Curtis Granderson and Latino Sports president, Julio Pabón in his last interview as Mets players.
New York, NY - The rumors floating around that that Mets might be making a trade involving outfielder, Curtis Granderson became a reality on Thursday when he was traded to the Los Angeles. I’m sure that Curtis is not complaining leaving a team that is 20 games behind the National League leading Washington Nationals to the hottest team in the National League, the Dodgers.
However, he will be missed. I have personally known and been following Curtis since he came to New York from Detroit, first with the Yankees in 2010 and later with the New York Mets in 2013. I remember his first press conference at Yankee stadium. I asked him, “where was he and how did he take the news that he had been traded to the New York Yankees?” He really enjoyed that question as he smiled a bit more in his new surroundings of Yankee stadium and stated that he was in a car with some friends when he got the call on his cell. He continued and said that he was very happy to hear the news that he was coming to New York and celebrated the move.
He capped that smile once again to me when I interviewed him when the Yankees returned for their home opener after an extended away opening season. I reminded him of his feat of hitting a home run in his first at bat as a Yankee in Fenway Park on opening day, becoming the twelfth player to do so.
Since that first encounter, Curtis Granderson has always been a down to earth and approachable player that had never said “no” to any interview.
His New York Mets tenure have been outstanding as a player that has always gone outside of the foul poles to engage with players, coaches, press and most important, the community. He has been an Ambassador of Baseball promoting the sport in a host of international countries. I personally was proud that he had won the 2016 Roberto Clemente Humanitarian Award for his work with his, Grand Kids Foundation, which has raised money to benefit the education of inner-city children around the country
In addition, who else take time to write a children’s book? Granderson wrote a children's book, All You Can Be: Dream It, Draw It, Become It, which was published in August 2009. Students of the New York City public school system illustrate the book.
My last interview with Curtis was on Thursday at Citi-Field where we spoke about a few things including the seriousness of what occurred in Charlottesville. That’s the person that he is, he does not shy from addressing issues, even controversial ones. To me that is a player to respect. So I say to this 36 year old, 15 year veteran: though you might have only been batting .228 with 19 homeruns and 52 RBI’s with the Mets, you’re a super star batting 1.000 with the Latino Sports and the community.
Curtis will do well the Los Angeles Dodgers where he will have a great opportunity to win a World Series ring and perhaps be with a winning team for the remainder of his career.