Carlos Carrasco, at 35 years old, made his big league debut back in 2009, but had never stood on a major league mound in front of his father until Wednesday afternoon.
Luis Carrasco was finally able to make the trip from Colombia to watch Carlos toss five shutout innings in a win over the Nationals, completing a quest to watch his son at the highest level after numerous previous attempts didn’t pan out.
“It was really emotional,” Carlos said. “Eleven years playing in the big leagues, this is the first time he saw me pitch. we’ve tried before and it couldn’t happen. He was supposed to be here the first game with the Phillies, but the flight was delayed and he couldn’t make it. Today, he made it.”
Luis didn’t hide the emotion and excitement of seeing his son pitch in person for the first time as a major leaguer, rising to his feet and enthusiastically clapping each time Carrasco escaped an inning.
“[Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner] showed me the video, because we had it on the iPad,” Carlos said of the footage of his father cheering on his son. “It was really emotional. I almost cried at that point right there. But I’m glad he got to see it and enjoy the game too.”
The Mets hand out a championship-style belt to the player of the game after each win, and whoever won it the previous game passes it on to the next champ. But this time, it wasn’t a player who got to hand the belt to Carlos.
“They said ‘No, it’s somebody else, they’re gonna give you the belt,’” Carlos said. “Then I saw my dad walking in. it was really emotional for me.”
Carlos has seen plenty of memorable moments in his 13-year career. He has pitched in three postseason games, has pitched after battling leukemia, but Wednesday might just rank at the top after not seeing his father for a year.
“Through my career, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs,” Carlos said. “This is gonna go in a special place for me. My mom, she saw me pitch in 2015, and my dad couldn’t come. Now, seven years later, he was able to make it. This is gonna go in a special place for me.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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