USA baseball settles for silver, but Miami’s Eddy Alvarez still joins elite Olympic group
.JPG "Japan’s Seiya Suzuki (51) is tagged out by United States’ Eddy Alvarez attempting to steal second during the gold medal baseball game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, in Yokohama, Japan.")
Eddy Alvarez knows the names.
Eddie Eagan. Jacob Tullin Thams. Christa Luding-Rothenburger. Clara Hughes. Lauryn Williams.
Prior to the Tokyo Olympics, these five were the only athletes to ever earn a medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
“Some of the greatest athletes to ever walk this planet,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez — Miami native, first-generation Cuban-American, Christopher Columbus High School alumnus and Miami Marlins infielder prospect — can now add his name to this group.
The United States baseball team, with Alvarez as its starting second baseman, won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics after it lost to host Japan 2-0 at Yokohama Baseball Stadium on Saturday in the championship game of the six-team tournament.
This goes along with Alvarez’s silver medal that he won as a short-track speed skater at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
“I didn’t know that I was going to ever make it this far,” Alvarez said prior to leaving for Tokyo. “I was always willing to put in the work and sacrifice to do so, but to potentially be part of that exclusive club would be a dream come true.”
There’s no more “potentially.” Alvarez has done it.
“I can’t even begin to describe what I’m feeling right now,” Alvarez said in an Instagram video story shortly after receiving the silver medal. “What a freakin’ ride. So many people, an army of people, to thank. Coaches, family, friends. Thank you for everything. Being a part of this journey with me, supporting me, guiding me. For those that have helped me, you deserve this as much as I do.”
How the tournament unfolded
The United States swept its two games of group play to get the inside track to a medal game but had to work through the loser’s bracket after losing to Japan in extra innings to begin the knockout stage of the tournament.
A win over the Dominican Republic in the repechage round and a win over South Korea in the semifinals sent the United States to the championship game for a rematch with the host country.
After the United States beat South Korea and ensured they would win a medal, the emotions hit Alvarez.
But he knew there was still work to do. There was still a game to play, a gold medal to fight for.
Opportunity eluded them. The United States stranded nine runners in the title game, one decided by a third-inning solo home run from Japan’s Munetaka Murakami against Miami native and Belen Jesuit alum Nick Martinez. Japan added an insurance run in the eighth.
For the tournament Alvarez batted .250 (6 for 24) with three RBI, four runs scored and a pair of hit by pitches. Alvarez recorded at least one hit in five of six games — highlighted by a pair of doubles in the United States’ first game against Israel — while playing strong defense at second base.
He was in the on-deck circle in the ninth when Jack Lopez, representing the game-tying run, hit into the game-ending fielder’s choice. Alvarez, who singled in the third, hit an inning-ending groundout in the fifth with two runners on base.
“I kind of wanted the game in my hands,” Alvarez said in a postgame interview with NBCSN. “I had the opportunity to drive in some runs [in the fifth] but they executed great pitches and I just couldn’t get the job done.”
Eddy Alvarez’s journey back to baseball
Regardless of the outcome, the Olympic run was the latest highlight on Alvarez’s path back to baseball that was anything but clear or guaranteed when he attempted to revitalize his second athletic dream after winning his silver medal at the Sochi Olympics.
After all, there weren’t many offers rolling out for a 24-year-old infielder who hadn’t played organized baseball in years.
“I didn’t have a parade of teams wanting to sign me, that’s for sure,” Alvarez said.
That didn’t stop him.
Between then and now, Alvarez put on about 30 pounds of muscle to fill out his upper body and took advantage of any opportunity presented to him.
He started working out with Carlos Castillo, a one-time pitcher in the Chicago White Sox organization, and with the help of his former coach at Salt Lake Community College got a pro workout set up in front of scouts.
“I went from Arizona to all over Florida just doing workouts in front of scouts,” Alvarez said. “I promised myself that I was going to sign with whatever team called me first.”
That team was the White Sox. He spent five years in their minor-league system, reaching as high as Triple A before being traded to his hometown Marlins shortly before the start of the 2019 season.
He received the big-league call up on Aug. 4, 2020, as part of the wave of players called up after the Marlins dealt with a COVID-19 outbreak and made his MLB debut a day later. He played 12 games total during the season.
“It just solidified the journey,” Alvarez said. “It made everything worth it. All the sacrifices, everything my family had to go through, all the heartaches and the ups and downs that I’ve gone through to get to that point.”
‘I made it’
The medals and the memorabilia are the physical reminders of Alvarez’s accomplishments in his athletic career.
His silver medal is in a safety deposit box (“My mother, you’ve gotta convince her to see the medal,” Alvarez said. “She’s the proud keeper of that one.”) The baseball from his first career hit as a Major League Baseball player — a hit off two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, no less — is in a display box next to his television at home in Miami.
But the moment that sticks with Alvarez isn’t pegged to a result. It was participating in his first opening ceremonies at the Sochi Games in 2014.
“I just kind of took a step back,” Alvarez said,” and realized that I made it. That was huge.”
Seven years later, he made it again.
But this time, as he began his second Olympics experience, he was front and center for the country he loves. Alvarez led the United States’ contingent of athletes at the Opening Ceremony as one of two flag bearers for the country along with women’s basketball’s Sue Bird.
The experience, in the moment, overwhelmed him.
“Oh my God this is absolutely incredible,” Alvarez said to NBC while marching Team USA into Olympic Stadium. “Thank God that I have Sue here holding me up because I’m freaking out a little bit, I’m not gonna lie. This is so emotional and I’m feeling the energy of my team. It’s absolutely incredible.”
‘A redemption trip’
It was also the start of a mission, one in which Alvarez didn’t want to settle for second place again. He didn’t want to look back on missed opportunities.
“This feels like a redemption trip for me,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez had four chances to get on the podium when he competed in Sochi in 2014.
He was disqualified once and fell twice in his three individual events before losing out on gold by less than three-tenths of a second to the host Russians in the 5,000-meter relay.
“The goal,” Alvarez said, “is to win.”
The gold medal eluded Alvarez again, but his name is still forever etched into history.
This story was originally published August 7, 2021 at 9:01 AM.
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