As if Ronald Acuña Jr. wasn’t beloved enough in Braves Country, and really the baseball world for that matter, he gave us an inside look at his vulnerable side in his latest piece for the Player’s Tribune.
If you haven’t read it already, I highly suggest you do. It’s lengthy, but totally worth the 15-20 minutes to get through the entire piece. Acuña provides a glimpse of what it was like to grow up in Venezuela, his love for his home country and family, his shy side, the depression he battled after he tore his ACL, and so much more.
It’s a work of art, and really gives fans an idea of who he is and why he is the way that he is; the side we don’t get to see on the baseball field. However, I did want to talk about one aspect in particular — Acuña’s dream moment that he vows to bring to the city of Atlanta.
We are at home, in our stadium, with our fans, for the last game to close out the World Series. It has to be at our place this time, at Truist. And it has to be with me this time, too. It has to be. I need to be playing, to be a real part of it.
Stadium is packed. Fans going crazy.
I can see the final at bat in my head. I can hear the ball hit the bat and then I see the ball flying up into the air. Then it lands in my glove and … history.
In my dream, from there, it is the best feeling in the entire world. Everyone celebrating that final out. Screaming and yelling and jumping. And then, next thing I know, everyone is on the field. And I mean everyone!
All the fans stream down to the grass and it is one giant party.
Throughout the article, Acuña talked extensively about what was going through his mind during the 2021 season after he tore his ACL. He said he couldn’t even watch the team until the playoffs because it made him depressed, and even watching his teammates win, didn’t make him wholly satisfied.
Acuña wants to be apart of the story, and though the Braves wouldn’t have even made the playoffs had it not been for his first half performance in 2021, he still doesn’t feel like he’s done his job, and will not stop working until it is finished.
Talk about getting an entire city and then some ready for Opening Day. Acuña’s vulnerability in this piece is enough to give Scrooge goosebumps. This game isn’t about money to him; he wants to be great, and he wants the fans to experience his success with him.
At this point, I’m not sure how anyone could root against Ronald Acuña Jr. He’s already the face of baseball; he didn’t need to share any of this information with us. Like he said, he’s a shy guy, which is what makes these words even more special. When the Braves finally do hold up that trophy again, and they will eventually, everybody is going to look back at this article with a smile, knowing Ronald Acuña Jr. fulfilled his destiny.
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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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