NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Pedro Alvarez has a date every night.
Even if busy with dinner, he grabs his cellphone, puts the speaker on, props it on his shoulder and talks away for about 30 minutes — with his father, a cab driver in New York.
That’s how the Vanderbilt junior stays in touch with his family.
That closeness is why the talented third baseman turned down a big offer from the Boston Red Sox coming out of high school and headed off to college. A tough decision for a fan of Boston’s Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz.
But to Alvarez and his family, education comes first.
“You’ve got to set foot on the ground and be realistic and see things for what they are. At the time, it just wasn’t our path to follow,” Alvarez said as he leaned against the dugout rail before a recent game. “I thought this was the place I could get the best of both worlds.”
Three years later, the decision to delay pro baseball to study economics and play at Vanderbilt is likely to pay off.
Alvarez, a 14th-round draft pick in 2005 out of Horace Mann School in the Bronx, is projected among the top three picks in the Major League Baseball’s amateur draft June 5, maybe the top selection overall. That would reunite him with former Commodores teammate David Price in the Tampa Bay system and make history — Vanderbilt would become the first college or high school with consecutive No. 1 picks.
“It would be amazing,” Alvarez said. “It’d be an honor for whatever team. But to be able to play with David Price would be a nice treat.”
Price, a left-handed pitcher, signed a six-year contract for $11.25 million last year and is in the Rays’ minor-league system.
“Being biased watching what Pedro did for three years, there’s no doubt in my mind he’s the best player in the country, and I truly know the scouts know it too,” Price said.
Being a top pick this time around would make the decision easier for Alvarez, who could finish up the last year of his degree in his time off during the winter. And three years studying economics has him ready to manage any money he makes from pro baseball — which should be substantial, given that he is being advised by agent Scott Boras.
“Hopefully, that’s the plan,” Alvarez said.
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound third baseman has had quite a run since leaving Horace Mann, known more for producing graduates such as former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, violinist Gil Shaham and Pulitzer Prize winners Anthony Lewis and Elliot Carter than professional athletes. Until now, the school’s most famous jocks were tennis player Renee Richards — famously denied entry to the U.S. Open after a sex-change operation — and former WNBA player Bethany Donaphin.
Alvarez, who bats left and throws right, hit .329 with 22 homers as a freshman at Vanderbilt and .386 with 18 homers and 68 RBIs as a sophomore as the only Golden Spikes Award finalist not eligible for the 2007 draft. He led the U.S. national team the past two summers with a .378 average and a team-best 48 RBIs in 2006 and a .315 average with seven home runs in 2007.
Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin, who also coached Alvarez with the U.S. team in 2006, said Alvarez responds well to pressure. Even though Corbin is a Red Sox fan, he was happy that Alvarez joined him at Vanderbilt instead of taking Boston’s offer or choosing an easier path with a different major or college.
“The dividends he’ll reap from this are big,” Corbin said.
Corbin credits Alvarez’s father, Pedro, and mother, Luz, a part-time school aide, for raising their son well.
“He’s had everything that a well-grounded person needs, and that’s two parents that love him and take care of him and had discipline in their household. Because of that, he’s grown up a nice young man,” Corbin said.
His parents, who are from the Dominican Republic, could not be prouder. With their daughter Yolayna, a student at St. John’s, translating via e-mail, they said that the daily phone calls are a treasure.
“From these phone calls we always know where he is and that he is doing well. In Pedro making his daily phone calls it gives us pride to know that he always has his family in mind and does not exclude us from portraying our roles as parents,” the Alvarezes said.
They kept a tight leash on their son in the Washington Heights area in New York and helped him focus on baseball.
He was 3 when his father noticed him playing with baseball bats, holding them as if he were at home plate. By the age of 4, the father felt his son had a gift and sketched out a field, complete with the positions. He also took young Pedro with him when he played softball.
A Little League shortstop, Alvarez wound up on a summer team controlled by a dean at Horace Mann who got him an application to the elite prep school.
Heading to college, Alvarez considered Notre Dame and Miami, with Vandy winning out on his second visit.
This season has been Alvarez’s toughest. He took a pitch off his right hand in his first at-bat of Vanderbilt’s season-opening game against defending national champion Oregon State, breaking a hamate bone. He finished the game, going 0-for-2 with two walks.
A week into his recovery, Alvarez was back on the field working on fielding drills, moving his feet and staying in shape. He missed 23 games, but is now hitting .281 with 14 RBIs and 16 walks and a .934 fielding percentage.
“He’s had to go over some hurdles to be successful here, and he’s really had the tag on the front of his jersey the time he stepped in here,” Corbin said. “I think all these experiences he’s had at Vanderbilt, both educationally and on the ballfield, will help him in his dream to play professional baseball.”
For now, Alvarez is focusing on the season at hand. A season after enjoying their first No. 1 seeding in the NCAA Tournament in the program’s history, the Commodores opened May by sweeping three games from Tennessee to improve to 34-13 and gain a No. 18 ranking by Baseball America. Their goal is a long run in the NCAA Tournament after losing a regional final to Michigan last year in Nashville.
“You want to be on top at the end,” Alvarez said of trying to have a strong finish.
It looks like he knows what he’s talking about.
