'She's an amazing woman': Espada's mom set lasting example

HOUSTON -- Miriam Espada always wanted her kids to follow whatever path they desired, but she admittedly wasn’t so sure that baseball held the best future for her son, Joe. She wanted him to be a lawyer or a doctor like most mothers probably would.

“There’s no way I could convince Joe not to follow baseball,” she said.

And Joe followed baseball. He followed it from the dusty fields of Puerto Rico, to the University of Mobile, to a decade in the Minor Leagues as a player and finally as a coach. Espada’s baseball path eventually brought him to Houston, where he was named bench coach prior to the 2018 season and is in his first season as manager of the Astros.

Espada’s family has been with him every step of the way, especially his once-reluctant mother. Her hesitancy to see Joe pursue a career in baseball quickly changed with the success he had. So much so that when he told her he was retiring in 2005 after 10 seasons as a Minor League infielder, she was disappointed.

“My heart broke to pieces,” she said. “That was his dream, but he told me, ‘Don’t worry, Mom. I’m going to remain in baseball.’ I didn’t have that much faith.”

These days, no one believes in Joe more than his mother. During the Astros’ poor start to the season, Miriam has taken the losses as hard as anybody.

“That’s the type of mom she is,” he said. “She is always encouraging me, ‘Keep your head up, son.’ She’s the pillar of our house. She’s always been since I was a young kid. Long hours at work -- she had a college degree at the age of 40 when she was an executive for Baxter [International] healthcare. Her work ethic and her love for our family, she’s an amazing woman.”

Miriam and her husband, Dolores, raised three kids in Puerto Rico. Dolores had a hip replacement at a young age and couldn’t work, so Miriam worked long hours while Dolores took Joe to his practices. As a young kid, Joe watched baseball at home with his father, who was a fan of the Yankees, Mets and Braves. Joe started to play at age six or seven when he was asked to join the local Little League team. He was a catcher.

“I wasn’t a baseball fan at all,” Miriam said. “I used to find it boring. I used to take a magazine; I used to take a book. Sometimes, the other parents would get mad at me because if somebody gets a hit, you see me applauding and being very happy, and they’d look at me and tell me, ‘That’s the other team!’”

The family eventually found its way to Dallas, where Joe’s sister, Rebecca, lives, to take advantage of better medical care for Dolores. His parents were at Minute Maid Park when Espada made his managerial debut with the Astros on March 28.

Miriam has learned to love baseball and watches as many Astros games as she can. She used to call Joe each night and give him advice -- and maybe some criticism -- but she stopped once he became the Astros manager.

“I promised Joe that I will not comment,” she said. “Usually, when Joe wins a game, I used to congratulate him and put a thumbs-up [emoji]. … When he was a coach, I saw something that I didn’t like, I used to text him my disappointment. And then I promised him I wasn’t going to do that anymore. The same way that when I go to the park, I will no longer scream so people can hear me saying, ‘I go for you, Joe!’”

Espada is appreciative of the support and love. He tries to video chat with his parents daily before going to the park, but it’s his dad who calls him more these days.

“They still reach out, but my mom is not constantly text messaging me like she did in the past,” Joe said.

Espada won’t be able to see his mother on Mother’s Day because he’ll be in Detroit with the Astros. His thoughts will be with her, though, and you can bet he will have a card sent to her in the mail.

“I’ve never seen my mom so upset than when she doesn’t get a Mother’s Day card,” Joe said. “That Mother’s Day card, regardless of where I’m at, it needs to be [postmarked] before Mother’s Day. That’s her thing. She’ll let me know.”