-5

Printed in the at CG Book Printers, North Mankato, Minnesota, 56003. PO #1797 4/16 CHAPTER 1 Web addresses included in this book were working and appropriate at the time of publication. The publisher is not responsible for broken A Latino Legend...... 5 or changed links. CHAPTER 2 A Young Baseball Star...... 9

Image Credits CHAPTER 3 AP: Elaine Thompson, 20–21; Jeff Roberson, 16; Matt Slocum, 15 (Cruz); Ted S. Warren, 7, 28–29; Flickr: In the Majors...... 14 Brent Moore, 8; Getty: Lisa Blumenfeld, 11; Otto Greule Jr, Cover; Newscom: JUSTIN LANE/EPA, 18; Paul Moseley/MCT, 19 (top), 32; Ron Jenkins/ CHAPTER 4 MCT, 19 (bottom); SportsChrome, 3; Shutterstock: Art Berry, 6; CarpathianPrince, 8, 28–29 (ball); Eugene Continuing to Onischenko, 24–25 (background); Joe Belanger, 24–25 (bat); karawan, 20 (scale); Marie C Fields, 31; Mc LOVIN, 20 (hands); Palokha Tetiana, 12 (bottom ball), 15 (ball); Impress...... 22 vasosh, 12–13 (balls), 17, 21 (ball), 25 (balls); USA To- day Sports: Cary Edmondson, 26; Jennifer Nicholson, Other Resources...... 30 Back Cover, 1, 23; Rick Osentoski, 4–5 Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders for material reproduced in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in subse- quent printings if notice is given to the publisher. CHAPTER 1

A Latino

Nelson Cruz comes to bat. The bases are loaded. The score is 3 to 3 in the 11th inning. The pitch speeds toward the plate. Cruz is ready. He smashes it over the left-field wall. It’s a grand slam!

4 5 Home Run Hitter

Cruz is an all-star baseball player. He is known for his great batting skills. He’s also known for hitting home runs. But Cruz wasn’t always a pro ball player. He grew up in the . He played basketball and baseball. And he helped in his uncle’s car shop too.

Haiti Dominican Republic

7 Number of CHAPTER 2 Latino A Young Major League Baseball Players Star through 2015 Cruz was born July 1, 1980. Young 642 Dominican Republic Cruz was a talented athlete. He played 341 Venezuela 253 Puerto Rico baseball in high school. He also played 193 basketball for the Junior National Team. 118 55 Panama Cruz was the star of his high school Colombia 17 baseball team. Scouts came to the 14 Curacao 14 Nicaragua Dominican Republic to see him play. 12 U.S. Virgin Islands 6 Bahamas One scout wanted him to play for the 5 Aruba New York Mets. Cruz’s parents wanted 4 3 Brazil him to finish high school first. 1 Belize 1 Honduras

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