SAN DIEGO
Shortly after Yoan Moncada hit a go-ahead, two-run home run for the World in the All-Star Futures game, the Boston Red Sox farmhand found out that the Hall of Fame requested his bat to put on display.
“I feel really excited and really happy that they really want my bat. But it’s really emotional as well,” Moncada said through a translator after the World rallied to beat the United States 11-3 on Sunday.
He no doubt was going to share that with his parents in Cuba.
“I hope my parents could watch the game,” he said. “If they could, that would excite me a lot. They are not here with me. I miss them. If they weren’t able to watch the game, anyway I’ll call them tonight. I can’t send them a video, because you are not able to download videos with the Cuban infrastructure.”
The World team snapped a six-game losing streak in the showcase of top minor league talent.
With Raimel Tapia of the Rockies aboard on an error, Moncada, a Cuban who plays for Double-A Portland, hit a line shot to left off Anthony Banda of the Diamondbacks for a 4-3 lead.
Moncada was named Futures Game MVP. The Red Sox agreed to give Moncada a $31.5 million signing bonus — with a $31.5 million tax imposed by baseball’s labor contract — in March 2015, the highest amount for an international amateur. Cuban authorities allowed him to leave in 2014.
“I am very proud and happy to be here,” he said. “I didn’t imagine I could have such an outstanding performance, but everything went just well. I was the MVP and I dedicate this to my parents.”
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