Special delivery: Arozarena's mom throws first pitch at first MLB game 

ST. PETERSBURG -- Randy Arozarena invited a very special guest to get the postseason started by throwing out the first pitch on Tuesday at Tropicana Field.

His mother, Sandra González.

González traveled to the Tampa Bay area from her home in Mexico on Monday, Arozarena said. Game 1 of the Rays’ American League Wild Card Series against the Rangers was the first time she saw her son play a Major League game.

So she made her way to the middle of the infield on Tuesday afternoon, and Arozarena took his place behind the plate to catch a long-awaited first pitch that Arozarena requested.

“I’m just really happy that she’s here,” Arozarena said before the game through Rays communications manager Elvis Martinez. “It’s a really proud moment for me and my family, and I’m really excited that that’s going to happen.”

It had been a long time coming, according to Arozarena. The All-Star outfielder defected from Cuba to Mexico in late 2015 and eventually became a Mexican citizen in April 2022, with the full support of his mother.

“We actually [made] that decision as a family. I was the older brother, like the man of the house, so I had to tell her that that's what I was thinking,” Arozarena said. “She supported it, and you know the rest.”

González left Cuba for Mexico around 2017, which was Arozarena’s first season in the Cardinals’ Minor League system. Arozarena and his professional soccer-playing brother, Raiko, have been able to see their mother in Mexico over the years, as recently as last offseason in Arozarena’s case.

She still watches Arozarena’s games on TV in Mexico. But the family has been working to acquire a visa for González for five years, Arozarena said, and her applications were declined for four years. She was unable to be there in person to witness her son’s remarkable ascent into a postseason hero, World Baseball Classic sensation and fan-favorite player around Tropicana Field.

The last time Arozarena played a game in front of his mom, he figured, was in Mexico in 2017. But Arozarena said they restarted the application process a few weeks ago, and she finally obtained a visa that allowed her to travel to the United States.

“I’m really happy and blessed that she’s here,” Arozarena said. “It’s also important that she’s going to watch me playing in the playoffs, [so it] is really important for me that she’s here in a game like this.”

Asked how his mom would handle her first pitch, Arozarena acknowledged with a smile that she throws hard but hoped it would be a strike. Sporting a No. 56 Arozarena Devil Rays jersey, she delivered exactly that.

The Rays had one more surprise in store: Tampa native, former Ray and Hall of Famer Fred McGriff followed González to the mound for a second first pitch, which he delivered to rookie starter Taj Bradley.