Rowdy Telles, who played with Ryu Hyun-jin for the Toronto Blue Jays, was a rare player in the WBC (World Baseball Classic) with qualifications to represent the three countries of the United States, Israel and Mexico. Even if it is a competition that recognizes participation qualifications more widely than other WBC international competitions, cases like Telez are rare.
MLB.com reported on this special story of Telez on the 4th (Korean time). Born in Sacramento, California, USA to a Jewish mother and a Mexican father. Following his mother’s lineage, he is qualified to represent Israel, and following his father’s lineage, he can also play for Mexico. Since he was born in the United States, he also holds the qualification to represent the United States.
Asked by Israel and Mexico to participate, Telles decided to wear the Mexican uniform. It was worth the competition to recruit the national team. Telles appeared in 153 games, the most since his debut last year, and hit 35 home runs, also a career high. His batting average (0.219) and on-base percentage (0.306) were below average, but his home run production was excellent.
Rodrigo López, general manager of Mexico and a former major league player, said, “We don’t have a hitter as strong as Telles,” expressing his impressions of winning the “recruitment match.” He also said, “Telez is a solving accident, a good defender as well. He is undoubtedly the heart of Mexico’s power.” 스포츠토토
Tellez received an offer from Mexico in 2017 as well. But at the time, I was 21, too young. Toronto, which was his team at the time, did not stop Tellz from participating in the WBC, but he decided to remain in spring camp as he was aiming to enter the major league roster. Telles made his major league debut with Toronto in 2018 and recorded a batting average of 0.314, 4 homers and 14 RBIs in 23 games.
He also considered joining the Israeli national team following his mother. According to MLB.com, Telles was very close to his mother, who passed away from cancer in 2018.
But on the other hand, his love for Mexican baseball, passed down from his grandfather, was also great. Tellez eventually chose Mexico. Unlike Israel, which camped in Florida, the fact that Mexico trains close to its team, Milwaukee, is also said to have had an impact.