Elias Diaz was born almost 33 years ago in Venezuela. He dreamed of becoming a MLB superstar. Like so many boys with similar dreams it didn't seem like he would get near it. As a 19 year old catcher he was told he had little shot at making it even the minor leagues, so he signed with the Venezuelan Summer league. Dream 1 complete. Getting paid to play baseball.
He did really well and landed a backup spot on the West Virginia Power. Dream 2 complete. Made it to America.
First 2 years there he saw only backup action. But at 23 he got a starting position and did great and was promoted to the Altoona Pirates. The next year he was promoted to the Indianapolis Indians but struggled and was demoted back to Altoona. Certainly the dream would end there. 6 years of baseball and he was still a long way from making the Majors. But Elias believed in himself even when others including his bosses didn't. The next year some issues in l happened in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and they called him up to the show. Dream 3 complete.
He was on a major league roster. He went 0-2 batting that year. The next year he was back as a backup and thought for sure if he ever got in to a game he would shine. He got into 2 games and went 0-4 for the year. In 2017 he fought his way back on to the team and due to some injuries was able to play a lot more. He had 200 at bats but had a disappointing 223 batting average. He did however hit his first home run in a MLB game. 3 years 1 homer. So that should be enough. You really came a lot further than most people thought. He was offered a job at an elite baseball academy that would pay him almost the same as his league minimum contract but allow him to live in a community and come home to his wife Katherine who had recently had their first child. He turned the job down and kept chasing the dream. He was then cut from the team.
In 2020 he was signed to a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies. He performed well in Spring Training and was promoted to a backup roll on the Rockies. He hit 235 in 2020 and was back again in 2021 and slightly improved again hitting 246. That was good enough to land his first legit MLB contract at 30 getting 3 years for 5.6 million a year. This year he has been playing the best baseball of his life and is now up to a 277 Batting Average. He was shocked when he was named as the 2nd backup catcher for the All Star Game this year. He was hoping he'd get at least a moment in the game with 2 other guys playing ahead of him. He got a lot more than that.
In the 8th inning with 1 man on base the manager decided to give Elias his shot. With the National League down a run Elias faced one of the most feared pitchers in baseball. 6'8" giant Felix Bautista who has 38 saves on the year and an ERA of 1.07 stood 60 feet 6 inches away on the mound making him 7 and a half feet tall. Bautista was pumping gas early in the at-bat, firing a pair of 98 mph fastballs before getting Díaz to foul off a splitter. Bautista missed with a 99.7 mph heater to even the count 2-2, then tried to go back to the splitter to put Díaz away.
Diaz put a swing on it and deposited it almost 400 feet away. That was the All Star winning hit. Elias Diaz was then voted the first ever Colorado Rocky to be the All Star MVP.
In the post game interview he thanked God for the ability, his family for the support and then was shocked to discover that MLB needed that jersey he was wearing as that is going to be forever on display the baseball Hall Of Fame.
Dream 4 complete.