Speed bump
Only one thing is slowing Aroldis Chapman's modeling career -- his 105 mph fastball
By Molly Knight
ESPN The Magazine
ESPN Insider
In another life, Aroldis Chapman is standing on top of a mountain in the tiny European nation of Andorra, with his left arm cocked back like a slingshot. He is wearing a snug lavender dress shirt, a blue tie, brown slacks and very nice, very expensive shoes. He's about to fire a baseball, but forget that for now, because this vision isn't about the sport the gods have chosen for him. The scene is real, and Chapman lived it 18 months ago, when he spent a day posing for a renowned photographer in one of the world's most stunning locales. He replays it often in his head when he ponders what his life might have been like if his ability to register 105 mph on a radar gun hadn't earned him a $30 million promise from the Cincinnati Reds and a one-way plane ticket out of Cuba.
Chapman, who is 23, has a long, lean frame and high, prominent cheekbones. But those features retreat when he's asked questions in English. He tends to fidget and look at the ground in such situations. Friends say he's shy around strangers although people close to him can't get him to shut up. And when he's in his element, like during a photo shoot, the pitcher is patient, relaxed and easy. "I will leave baseball some day and be a model," he says through his interpreter, Tomas Vera, punctuating his words with a laugh.
<OFFER>Growing up in a communist country, Chapman saw his inner fashionista seriously restrained by a lack of money and material. Most people in his hometown of Holguin have access only to basic jeans, tennis shoes and T-shirts. Even those who could afford a more exotic look couldn't obtain it. "Where I come from, you're not allowed to do anything, so I wore the most simple clothes you could imagine," he says through Vera, who is also a mentor, off-season housemate and trainer in the Reds organization. "For me, things have changed."
When Chapman defected, in July 2009, simply by walking out of the hotel in Rotterdam where the Cuban national team was staying, he was stepping toward not only freedom but a life of consumerism. He says he owns 60 pairs of shoes, all Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Coach. He buys fitted long-sleeve shirts as if they were going out of stock. If he gets chilly in Cincinnati, he keeps warm with tight leather jackets, thin gloves and bandanas. He insists he's not trying to show off; he's just so frustrated by the language barrier, and clothing is a way for him to express himself.
It can be argued that these changes have come at Chapman so fast he needs to buy a Lamborghini to keep up -- which is just what he did last off-season. "He was a rebel in the midst of a revolution, more for his own personal reasons than for baseball," Vera says of Chapman's defection. He pauses, then alludes to the treacherous path that some Cuban players have taken to the United States: "He would've jumped on a piece of plywood to get here." Adds Chapman, "Once I realized how different things were outside, and I saw the freedom people had, it was just, 'Okay, how do I get there?'"
It wasn't easy. Only days before he defected, his girlfriend, Raidelmis Mendosa, gave birth (to his first child, a daughter named Ashanti. Chapman has never met the toddler, but he proudly shows off the tattoo of her name on his right triceps to anyone who asks about her. (Cuba's political situation makes it too tricky for him to discuss a potential family reunion.)
In the months after he left Cuba, but before he signed with the Reds, Chapman moved to Andorra to establish residency and expedite the U.S. visa process. He and his agent at the time, Edwin Mejia, planned for a career in the big leagues, but they also pursued modeling as Chapman's Plan B. Mejia flew in Omar Cruz, a celebrity photographer who has shot covers for Spanish editions of People and Cosmopolitan. In addition to the rugged Pyrenees, Cruz also photographed him shirtless in a hotel room holding a baseball with the grip Chapman uses to throw his four-seam fastball.
Of course, it looks as if that contingency plan will stay on ice for a while. As scouts are quick to note, Chapman sets himself apart on the mound with his ability to regularly hit 100 with his fastball while mixing in an unhittable low-90s slider that arrives at the plate quicker than most pitchers' regular heater. His loose and easy throwing motion has tempered the concern that he'll blow out his arm. And the Reds, thick with starters, are using him out of the bullpen. So instead of having to dial it down to conserve the juice needed to throw 100 pitches an outing, Chapman is free to air it out against the handful of unfortunate batters he faces. After joining the big club, he struck out 19 hitters in 13 innings, with an ERA of 2.03. Now he's likely to remain in the pen, where he'll be a lefty setup man and an occasional closer.
On the hill, Chapman always seems to know when the cameras are on him, as he flashes flirty nods and smirks. His tats make a statement too. After setting the world record by throwing a 105.1 mph pitch (which missed the strike zone) to former Padre Tony Gwynn Jr. in September, Chapman had 105.1 inked onto his left wrist over a flaming ball. It's a number he says he's hoping to update. He also had Jesus inked onto his right breast long before soccer star-turned-fashion icon David Beckham got himself, as Christ, tatted on his left. Can Chapman cross over like Becks? "That would be a long way from where I came from," he says. "But I would love that."
For now, his left arm has the spotlight.
