Randy Arozarena’s mom throws first pitch at first MLB game

Randy Arozarena invited his mother Sandra González to kick off the postseason by throwing out the first pitch on Tuesday at Tropicana Field. González visited the Tampa Bay area from her home in Mexico on Monday, Arozarena said. Game 1 of the Rays’ American League Wild Card Series against the Texas Rangers was the first time she watched her son play a Major League game.

So she made her way to the middle of the infield on Tuesday afternoon, and Randy took his position behind the plate to catch a long-awaited first pitch that he requested.

“I’m just really happy that she’s here,” Arozarena said before the game through Rays communications manager Elvis Martinez. “It’s a really proud moment for me and my family, and I’m really excited that that’s going to happen.”

The pitch had been a long time coming, according to Randy. The All-Star outfielder defected from Cuba to Mexico in late 2015 and ultimately became a Mexican citizen in April 2022, with the unwavering support of his mother.

“We actually [made] that decision as a family. I was the older brother, like the man of the house, so I had to tell her that that’s what I was thinking,” Arozarena said. “She supported it, and you know the rest.”

González left Cuba for Mexico in 2017, which was Randy’s first season in the Cardinals’ Minor League system. Arozarena and his professional soccer player brother, Raiko, have been able to visit their mother in Mexico over the years, as recently as last offseason in his case.

Randy Arozarena’s mother still watches her son’s games on TV in Mexico. However, the family have been working to get a visa for Sandra for five years, Arozarena said, and her applications were refused for four years. She could not be there in person to witness Randy’s spectacular ascent into a postseason hero, World Baseball Classic sensation and fan-favorite player around Tropicana Field.

The last time Randy Arozarena’s mother watched him play a match, he figured, was in Mexico in 2017. But he said they restarted the application process a few weeks ago, and she finally got a visa that permitted her to travel to the United States.

“I’m really happy and blessed that she’s here,” Arozarena said. “It’s also important that she’s going to watch me playing in the playoffs, [so it] is really important for me that she’s here in a game like this.”

When asked how González would handle her first pitch, Arozarena said with a smile that she throws hard but hoped it would be a strike. Wearing a No. 56 Arozarena Devil Rays jersey,  that was what she delivered.