Before Cleveland’s contest against the New York Yankees, Adriana and her sister, Maiya, got to take the mound at Progressive Field and throw out ceremonial first pitches while Aviles and his wife urged them on.
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Prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, that Indians publicly said they wouldn’t be listening to offers involving Aviles and wouldn’t be moving him, as Adriana has been getting treatment at the Cleveland Clinic. Which promoted the tribe’s organization to shave their heads in support of her. On this day, she was given the chance to throw out the first pitch and it was flawless.
“I’m sure it will be one of the more touching first pitches I’ve ever seen”, manager Terry Francona said prior to the series finale against the New York Yankees. It makes me happy.
Aviles, a versatile utility man, will be a free agent at the end of the season and thus would have made a very good trade chip for teams now in contention for a playoff spot.
Finally, my prayer for the Aviles family is that you will all persevere through these trials, and that your family will form an even closer bond than you already have.
But on Thursday it was Adriana’s time to shine.
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“Chris told me straight up, ‘Sometimes baseball is second”.
