LOS ANGELES — For nearly a decade in the minor leagues, Eliézer Alfonzo kept himself going by imagining how proud his family would be when he finally reached the big leagues. That moment arrived Sunday at Dodger Stadium — but it came wrapped in unimaginable grief.
Alfonzo’s 16-year-old sister, Eliana, and his stepmother, Patricia — the wife of former major league catcher Eliézer Alfonzo Sr. — had both been missing since a series of devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24. Just hours before the Dodgers faced the San Diego Padres, several Latin American media outlets reported that the bodies of both women had been discovered.
Alfonzo had received his long-awaited call-up to the defending World Series champions just the day before, on Saturday, while his family was already living through an agonizing period of uncertainty. By Sunday morning, that uncertainty had turned into crushing loss.
After speaking with his father, his brother, and his girlfriend, Alfonzo made the decision to play — finding peace in knowing how much this moment would have meant to Eliana.
