“He was the Best Coach I Ever Had." The Story Behind Jose Trevino's Emotional Father's Day Walk-Off Hit
On June 17, 2018, Texas Rangers catcher Jose Trevino gave the sports world one of the great feel-good stories of the year.
In a wild Father's Day game against the Colorado Rockies, the Rangers twice came back from a four-run deficit and still entered the ninth inning down 12-9.
After the deficit was cut to one, Trevino, a late-game replacement and recent call-up, blooped a full-count fastball into shallow left field, driving in the tying and game-winning run.
After the traditional scrum of teammates around the game's hero dissipated, Trevino made his way over to Rangers' field reporter Emily Jones for what turned out to be an enormously heart-warming interview.
As Jones prepared to ask her first question, Trevino—who just became a father seven days prior—couldn't hold back the tears. When asked what was going through his mind during that at-bat, Trevino answered without hesitation.
"My dad," Trevino said, wiping away a mixture of sweat, tears, and Powerade from his face. "My dad...I wish he was here."
Joe Trevino, Jose's father, had passed away four and a half years prior.
"People that really, really know me, and have known me for a long time, know how big that moment is," Trevino told Sports Illustrated's Inside The Rangers. "They love that story. They know that story is worth a million times more than people who say 'Hey, that was a great moment.'"
Now two years removed from the biggest week in his life, Trevino is ready for his story to be told.
Joe Trevino loved baseball. Raising a family in Alice, Tx., he shared his passion for it with his four children, Jose being the youngest. Joe never forced the game onto his son, Jose rather wrapped his arms around it on his own accord.
"He never forced me to play baseball. I think that's why I fell in love with it," Trevino said. "I always wanted to do it and he never pushed me to do it. ...I was always the one when he got home from work like, 'Hey Dad, let's go outside!'"
Joe would always give the same eager response.
"Okay, let's go!"
Joe coached Jose throughout childhood—through tee ball, coach pitch, and middle school. Even while Jose was in high school, Joe was the scorekeeper. Jose said his dad would always be in the dugout with him, always trying to make him better. Joe had one mantra that remained constant: Be prepared.
Unfortunately, no one could anticipate the road ahead.
On February 17, 2012, Joe and the family made the drive up from Alice to Waco to watch Jose make his collegiate debut for Oral Roberts University against Baylor, fulfilling a dream both Joe and Jose shared.
"He saw my first hit, I'm pretty sure he saw my first strikeout, probably my first error," Trevino said. "He saw all my firsts before he got sick."
Joe never had the chance to watch his son play baseball again.
He planned on attending Jose's game the following day, but it was rained out. A doubleheader was scheduled for Sunday, so the family stayed at a local hotel. Joe fought off pneumonia not long before, and while visiting with his family Saturday night, something seemed off to Jose.
"I'll be fine. I'll be good," Joe reassured him. "I'll see you tomorrow."
However, Jose's family ended up taking Joe to the emergency room later that night. Jose played the doubleheader on Sunday, without his father in attendance. While on the bus headed back to Tulsa, Jose called his father after a rather forgettable series.
"Dude, I just had the worst series of my life," Jose recalled telling his father. "As a freshman in Waco, they don't take it easy on you there."
Joe again reassured his son.
"No matter what happens, you've always made me proud," Joe told his son. "I'm proud of you and I love you, man."
Those were the last words Jose heard from his father. Later Sunday night, Joe slipped into a coma that lasted more than 18 months.
"For some reason after I got off the phone with him, I was bawling crying in my bus seat," Trevino said. "I couldn't tell you why. Maybe something in my head was telling me that might have been the last time."
Trevino contemplated quitting both college and baseball. He contemplated skipping classes and purposely failing so he could be sent home. He told his mother, Patsy, he was coming home.
"She was like, 'No, I can't let you do that. Because I know if your dad was here right now and able to tell you, he wouldn't want you to do that,'" Trevino recalled. “…I would stay up all night and I'd be bawling my eyes out. I'd be like 'Why is this happening?' I'd be questioning myself, like 'Why am I not there with my family?'"
Trevino kept those final words from his father with him. He fought through the pain of not knowing, all while trying to not let anyone know what was going on. Trevino had days where he kept his sunglasses on the whole time so he could hide the tears. He would dream up scenarios where he would hit his first college home run and believe that's the moment his father would wake up.
"I remember when I hit my first college home run, I was crying by the restroom behind the dugout," Trevino recalled, hoping that scenario would come to fruition.
Joe never woke up.
Eventually, his father's death appeared inevitable. Jose's family began to accept it, but Jose couldn't let go. By the fall of 2013, Joe was still in a coma. On the morning of October 20, Jose attended church and finally decided to accept that his father may never wake up.
"I prayed and finally said, 'God, I don't want to see him like this anymore. I don't want him to be in any more pain,'" Trevino said.
That afternoon, Jose got a call from his mother asking him to come to the nursing home. Joe passed away later that day.
"It was really tough when it happened," Trevino said. "But I knew he wasn't in any more pain. He wasn't suffering any more. I really felt like I was the last one that really needed to accept it.
