Luis Arraez's family finally sees him play in the Majors

This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Luis Arraez is a two-time All-Star and a batting champion. He has appeared in 535 big league games, but none in front of his biggest fans until last Friday night at loanDepot park.

The day before, Luis picked up his parents, Ernesto and Maria, from Miami International Airport after they traveled from Venezuela to Colombia to obtain a visa in order to visit the United States. Luis then brought them to his home, where they played dominoes and ate pasticho from Venezuela. He gifted them personalized All-Star Game jerseys with Arraez on the back to wear when they finally saw him in pro ball. It was a moment nearly seven years in the making.

"It means a lot," Arraez said. "They are my everything. They are my family. My mom and my dad, I've worked hard for them, and I feel pretty good, and I'm excited for them."

Hours before Friday's series opener against the Brewers, a starstruck Ernesto was greeted by his son's teammates and coaches inside the home clubhouse.

"I'm super proud," Ernesto said, as interpreted by El ExtraBase's Daniel Álvarez-Montes. "There are no words to describe the pride that we feel, but I was like dreaming. I never thought I was going to be able to be in a clubhouse with big leaguers. And then when I saw [Jorge] Soler, [Josh] Bell, [Avisaíl] Garcí­a, it was like, 'Wow.' I felt super proud to see my boy around them, and I've been so overwhelmed by the support from the coaches for us from everybody. I'm super proud."

When Luis was a kid, Ernesto would hang a mango or elote from a tree so the youngster could practice his left-handed swing with a plastic bat. After hanging out in the clubhouse, Ernesto watched batting practice from the field, at one point holding onto his son's bat.

"And then I broke my first bat," Arraez said. "And I said, 'That's your fault, because you touched my bat.' But I was just kidding with him. That was a really special day for me, and then for him."

The Arraez family -- Ernesto, Maria and Luis' wife, two daughters and sister -- were at the ballpark all weekend. Luis got only one at-bat before being pulled in Friday's lopsided loss, then aggravated his left ankle in Saturday's win. He has not played since. His parents didn't come on this week's trip, but if Miami reaches the postseason, Luis will be sure they tag along.

"I'm obviously very proud, like super, super proud, because we've been dreaming about this for so many years," Maria said, as interpreted by Álvarez-Montes. "We traveled around the whole country [of Venezuela]. We got to know the whole country for different tournaments for Luis, and we always dreamt about this. We had one of Luis' coaches from his youth time congratulating us, and I said, 'You see, we finally made it.' Every time I see him, I just hug him and kiss him, because we're finally making it and we're here together. I'm super happy and super proud."