There's nothing like a summer day whether you're at Yankee Stadium or you're watching it from home. Watching a baseball game, hearing the stories and of course eating all of our favorites is the best way to enjoy America's Pastime! We still have a lot of the season ahead of us and we were excited to sit down with New York Yankees shortstop and second baseman, 2X All-Star player, Gleyber Torres! His debut in the MLB and on this team began in 2018. He talked with us about his journey from playing baseball in Venezuela, joining the team, what it means to be on this team with its known heritage, how he approaches his games, what he does prior to and after, his recent collaboration with Kings Bred, and navigating fatherhood. ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with baseball? GLEYBER TORRES: I remember when I was 4 years old, my parents took me to the field, one day a weekend and after that, I played every day. I would go to school and I would practice in the afternoon and I would play on the weekends as well. I don’t really remember too much when I was really young but I know that when it was raining or when they would cancel the games, I would start crying. I just really wanted to play a lot and when I started growing up, I would watch it every day on the TV and would watch Omar Vizquel and I just knew that it was a sport that I really wanted to be able to play. AM: When did you realize that it was something that you wanted to do as a profession? GT: When I was 12 or 13 the academies started noticing me and they gave me the opportunity to practice with them. My dad and myself, we realized that maybe I wouldn’t just play this sport as a hobby or something I enjoyed doing, but that I could be a professional baseball player. It was a long conversation with my dad and my mom. From the beginning, my mom didn’t want me to do this as I would have
to move from where I was from to another city so that I could practice every day. I really wanted to focus on this and my dad wanted to give me every opportunity that he could to see what I could do to play baseball. So, after a couple of hours, we decided that I would have to go there and to see what my future would be there and how it would all change. AM: As I mentioned at the top, I have been a Yankees fan since I was 6 years old. You’re the first Venezuelan player to join the team. What does it mean to you to be on the Yankees? GT: First of all, it’s an honor! I mean, the history of the Yankees, many championships, many good players, many really good numbers. Just playing here is amazing, the city, the fans, all the history is just really inspirational. It’s just something that’s really special and I feel like, as a player, everyone wants to play with the Yankees. I got that opportunity from the beginning and I’m just grateful to be with all of the boys on the team. Of course, I want to try and bring another championship to the Yankees! AM: Absolutely and the season is well under way, what are you focused on and looking forward to this season? GT: We don’t start like we did last year. We’re playing really good right now and everybody is healthy and we can play better. We’re going to try to win the most games possible. I think that we’re in the 3rd place right now, but we still have a lot of games right now and I think that everybody is on the same page and we’re staying focused on doing really good this year and if everyone stays healthy, we can do really good things. AM: We always like knowing what our favorite athletes and celebrities do when they hit the gym. So, obviously in addition to playing, what are 3 workouts that you do in the gym?