“He was the best coach I ever had. We were getting to that point where I was at a good age where we would have deeper conversations about things—whether it was about baseball, life, or anything like that."
The following June, another one of Joe's dreams for his son came true. The Texas Rangers selected Trevino in the sixth round of the 2014 draft. As with his college career, Trevino continued to carry his father's words with him as he climbed the ladder in the Rangers organization.
Joe Trevino's legacy continued on June 10, 2018—the day Jose's son, Josiah Cruz, was born. Like a lot of first-time parents, Jose didn't know what to expect as he faced fatherhood.
At the advice of his mother, Jose decided the best way was to emulate his own father. All the ways that Joe was with him—all the ways Jose imagined how his dad would handle things—that’s how he decided to father his own child.
He didn't get much time to practice, though. Trevino was playing at Double A Frisco at the time. He was trying to balance being a new father and a budding baseball career.
Just five days after Josiah was born, Jose parked his truck outside Dr Pepper Ballpark before a Friday night game. While on the phone with his mental skills coach, he received an onslaught of calls and texts from his teammates and manager. Trevino finally answered one of the calls that ordered him to go to the manager's office swiftly. A phone call with Rangers assistant general manager Jayce Tingler awaited him.
Trevino was being called up to the major league roster for Friday night’s game against the Rockies. Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos was serving a one-game suspension and the Rangers needed a backup catcher for just one day. Trevino said Tingler reiterated that numerous times.
"You're going to be in the Frisco lineup tomorrow," Trevino recalled the instruction from Tingler. "You're just coming up for the day. We need an extra body....You're going to be in the Frisco lineup tomorrow."
Even though Trevino knew it was a quick call-up, it didn't stop him from dreaming up scenarios on the drive from Frisco to Arlington—not unlike the scenarios he played in his head while his father was in a coma. Despite the circumstances, Trevino felt there was a chance he'd play.
The stage was set after Rangers catcher Carlos Perez sprained his ankle early in the game. As bench coach Don Wakamatsu turned to call on the 25 year-old catcher, Trevino was already getting his gear on, ready and willing to go in the game.
"I wasn't really nervous, I think just because I got thrown into the fire," Trevino recalled. "I didn't have time to be nervous."
Trevino went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in the game. Even so, Perez's injury forced the Rangers to keep Trevino in Arlington a little longer.
"I got home and it was about four o'clock in the morning," Trevino said. "I got a message [from Jayce Tingler] that said, 'Hey, it looks like you just bought yourself another day in the big leagues, kid.'"
Trevino was slotted into the starting lineup for the Saturday afternoon game in Arlington. He fared much better this time around, going 1-for-3 with the game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Still, Trevino waited to hear whether he would be summoned for another day in Arlington or head back to Frisco. Surely enough, Trevino received a text around 2 a.m. telling him to come to Arlington once again for the Father's Day game.
Chirinos started behind the plate for Texas, but after a he took a foul ball off the foot, Trevino was subbed in to catch the ninth inning. Colorado's Trevor Story hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth, giving the Rockies a 12-9 lead. With a three-run hill to climb, Trevino noticed he could possibly have a hand in the outcome.
"I looked up at the scoreboard, and I started counting," Trevino recalled. "The wheels started turning. I was like, ‘Oh my God, something's going to happen.'"
Trevino immediately went down the tunnel and started hitting off the tee. He even told Blake Miller, who was running security there, "Mr. Miller, I think something's about to happen."
Miller fired back, "Well, I sure hope so!"
Sure enough, Rockies closer Wade Davis struggled with his command, walking four Rangers in the inning, two with the bases loaded. Now down 12-11, Trevino walked up to the plate with the bases loaded and one out.
Stepping out of the batter's box after swinging through a 2-1 fastball, Trevino remembered the times his father put him through a myriad of imaginary clutch situations.
"He'd be like, 'Alright, 3-2, two outs, bottom of the ninth! You need a hit to win! You need a home run to win!’” Trevino said. “...I remember getting in the box and being like, 'This is what we've been working for.'"
Trevino took a high breaking ball from Davis, running the count full. All of the work Joe put in with Jose was coming to fruition.
"Honestly, I had a little extra help that day," Trevino said. "As soon as it got to that count, I was like 'I've been doing this my whole life.' I love this situation, I love what it's about.
“...I guess you can say the rest is history after that."
Andrew Dieb-USA TODAY Sports
He dunked the 3-2 pitch into shallow left-center, just past the outstretched glove of shortstop Trevor Story, and the Rangers mobbed the rookie at first base as the winning run scored. Josiah Cruz, only one week old, was in attendance for his father's memorable hit. It brought everything full circle.
“(That game) has everything to do with...everything," Trevino said. "It's my family, it's my son, it's my dad—everything is tied into it. People that really know me and knew my dad—and knew how hard I worked and how much effort he put into working with me and paying attention to me—people that know that, they love that story.”
Even two years later, Trevino still holds that day in high reverence.
"I look at that game a lot," Trevino said. "Obviously, I want to win a World Series. ...But if I had to say that was the biggest moment of my baseball career, I'd be totally fine with that."
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