Xavier Roger
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PHOENIX – Joey Meneses, a 30-year-old minor-league journeyman, had never played a single major-league game in his career until last August, and Sunday night he’s hearing a sellout crowd screaming his name.
He spent 12 years in the minor leagues, with three clubs giving up on him, and the crowd of 47,534 at Chase Field is chanting, “MVP! MVP! MVP!’’
He played in the Mexican Pacific League. He played in the Japan Pacific League. He played in winter ball. He played in the Caribbean World Series. He played in the Olympics.
Now, for the first time, he’s playing in the World Baseball Classic, becoming an overnight cult hero in Mexico.
Meneses, in one of the great performances in the history of the World Baseball Classic, led Mexico to an 11-5 rout over Team USA with two home runs, five RBI and a bat flip that might have sailed out of Chase Field if the roof wasn’t closed.
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“I have no words to describe it,’’ Meneses says, with fans celebrating on the streets in front of Chase Field after the game. “It was a very beautiful sensation with a lot of adrenaline, with the stadium full.
“It was just super emotional. I just tried to enjoy everything. And I enjoyed the hit, I see the people scream, and stand up from their seats.
“It’s something I’ll never forget.’’
So why not celebrate the greatest night of your career, flipping the bat perhaps 30 feet into the air after homering the second time, securing of the biggest victories in Mexico baseball history, with the large contingent of Mexico fans exploding in sheer delight?
“You could hear the crowd tonight,’’ Mexico starter Patrick Sandoval said. “It was insane. I’ve never played in an atmosphere like that.’’
And the bat flip?
“It fired me up,’’ Sandoval said. “I’m still fired up by it, to be honest.’’
Said Team Mexico manager Benji Gil: “It’s a very beautiful day, for all of Mexico.’’
And a game that Meneses will forever cherish for the rest of his life.
“I always had that faith and hope that a moment would come like this in my career,’’ Meneses said. “That’s why I worked for a long time and I kept going. I didn’t give up.
“When I was in the minor leagues, I never imagined it, but I’m living it now, and I’m really enjoying it.’’
Meneses was in his 12th year in the minors when he received a phone call that changed his life. It was the morning of Aug. 2, 2022. The Nationals just traded Juan Soto and Josh Bell in a mega-deal with the San Diego Padres.
He was informed that he finally be called up to the big leagues for the first time in his career, and become the Nats’ new first baseman.
And, oh, did he ever make the most of it, hitting a home run in his major-league debut, and not stopping, batting .324 with 13 homers in just 56 games.
“That gave me a lot of confidence,’’ he says, “that I can do this.’’
While it would have been easy for Meneses to stay in the Nationals camp this spring, assuring that he would be their everyday first baseman, he never forgot his roots. He knows how important the WBC is to Mexico, and to Gil, the man who always encouraged him.
“I always dreamed with playing with Mexico,’’ said Meneses, a native of Culiacan, Mexico. “I always dreamed of playing in the Classic. So I’m very grateful to the Nationals. When I asked them about this, to have permission to play in the tournament, they said I should come and enjoy the tournament, and it was something very beautiful and I would have with me.’’
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And there he was Monday, stepping to the plate in the sixth inning after hitting two homers with five RBI, with the crowd chanting, “Joey! Joey! Joey!, and moments later serenaded with MVP! chants.
One day, he’s an unknown journeyman for the Nationals.
The next, a household name throughout Mexico.
“I’ve worked a long, long time,’’ Maneses says, “for this moment.’’
Let’s see, he played six years for Atlanta, and was even their minor-league player of the year, but they didn’t bother to keep him.
He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018, hit .311 with 23 homers and 82 RBI at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, won the International League MVP award, but got released.
“To me it was a shame that he didn’t get called up in September,’’ Gil said, “after having a monster year in Triple-A. Obviously you can just imagine how frustrating it was for him to be named league MVP, organization player of the year, almost win the Triple Crown, yet they can’t give him a September call-up. …
“It hurt a lot. It’s nothing against Philadelphia, but I’ve thought about this many times that [because] he didn’t get to come to Major Leagues earlier, he will end up with less money than he would have gotten in his career because he should have been in the Major Leagues since 2018.’’
Meneses, wondering if he’d ever be given a shot to be a big leaguer, signed the following season with the Orix Buffaloes. He received a one-year deal for $950,000, more money that he earned in his life. Three months into the season he was suspended 12 months after testing positive for hydroxystanozolol, a performance-enhancing drug, and was released.
He signed a minor-league deal with the Boston Red Sox in 2020, but COVID-19 canceled the season. He stuck around for another year, was promoted to Triple-A Worcester, but never got a call-up to the Red Sox.
He tried yet another team last year, signing with the Nationals, where he stayed all summer in the minor leagues, until he finally got his break.
“We had to have a lot of talks,’’ Gil said, “and say, ‘Hey stick with it. Your time’s going to come.’ So it really was a struggle for a couple of years. He was really hanging on by a thread.’’
Now, here was Gil late Sunday night, trying not to cry when talking about him.
“We’ve been through a lot,’’ Gil said. “People can say I gave him his first real opportunity in Culiacan, but I would be an idiot if I didn’t give him the opportunity.’’
Gil, who played on the Angels’ 2002 World Series team and is now their first-base coach, even tried to convince the Angels to even trade for him last season, but the Nats had other plans.
“People don’t realize how good he is,’’ Gil said. “He’ll hit in the big leagues and he’s versatile because he plays first, can play both corner outfields. and even one winter he played third base.’’
Gil was proven correct in his assessment, and now the whole world is aware of his talent.
“What a moment for him, what a moment for Mexico ….’’ USA manager Mark DeRosa said. “He’s grinded through it. Kind of late bloomer. Figured it out. He had a hell of a game tonight, he really did.’’
Gil says that Meneses deserves everything coming his way, and perhaps the USA does too, sustaining their most lopsided loss since 2009 in the WBC.
Team USA still controls its own fate, and can write a ticket to Miami for the quarterfinals by beating Canada on Monday and Colombia on Wednesday. Yet, if they lose either game and suddenly go home, it would be the most stunning upset in WBC history.
They were placed in the weakest pool, playing teams with few major leaguers, with not a single team considered a WBC contender.
They still remain confident this was just a simple blip in their road to Miami, but in international tournament play, anything and everything can happen.
“We’ll figure it out [Monday],’’ DeRosa said. “We have to figure it out.’’
Follow Nightengale on Twitter: @Bnightengale
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