Eddy Alvarez and his family members have had harrowing life stories. His father, Walter, had fled from Cuba. Walter settled in Miami, Florida, and got married to Eddy's mother, Mabel.
Alvarez would be active in various sports growing up. But he would really stand out in two in particular - speed skating and baseball. Alvarez would have trouble trying to focus on both sports over the years. The physical stress of his active life led to major knee injuries that required surgery. But, with a lot of effort, his dreams have come true.
Is an Olympic silver medalist
As a child, Alvarez won several major youth titles in speed skating. He eventually became a world champion at the World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships. The title came in the 3,000-meter relay event.
Alvarez skated for the United States during the 2013-14 Short Track Speed Skating World Cup. He would win three medals during the competition, including a gold medal in the 5,000-meter relay in Kolomna, Russia.
Alvarez would be named to Team USA for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. According to CNN, he was the first male Cuban-American to make the U.S. speed skating team. Alvarez would win a silver medal in the 5,000-meter relay. He also competed in the 500-meter, the 1,000-meter and the 1,500-meter relay events.
After his Olympic success, Alvarez decided to focus on his baseball goals. He said he's '95% sure' that he's done with competitive speed skating.
Made his MLB debut with the Marlins
Later in 2014, Alvarez signed a Minor League contract with the Chicago White Sox. Shortly after, he debuted with the Rookie-level Arizona White Sox.
A few weeks later, he was promoted to the Class A level.
From there, he continued to climb through the Minor League ranks of the White Sox organization. In 2019, Alvarez was traded to his hometown organization, the Miami Marlins. He was assigned to the AAA level.
The 2020 MLB was made extremely complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was made even more so after the season finally began. The Marlins became the first team to experience an outbreak after the season's commencement. Several players were unable to play, meaning that other players would need to be brought in to fill in for them. One of them would be Eddy Alvarez.
Alvarez was officially promoted to Major League level on August 2. He debuted on the field on August 5. Alvarez was able to tell his parents he was being called up at his childhood home. While socially distancing, of course. Yahoo reports that he stood 20 feet away from them while remaining outside.
Alvarez's brother, Nick, played in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, reaching AAA.
