A couple of weeks ago, the Angels called up a young infielder named Alexi Amarista who grew up in Venezuela. Amarista is listed at 5′8″, but according to the scout who found him in Venezuela his height may be fudged a bit as he is more like 5′5″ (via Ignacio Serrano of El Nacional).

The story of this little guy with great ambition is truly amazing. Dennis Suarez, the scout that found Amarista remembered seeing Amarista play when he was a kid. “I saw him for the first time when he was 12 years old playing Little Leagues,” he said. “He was a small boy, doing wonders. That’s it. A 6′2″ prospect calls your attention. A little boy with his conditions was something out of this world.”

“I saw him again in a Junior State Championship at Puerto Piritu (Venezuela),” Suarez said. “He caught a ground ball between third and short stop, jumped and threw to first a la Omar Vizquel. ‘He has conditions,’ I said to myself, but that’s it. He wasn’t big or strong, as the MLB organizations look for.”

Suarez got the chance to see Amarista play one more time. When Amarista finally turned 16, he decided to take him to Clay Daniel, the Angels’ scout coordinator in Venezuela. Suarez was the only one who thought that Amarista was going to succeed in the Majors.

“Why would you bring me this small kid?,” asked Daniel. “He’s an alien,” replied Suarez. “He can hit 400-feet homers.”

At that moment Suarez’s journey to get Amarista signed started. “I used to tell my boss that if we signed Alberto Callaspo, we would have to sign Amarista too,” Suarez said. “He told me: ‘Do you really think he is like Callaspo?. And I would reply: ‘Exactly the same, but with more power’. I used to name him all the small players that played in the Majors: Callaspo, Dustin Pedroia, Chone Figgins, Rafael Furcal. ‘Dennis, but all of them are taller than him’ he told me, but I kept pushing.”

After two years of Suarez trying to get him signed, Amarista decided to quit baseball and take a scholarship to play softball. When Amarista was 18 and among the home run leaders in a softball league, Suarez decided to make one last effort to get the little guy signed.

“I told him I was going to intercede for him,” Suarez added. “He kept telling me that he didn’t want to lose his scholarship. ‘I don’t know what am I going to do with that guy, but we’re going to get you signed’.”

“I even told Daniel: ‘take $1000 from my salary and give that to him as the signing bonus.’ That day I finally convinced him. ‘You’re making me crazy with this little guy. Go ahead, sign him.’ Nobody has cost me so much, and with nobody I wasn’t that sure he was gonna make it.”

Amarista hit .400 in his first year with one of the Minors affiliate in the Venezuelan Winter League. He then debuted in the Venezuelan Winter League and finished second for the Rookie of the Year Award, and the next year he came a few votes short of the MVP Award.

In his first Major League season Amarista is hitting .143/.188/.214 with 1 double and 3 RBI’s in 14 AB’s.

Image by El Universal photo archive.