Only one thing is slowing Aroldis Chapman's modeling career -- his 105 mph fastball
By Molly Knight
ESPN The Magazine
ESPN Insider
In another life, Aroldis Chapman is standing on top of a mountain in the tiny European nation of Andorra, with his left arm cocked back like a slingshot. He is wearing a snug lavender dress shirt, a blue tie, brown slacks and very nice, very expensive shoes. He's about to fire a baseball, but forget that for now, because this vision isn't about the sport the gods have chosen for him. The scene is real, and Chapman lived it 18 months ago, when he spent a day posing for a renowned photographer in one of the world's most stunning locales. He replays it often in his head when he ponders what his life might have been like if his ability to register 105 mph on a radar gun hadn't earned him a $30 million promise from the Cincinnati Reds and a one-way plane ticket out of Cuba.
Chapman, who is 23, has a long, lean frame and high, prominent cheekbones. But those features retreat when he's asked questions in English. He tends to fidget and look at the ground in such situations. Friends say he's shy around strangers although people close to him can't get him to shut up. And when he's in his element, like during a photo shoot, the pitcher is patient, relaxed and easy. "I will leave baseball some day and be a model," he says through his interpreter, Tomas Vera, punctuating his words with a laugh.
<OFFER>Growing up in a communist country, Chapman saw his inner fashionista seriously restrained by a lack of money and material. Most people in his hometown of Holguin have access only to basic jeans, tennis shoes and T-shirts. Even those who could afford a more exotic look couldn't obtain it. "Where I come from, you're not allowed to do anything, so I wore the most simple clothes you could imagine," he says through Vera, who is also a mentor, off-season housemate and trainer in the Reds organization. "For me, things have changed."
When Chapman defected, in July 2009, simply by walking out of the hotel in Rotterdam where the Cuban national team was staying, he was stepping toward not only freedom but a life of consumerism. He says he owns 60 pairs of shoes, all Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Coach. He buys fitted long-sleeve shirts as if they were going out of stock. If he gets chilly in Cincinnati, he keeps warm with tight leather jackets, thin gloves and bandanas. He insists he's not trying to show off; he's just so frustrated by the language barrier, and clothing is a way for him to express himself.
It can be argued that these changes have come at Chapman so fast he needs to buy a Lamborghini to keep up -- which is just what he did last off-season. "He was a rebel in the midst of a revolution, more for his own personal reasons than for baseball," Vera says of Chapman's defection. He pauses, then alludes to the treacherous path that some Cuban players have taken to the United States: "He would've jumped on a piece of plywood to get here." Adds Chapman, "Once I realized how different things were outside, and I saw the freedom people had, it was just, 'Okay, how do I get there?'"
It wasn't easy. Only days before he defected, his girlfriend, Raidelmis Mendosa, gave birth (to his first child, a daughter named Ashanti. Chapman has never met the toddler, but he proudly shows off the tattoo of her name on his right triceps to anyone who asks about her. (Cuba's political situation makes it too tricky for him to discuss a potential family reunion.)
In the months after he left Cuba, but before he signed with the Reds, Chapman moved to Andorra to establish residency and expedite the U.S. visa process. He and his agent at the time, Edwin Mejia, planned for a career in the big leagues, but they also pursued modeling as Chapman's Plan B. Mejia flew in Omar Cruz, a celebrity photographer who has shot covers for Spanish editions of People and Cosmopolitan. In addition to the rugged Pyrenees, Cruz also photographed him shirtless in a hotel room holding a baseball with the grip Chapman uses to throw his four-seam fastball.
Of course, it looks as if that contingency plan will stay on ice for a while. As scouts are quick to note, Chapman sets himself apart on the mound with his ability to regularly hit 100 with his fastball while mixing in an unhittable low-90s slider that arrives at the plate quicker than most pitchers' regular heater. His loose and easy throwing motion has tempered the concern that he'll blow out his arm. And the Reds, thick with starters, are using him out of the bullpen. So instead of having to dial it down to conserve the juice needed to throw 100 pitches an outing, Chapman is free to air it out against the handful of unfortunate batters he faces. After joining the big club, he struck out 19 hitters in 13 innings, with an ERA of 2.03. Now he's likely to remain in the pen, where he'll be a lefty setup man and an occasional closer.
On the hill, Chapman always seems to know when the cameras are on him, as he flashes flirty nods and smirks. His tats make a statement too. After setting the world record by throwing a 105.1 mph pitch (which missed the strike zone) to former Padre Tony Gwynn Jr. in September, Chapman had 105.1 inked onto his left wrist over a flaming ball. It's a number he says he's hoping to update. He also had Jesus inked onto his right breast long before soccer star-turned-fashion icon David Beckham got himself, as Christ, tatted on his left. Can Chapman cross over like Becks? "That would be a long way from where I came from," he says. "But I would love that."
For now, his left arm has the spotlight.
