|
|
|
|
|
|
For Viņa, Holidays Are A Family Affair
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
12/24/2002
ST. LOUIS -- Few kids are more visible, more often, in the Cardinals clubhouse than Fernando Viņa Jr. Viņa Sr., a two-time Gold Glover and St. Louis' leadoff man, loves to have his only child around whenever possible. In fact, the elder Viņa loves to surround himself with all sorts of family members whenever he can during the season.
So you should see what the holidays are like for the 33-year-old second baseman.
It's all family time, with baseball somewhere in the picture but taking a back seat to some things that are more important in the long run.
"I've got next year on my mind, but by the same token you try to have a balancing act," Viņa said recently from his home near Lake Tahoe, Nev. "Enjoying your family and your loved ones and the holidays and everything that comes along with it (is important). You need to enjoy life."
Things are pretty traditional around the Viņa household at Christmastime, which shouldn't be too surprising. The man himself is something of a throwback ballplayer, a guy who prides himself in getting hit by pitches and in walking off the field with a dirty uniform.
Well, it's all traditional except for one thing. It's tough to keep the kids away from the presents until Christmas morning, so there's a bit of a compromise. Midnight will have to do.
"Christmas Eve we'll be at my parents house and eat dinner there," he said. "As it gets closer to midnight, my son and my nephews, all my parents' grandkids will be screaming at them to try to open presents. You try to fight them away as long as you can until midnight."
It's hard to believe, but Viņa is becoming an elder statesman on his team. He's the second oldest player in the Cardinals' everyday lineup, and he's entering his 10th Major League season. With all that experience has come some perspective.
A difficult season off the field, in which the Cardinals family lost Darryl Kile and Jack Buck, just added to that. Like many of his teammates, Viņa views the people in his life a little differently these days.
"It was a tough year for all of us as a team combined, as an organization," Vina said. "To get home, these times are something special. It's great to be with your family, your loved ones.
"Everything that we went through, it makes you put things in perspective. You tell your loved ones that you love them every day, and that you want to spend time together. You want to be as close together as possible and cherish them. Life, as we've seen, you never know what's gonna happen. It's unpredictable."
It's not just Viņa Sr. who sees things differently as time goes by. As Fernando Jr. gets older, he appreciates family time more as well. Which makes the whole thing sweeter for dad.
"They're learning more," Viņa said of his son, niece and nephews. "They're getting more intelligent as to what Christmas is all about, the meaning of Christmas. When you put that all together with their ages, and the way they get so excited, that's really what makes it for me. To see the smiles on the kids, my son and my nephews and my niece, that they're so happy and they're so excited."
When the season comes around -- and it's under two months until Spring Training gets under way -- Viņa will be ready. But for now, he's treasuring the time he has. Now more than ever, but probably not as much as he will in the future.
Official Web Site of the St. Louis Cardinals
|
| |
