Father and son

When Claudio Suarez explained that his father was a big baseball fan and really admired Fernando Valenzuela, the Dodger public relations people arranged an introduction with Fernando, who works Dodger games as a broadcaster.

I ran into Claudio afterwards and asked to see his souvenir. He showed it to me and explained that Fernando signed it to his father, Vicente, which meant a lot to him.

I asked to take a picture, and then I remarked that his father would probably be very happy to receive the ball whenever Claudio had a chance to take it to him. Claudio smiled sadly. "I'll have to take it to his grave, then. My father passed away earlier this year. I just wanted to have it signed for him as a reminder of him."