Explore popular quotes and sayings by a Cuban baseball player Eddy Alvarez.
Last updated on September 12, 2024.
Eduardo Cortes Alvarez is an American professional baseball infielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has also played in MLB for the Miami Marlins. Prior to his baseball career, he was a short track speed skater and baseball player who represented the United States and medaled at the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2020 Summer Olympics. He is the sixth athlete and third American ever to medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympics in different disciplines. After his MLB debut on August 5, 2020, Alvarez became the first Winter Olympics athlete and the first non-baseball Olympian since Jim Thorpe to play Major League Baseball. Only Alvarez and Jim Thorpe have played Major League Baseball and won an Olympic Medal in another sport.
When someone meets me it's 'Oh, you're the flag-bearer guy!'
Short track is like metal rock. You kind of always got to be on your toes.
I am grateful for my time with U.S. Speedskating and U.S.A. Baseball, as well as for all of my teammates, and I am humbled to lead Team U.S.A. into the Tokyo Olympic Games.
In speed skating, we want to have the strongest, most powerful lower half of the body and don't want to have any weight on top.
Everything wrong with running, I did it.
You name it, I've been everywhere in the U.S.
The silver medal is incredible, because we worked so hard for so many years. Sacrificing, absolutely demolishing our bodies for hours a day, 11 months a year, years on end.
Being a first-generation Cuban American, my story represents the American Dream.
I remember after the Games I was lifting weights with propane tanks on them, and getting to experience opening ceremonies again was something I dreamed of every day.
There was that feeling of standing on the podium and listening to someone else's national anthem that really sucked.
Once I retired from skating, never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have the chance to come back to the Olympics.
I came over to this country, so to be able to lead Team U.S.A. is an absolute honor.
The ultimate goal is to get back up here to the Miami Marlins.
When athletes disrespect the flag and say things about their country that's not prideful, it really hurts me because of the situation that I've had to see my family go through.
I didn't have a parade of teams wanting to sign me, that's for sure.
As soon as I finished skating, watching video of me stealing baseball bags was funny.
I've been able to accomplish goals that I set for myself, where in countries like Cuba you just don't get those opportunities.
Walking in the opening ceremony and just being part of the Olympics is so special and it's something to cherish forever.
It may say 30 on paper, but I don't look the part, I don't act the part, and I do my best to play like that.
I love people watching.
I am a prime example of what the American dream is.
At the end of the day, standing on the Olympic podium on the top is what we're all really searching for here.
I owe so much to my parents, to my family.
As an Olympic athlete, I was at the top of my sport.
When you're so close to winning and you have to stand on the podium and listen to someone else's anthem, it leaves just a little bit of that bittersweet feeling.
You've got to be up-to-date on what your opponent is doing.
It's a tough pill to swallow, when you come so close to winning and you fall short.
If I wouldn't have medaled at the Olympics, it still would have been a successful trip. The medal is the icing on the cake.
In the Olympics, you only get one opportunity to bring it all together. If you don't, better luck in four years.
If you saw what I looked like in high school you probably would've laughed. I looked like I should have been in middle school.
When we get off the line in skating we kind of look like little ducks running.
Playing pro baseball has definitely been a goal of mine.
I didn't know if I was gonna make the Olympic roster, but just to be part of that journey to get to the Olympics and inevitably win a medal - even if I wasn't a part of the roster, knowing that I had a part in it, I would have been so content.
Right now it looks like skating is done for me. I'm ready to move on. But if baseball doesn't work out and I still have that itch for skating, I may be back.
There were times when I thought of dropping skating completely and just focusing on baseball.
We all deal with our inner pessimist. We just try to find as much positivity as we can find.
I'm just so honored I got the chance to represent our country. I was always willing to put in the work, the sacrifice, to do so.
Baseball is my true passion. Skating was more of a short-term goal.
Not a day goes by that I don't remember my experience at the Olympics.
There's a lot of sacrifices I've made in this life, in my athletic career.
To hold Old Glory, a symbol of freedom and liberty to many around the world, not just in the United States, this one means a lot.
I didn't really hit my stride until my Olympic year.
Just to be able to say that I'm from Miami, Florida, in the Winter Olympics was an honor, and I'm proud to be able to say that I'm playing on the U.S. national team for baseball from Miami as a Cuban-American.
I always told myself that if baseball was not fun anymore, then I would move on from it.
I thought playing baseball would give me a break from being in a squat position all day, but it didn't. I could not handle the pain anymore.
I was just cruising around the streets of South Beach and got scouted. Two ladies stopped my parents and said, 'This kid needs to try the sport of inline speed skating,' so I did and I remember falling in love with it and the thrill of racing.
And it wasn't so much the medal, it was stepping out of the ramp during the Opening Ceremony. Man, I took a step back and realized I made it. That was huge.
My grandparents and my parents came over from Cuba with nothing to their name just for a chance of freedom and opportunity.
If I wanted to be a professional baseball player at some point, I knew I would have to do the jump ASAP because unfortunately age is a huge factor.
Since I was a kid, I've always been able to copy the mannerisms and body language of everyone around me.
It's an honor to bring back a silver to the United States.
My personal goal is to go off. I'm gonna do everything in my power to win games and I know all the other guys around me are in the same boat. Whatever it takes.
In baseball, I had this lower body but nothing in the upper body. I had to counteract years of training and work the upper body.
It was the first time I'd picked up a bat and ball in three years, and it turned out to be a breakout season for me. I was named to the All-Conference team and nominated for All-American.
It felt like I blinked and the Olympics were over.
I'm a firm believer that positive thinking creates positive results.
I have an analytical mind.
At some times, my first go-round in the Olympics got a little overwhelming.
Long track is more of a symphony... You're out there and you want to get in the zone.
I went from Arizona to all over Florida just doing workouts in front of scouts. I promised myself that I was going to sign with whatever team called me first.