/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47788613/usa-today-7870015.0.jpg)
It has been a long time since I've seen a player, especially a position player, traded to the Oakland Athletics as excited to come to Oakland as Yonder Alonso is today:
Now, I am looking forward to starting a new chapter with the @athletics & breaking out the white spikes! Let's go!
— Yonder Alonso (@YonderalonsoU) December 2, 2015
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle spoke with Alonso shortly after the trade, and Alonso used a preposterous number of exclamation points as he spoke to Slusser:
- "I'm as excited as it gets!"
- "I'll be going to the hospital with my new Oakland A's hat on for the birth of our new baby boy!"
- "I'm from Miami - white shoes, I'm all about it!"
In a conference call with beat writers, Alonso is, you guessed it, excited:
Alonso excited to join #Athletics. Heard good things about team. "I just wish it was February so I could pack my bags for spring training."
— Joe Stiglich (@JoeStiglichCSN) December 2, 2015
Yonder Alonso is looking forward to reuniting with Danny Valencia with #Athletics He hit 5th, Valencia 4th with Miami Hurricanes in college.
— John Hickey (@JHickey3) December 2, 2015
Alonso played with Valencia in high school and college, says, "Everywhere we’ve gone, I feel like when we’ve played together we've won."
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) December 2, 2015
And finally, an endorsement from his most recent hitting coach, now A's bench coach Mark Kotsay:
Mark Kotsay is indeed a big Yonder Alonso fan, says "You're gonna love him." Good contact, quality at-bats, bilingual, leadership potential.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) December 2, 2015
I don't blame players who sound less than enthused to get sent to Oakland involuntarily, but I will adore a player who goes out of his way to demonstrate he's happy to be Oakland. This is a guy that turned being upset at getting accidentally hit on the head in the dugout by Justin Upton throwing away his helmet in frustration into a laugh:
.@YonderalonsoU came fully-prepared for today’s game: http://t.co/DPKPg1Hlp9 pic.twitter.com/bweYQK0csL
— Cut4 (@Cut4) August 16, 2015
Welcome!
Loading comments...