Baseball Living-Legend Luis Polonia Reflects on his Amazing Career
Luis Polonia is known for his rewarding career of 30 years as a professional baseball player. Playing for five World Series teams, he helped the Atlanta Braves in 1995 and the New York Yankees in 2000 bring home World Series Championships.
Polonia was born in Pueblo Nuevo, Dominican Republic. His father wanted to be a baseball player and inspired Polonia to follow his dream of playing baseball. His father worked with him and gave him tips daily to improve his skills. In our interview, Polonia talks about how his father had trouble making it in the big leagues because of his height. He recalls the obstacles he faced since he’s only 5’8’’ and baseball teams were looking for players around 6 feet tall.
He started his career at 19, making a name for himself playing baseball in the Dominican Republic, which eventually led to his election into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame. Because of his skill and determination, Polonia was signed in 1984 as a free agent to Oakland, and after working hard for three years, he was officially drafted into the MLB in 1987 to play for the Oakland Athletics.
Throughout the course of Polonia’s twelve seasons in the MLB, he played for the Oakland Athletics, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Detroit Tigers, assisting two of his teams in World Series Championships and playing in several World Series games. He also had the opportunity to play baseball in Mexico for three years during his contract with Tampa Bay. In 2000, he retired from the MLB after a shoulder injury.
Luis Polonia’s baseball idol was Ricky Henderson, one of the greatest players in MLB history. He followed Henderson’s career since he was a child and wanted to emulate his abilities through his own career.
In our interview, he said this of Henderson: “That was my role model, a player I wanted to become. We had [similarities] as a player: short, good hitter, base-stealer—and that was what I wanted to become.” When Polonia first started his career, he would never imagine that one day, he would get traded for his idol, Ricky Henderson. However, that dream came true when Luis Polonia went to the New York Yankees in 1990.
Some of Polonia’s biggest accomplishments during his MLB career include being signed to the Major Leagues, being traded to the Yankees and having the pin-stripe uniform, making it to the World Series three times, and being traded for his idol Ricky Henderson
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