Balancing Act: Former Red Sox minor leaguer Bryan Gonzalez discusses baseball & fatherhood
The stomping of heavy feet in the stands is accompanied by an eruption of cheers, as the crowd celebrates witnessing an exhilarating win at Flour Field. A sea of red uniforms makes its way from the dugout to the first base line towards Greenville Drive outfielder Bryan Gonzalez, who hit a walk-off single to end the game in the bottom of the ninth.
After all the commotion dwindles down, players return to the clubhouse to shower and enjoy what is left of the evening. Most continue the celebration by exploring the night life in South Carolina, but Gonzalez stays behind in his room for a very important routine FaceTime call.
The Santo Domingo native began playing baseball when he was eight, and knew he eventually wanted to make the sport his full-time occupation. Gonzalez signed with the Red Sox as a free agent in July of 2018, at 16 years old. Once he inked his name on the dotted line, Gonzalez was able to stay close to home in the Dominican Republic, as he reported to the Red Sox training academy in the area for the first stop in his professional career.
“I was really excited to get going, especially with the opportunity to play in the United States,” Gonzalez said. “But I thought about just trying to go with the flow and have fun also.”
However, his focus had to shift in March of 2019, when Gonzalez and his girlfriend at the time welcomed a son into the world.
Gonzalez met his son’s mother while attending school in the Dominican and shortly after the two began dating. But, almost one year into the relationship everything took a turn as symptoms of a potential pregnancy began to appear.
“We went to the hospital to get a test and see the results together, and I was very nervous,” Gonzalez said. “When the test came back positive I just thought, now it is time to step up and be responsible.”
Since Liam was born during the offseason, Gonzalez was able to dedicate time to becoming a father before balancing his training at the academy with being present at home.
Roughly a year into navigating parenthood the amount of responsibility weighing on Gonzalez grew exponentially, as his son’s mother decided to take an opportunity outside of the Dominican Republic.
“She told me that she was going to move and left Liam with me,” Gonzalez said. “I told her that she can do what she needs to because I was always going to take care of my son, and was excited to have him with me.”
As baseball season rolled around Gonzalez had to depart for the states to continue his career with the Red Sox, which meant leaving Liam somewhere he was more comfortable.
While he is away, Liam remains in the care of his grandparents. But, Gonzalez contributes financially with each paycheck to make sure that his parents can give Liam everything he could possibly need.
“He now is old enough to understand that daddy is gone because he is working,” Gonzalez said. “But I FaceTime him after every single game so I can talk to him and he knows I am here for him.”
Gonzalez is not the only one who is away from his child during the season. He mentioned former teammates Felix Cepeda and Juan-Daniel Encarnacion are also fathers and understand what each other are going through.
“It is something we can talk about because we all know what it is like to have to be away for such a long period of time and balance that part of life.” Gonzalez said.
Liam is now five years old and is in his first year of school. He continues to stay with his grandparents throughout the year, with Gonzalez joining them during the offseason. When he is home, Gonzalez enjoys teaching Liam how to play baseball and helping him with his homework.
Though, the cherry on top is having Liam and his parents attend his games as he competes for Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Winter league, in his home city.
“Liam loves to yell ‘daddy hit a home run for me,’ when he is in the stands,” Gonzalez said. “I love having them come watch me in person instead of having to wait for a FaceTime, it is the best feeling.”
In the future Gonzalez plans to bring Liam to the states with him when he is older.
Really good read!