Michael "Mike" Anthony Avilés [ah-ve-les' ] is a Puerto Rican-American professional baseball shortstop for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball.
He gave me a stack of batting gloves. He said, 'Mike, if you need anything, you let me know.' I would see him other times, and he would tell me he heard I was playing well. He was always real cool. It's a shame he got a bad rap.
I finished my workout, but stayed to watch the game. I sat near him. He looked over and asked me if I was from New York, because of the way I laced my sneakers. So we got talking.