Life threw a curveball at Nestor Cortez Jr.’s father. And because of that, his son is now throwing a curveball in the major leagues.
Nestor Cortez Sr. tried to flee Cuba in 1991 but was “caught in the process. So he went to jail,” the 28-year-old Cortez told the Post ahead of Father’s Day. Told.
Cortez Sr., his brother, and two cousins hired a ship to get a better life in America, but it never came. Rumors spread that they tried to leave, and he was imprisoned for attempted asylum.
After his release, he met his future wife Yusraidi.
The couple married in 1993 and Nestor was born in December 1994.
The Yankees pitcher stressed that if his father hadn’t failed to escape, “I wouldn’t be telling you this here.”
In 1995, his father won the visa lottery and the family legally immigrated and settled in Hialeah, Florida when Nestor was seven months old.
Cortez Sr., 54, started playing baseball when his son was 4 and always found time to practice despite his demanding work schedule as a forklift operator.
“My father always worked from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” Cortez Jr. said. “So it’s a 12-hour shift every day, Monday through Friday. Besides that, he took me to baseball practice at seven at night.”
The mother was in control of the upbringing.
“I was more scared of my mother, but my father always got me out of trouble, so it’s kind of a balancing act,” he said with a laugh.
“It means everything,” Cortez Jr. said when parents come to the Big Apple to watch their son pitch.
“They will love you no matter what happens on the field,” he said.nasty nestor” was given to him because of the high spin rate of his pitches.
For Harler’s signature stash, Fans pay tribute to it by growing false beards — He also has something to thank for his father and fiancée.
“My dad actually had a mustache. I’ve seen pictures of him when he was in his early 20s. And now I look at myself and think, ‘Oh, we look alike.’ he said.
his fiancée, Alondra Estella Lussya bartender he met at a restaurant he frequented confirmed that he hadn’t shaved it.
“She actually encouraged me to keep doing it,” he said. “Because she said it could build a brand. And it kind of did.”
