Who came before you and inspired your baseball career?

There was a man named Tetelo Vargas. He used to be so fast and everybody in our country, and all the countries where he played professional baseball, thought that he could have been a great, great baseball player, a major league player. But, because of the black barrier, he never made it to major leagues. But, he was one of the fastest players in all Latin America. So, I used to hear so much about Tetelo Vargas, that he became one of my Dominican idols.

Then, in 1948, the Dodgers came to the Dominican Republic for Spring Training. And, on that team was Roy Campanella, with Duke Snider as a rookie. And, Duke Snider, they used to call him "The Duke of the Destruction." And, also for that name, he was one of my idols. And, later in my career I got to be Duke Snider's teammate because he played a little bit for the Giants.