4 July 4-10, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | news | letters | coNteNts | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | ▼ DORAL BIG BREAK DORAL NATIVE PEDRO PAGÉS SHINES IN MLB CALL-UP. BY JULIA POSTELL V enezuelan-born Pedro Pagés’ journey to Major League Base- ball took him from youth leagues in Doral in the ‘00s to prep school in Pinecrest and college in Boca Raton in the ‘10s to his debut with the St. Louis Cardinals early this spring. Through it all, the rookie catcher will tell you, there has been one constant: his family — and, perhaps most of all, his father. When asked about his relationship with his father during a recent locker-room inter- view at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Pagés’ eyes lit up when he declared, “My dad is the best coach.” The weekend prior, Edgar Pagés watched as his son lit up baseball’s biggest stage. The catcher from Doral cracked his first big- league home run into the Wrigley Field bleachers to help fuel the Cardinals to a 3-0 victory over National League Central Divi- sion archrival Chicago Cubs. Two days later — on Father’s Day, no less — Dad watched Pedro hit his second career dinger, a two-run shot that provided the winning margin in the Redbirds’ 2-1 victory at Wrigley. For the Pagés family, it was the culmina- tion of years spent watching Pedro hone his craft on the diamond. “The best present in my life,” Edgar Pagés said during an in-game Father’s Day interview in the Wrigley Field stands while Pedro’s sis- ter, Maria, translated for her dad, a Venezue- lan native. “Nothing tops the fact that I got to see my son hit two home runs on this field.” New Times managed to catch up with Pagés in the visitors’ clubhouse when the Cardinals visited the Marlins for a three- game set last week. Asked to share his favorite local childhood hangouts, he mentioned mountain biking at Markham Park in Sunrise and going to the mall with friends. “Dolphin Mall — we would go to all the time. As a kid, we’d go to the mov- ies, bowling, Dave & Buster’s, the beach.” But mostly you could find him on the youth-league baseball diamonds of West Mi- ami-Dade, from the grass and clay at Tamiami Park to Grapeland Park and Hialeah’s base- ball fields. After that came travel ball, a stint at Ronald W. Reagan Doral Senior High School before he transferred to Gulliver Prep, and college at Florida Atlantic University. At FAU Pedro showcased his natural lead- ership from the outset. “I was always impressed by the depth of his baseball knowledge for a young man,” FAU baseball head coach John McCormack tells New Times. “I am so happy and proud of the fact he made it to the big leagues. It is not an easy route, and he persevered.” The Cardinals plucked the sturdy Pagés out of FAU in the sixth round of the 2019 MLB draft when he was 20 years old and still a junior. As was the case with most players at that stage, the six-foot-one, 245-pound catch- er’s career was briefly derailed by the Covid pandemic, but the perseverance McCormack mentions served him well as he bounced around baseball’s minor leagues. The Cardinals were high enough on Pagés to invite him to spring training with the big league club this year before promoting him to AAA Memphis to start the 2024 season. An injury to Cardinals first-string catcher Will- son Contreras was the catalyst for Pagés’ April 7 MLB debut, and when New York Mets designated hitter J.D. Martinez broke Contre- ras’ forearm in early June, Pagés slotted in be- hind Contreras’ backup, Ivan Herrera. In 66 MLB plate appearances through June 26, Pagés has struggled as a hitter, notching a batting average of only .155. But he has excelled behind the dish, earning high praise from the Cards’ pitching staff and coaches. (And there were those two unforget- table home runs in Chicago.) As role models he cites two recently retired future MLB hall of famers: Cardinals legend Yadier Molina (catching); and Miguel Cabrera (hitting), who broke in with the Marlins in 2003 and who, like Pagés, was born in the Venezuelan city of Maracay. Edgar Pagés still calls regularly to critique his son’s performance and offer advice. But aside from the trip to Wrigley and last week’s three-game set in Miami, he’s most often guid- ing Pedro from afar, catching the games on TV instead of being there to coach him in person. Pedro returned home for the series against the Marlins. Back in the soft glow of kitchen lights and with his family gathered around the dinner table, he says, he felt fulfilled. “Having home-cooked meals with my grandma, I get to enjoy the moment with my family,” he says. | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS Doral native Pedro Pagés hit his first major-league home run at Wrigley Field in Chicago on June 14, 2024. Pedro Pagés in an interview inside the visitors’ clubhouse at LoanDepot Park. Photo by Tom Finkel Screenshot via MLB.com ▼ MIAMI-DADE AT YOUR CERVIX A GIANT IUD VISITED THE COUNTY COURTHOUSE DOWNTOWN. BY ALEX DELUCA I t’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s an inflatable IUD! On June 18, the campaign Americans for Contraception kicked off its “IUD Express” Tour across the 305 to raise awareness and edu- cate people about the need to protect contracep- tives like intrauterine devices (IUDs) following Republicans’ efforts to block a federal birth-con- trol rights bill. As the morning began, and the streets of Miami’s downtown began to fill with people, the group erected a 20-foot-tall inflat- able IUD outside the Miami-Dade courthouse. The lilac-colored device towered over lawmakers U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Florida Sen. Shevrin Jones, as well as activists like Men4Choice’s Aaron Bos-Lun, as they encouraged people to vote this upcoming election for lawmakers who will protect women’s bodily autonomy. “We have to make sure that we promote awareness in the fight to protect access to con- traception,” Wasserman Schultz said during the press conference. The IUD-shaped balloon arrived in Miami less than two weeks after Senate Republicans — in- cluding Florida’s own Rick Scott and Marco Rubio — blocked a bill that would have protected ac- cess to birth control pills, IUDs, emergency con- traception, and other contraceptive methods at the federal level. The following week, Republicans blocked a bill that would have ensured federal protections for in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a tech- nology that helps people with infertility conceive. Scott, who was among the GOP lawmakers who voted against IVF protections, unveiled an ad on social media less than a day later touting his support for IVF alongside the words: “Each of my 7 grandkids is a precious gift from God. But sometimes fam- ilies need help. You can count on this grandpa to always pro- tect IVF.” “This out- sized birth con- trol symbol will never compare to how colos- sally hypocritical Republicans are on this issue,” Wasserman Schultz scoffed. She added: “Don’t pee on my foot and then tell me it’s raining. These guys have absolutely no shame.” The now-famous inflatable IUD, which notably stood outside the U.S. Capitol on the day of the Senate vote, has popped up across the country in recent weeks as a symbol of the fight to protect contraception rights. In Miami, several event speakers stood in front of the blown-up IUD holding small red and yellow signs that read “CONTRACEPTION IS HEALTH CARE” and “AMERICANS FOR CON- TRACEPTION.” A mobile billboard sat parked nearby with the words “FIRST ABORTION…THEN IVF…NOW CONTRACEPTION.” Democratic State Rep. Ashley Gantt, who rep- resents parts of Miami, recalled during the press conference how when Republicans passed a six- week abortion ban, she asked the bill sponsors: “How close to death does a woman have to be in order for medical care and doctors to intervene?” They had no answer, she said. [email protected] “WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE PROMOTE AWARENESS IN THE FIGHT TO PROTECT ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTION.”
