El Toro de Pittsburgh might be the most interesting ballplayer in the world.
With an NL-leading 28 home runs this season, Pittsburgh third baseman Pedro Alvarez has solidified his reputation as one of the National League's most potent sluggers and a literal cornerstone of the revitalized, first-place Pirates franchise, which begins a crucial series with the second-place Cardinals tonight. At this point, you might look at Alvarez's bio — a Dominican immigrant to New York City who played for baseball powerhouse Vanderbilt and is now an All-Star — and find it typical of a top player. But it hasn't been quite that simple.
Gene J. Puskar / AP
When he was one, Alavrez emigrated to the U.S. from his native Dominican Republic. As a baseball-obsessed teenager in Washington heights, a largely working-class Dominican neighborhood, Alvarez was not a likely candidate for the Horace Mann School, an expensive private institution which doesn't have the most illustrious baseball pedigree.
(BTW, the photo above is from Washington Heights, though it was taken in 2006, when Alvarez was 19, so he probably isn't one of the kids playing in the fire hydrant.)
New York Daily News Archive / Getty
But he caught the attention of a school administrator while playing for a local traveling team, and she encouraged him to take the entrance exam. (Horace Mann's campus is a few miles north of the Heights in the Bronx.) Alvarez received a scholarship, and was well on his way to becoming the best ballplayer in the history of one of New York City's toniest and most exclusive high schools.
New York Historical Society / Getty
A star almost immediately upon his arrival, Alvarez had dozens of scouts attending his games by senior year. "During games, Alvarez looked very anxious to put on a show," said one early scouting report. "Defensively, Alvarez moves well for his size at third base and has big league average arm strength. He’s going to have to watch his body so he doesn’t get too big, but he has good athletic actions now. Pedro is a good student who should end up playing at a highest level college."
