The Power of Turning Pro - A feature on Hillcats Alexis Pantoja

Lynchburg, Va. - Like many Minor League players, Hillcats infielder Alexis Pantoja is trying to make it to the Major Leagues. That mission became secondary last September, when his native Puerto Rico was hit by Hurricane Maria, sending all of its $3.4 million residents into a desperate humanitarian crisis.

"It was a bad experience, I was scared for my family and my house," Pantoja said. "The day after, I was looking outside my house into the street, and saw cars and trees crushed. 'I said wow this is hard for me. It was just unbelievable.'"
Pantoja, 22, was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 9th Round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. He was committed to play college baseball at Alabama State, but ultimately decided to forgo his scholarship and sign with the Indians.
"I talked to my family. It was a big decision," Pantoja said. "They wanted me to go to school, but at the same time, I wanted to play professional. They said it's your job and your career, to do what you want. So I said, why not?"
That decision would loom large several years later.
Hurricane Maria was the worst storm to strike the island in over 80 years. It will haunt Puerto Rican residents for many years to come. The powerful Category 4 storm made its way across the island with sustained winds of 155 mph, uprooting trees, crushing cell towers, and ripping homes apart. Electricity was cut off to the majority of the island, and access to clean water and food became limited for most. The storm is regarded as being the worst natural disaster on record to affect Puerto Rico. It was also the tenth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record and the most intense tropical cyclone worldwide of 2017. All of this happened just two weeks after Hurricane Irma had made a similar effect on the island.
That's where the Cleveland Indians stepped in.
"The very next day, Cleveland called me and asked if I needed anything for me or my family or friends," Pantoja said.
The infielder told the Indians brass that he could really use electricity and some food. Sure enough, Cleveland rushed a generator and food in bulk from Sam's Club to Pantoja's home.
"Every day they would call and ask me if I needed more," Pantoja said. The Indians resources also allowed him to assist others. "I helped a lot of people, too. A lot of friends, more than 20 people.
You are walking in the street and there's nothing. No more trees, no more lights. Even people with no connection to baseball, the Indians helped."
Pantoja said his family used the generator provided by Cleveland for three months before electricity returned.
While relief efforts in Puerto Rico were underway, the Indians approached Pantoja in November with the idea of completing his offseason training program at the organization's spring training complex in Goodyear, Ariz.
"After that, I left Puerto Rico and wasn't sure about how everything was, but my family said it was getting better and that made me happy," Pantoja said.
After a month in Arizona, Pantoja spent the remainder of his offseason on the east coast. He moved to Orlando, where he trained and stayed in the home of Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor, who is also a native of Puerto Rico. The two have known each other since Pantoja joined the Indians.
"In 2014, he was the first guy on the team to call me," Pantoja said. "I answered my phone and said 'who is talking to me'? He said 'Frankie.' I said 'Frankie Lindor?! Come on!'
He said 'hey, I know you have talent, keep working hard no matter what. If you need something just tell me and I'll see you soon.'"

Pantoja met Lindor for the first time in Arizona when he was in the Indians instructional league, and Lindor was in the fall league.
"I was sleeping and then somebody starting knocking on my door. I told my roommate to open the door," Pantoja said. "He told me he was tired and I said me too, I don't care. Then someone said 'hey open the door please!'"
The person standing outside the door was Lindor. He got a key from the lobby and let himself into Pantoja's room.
"He said 'wake up! I want to take you to dinner, you are like my little brother now.'"
Pantoja said he works a lot with Lindor on both his hitting and fielding.
"He plays at a high level that I want to play at one day. He tells me don't think too much, just play your game and have fun."
After Cleveland was eliminated in last year's postseason, Lindor bounced back-and-forth between his home in Orlando and Puerto Rico. He was constantly helping out with the relief efforts, bringing water and food on each trip. Lindor, along with some of his Indians teammates, donated a portion of their playoff salary, totalling $37,000 for hurricane relief efforts on the island.
The official death toll after the storm was 64 in Puerto Rico, but investigations by other news organizations indicate there may have been more than 1,000 storm-related fatalities. The hurricane also caused $90 billion in damage.
If Pantoja would have honored his commitment at Alabama State, there is no guarantee that his friends and family would have received the type of assistance they did, given the Indians connection.   
That decision was a life-altering one for Pantoja and his family, regardless of how far his baseball career takes him.
"It was a hard situation for a lot of people," Pantoja said, "and I appreciate everything."