Adamant: Hardest metal
Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Turmoil at home tough on Torrealba - Off-season in Venezuela was rough on backup catcher

www.timesstar.com110801203218,00.html By Josh Suchon STAFF WRITER

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Yorvit Torrealba of the San Francisco Giants can't help smiling when he passes an Arizona gas station that is open 24 hours and has no lines. It was much different this past winter back home in Venezuela.

"It would be a day or two that you would wait for the gas to get to the gas station," Torrealba said. "The thing is, once it did arrive, the people made big lines. It would be 3-4 hours long. Where I live, I know everybody, so I don't have to wait in the long lines. But for my friends, it was messed up. Some people would spend the night waiting in line just to get gas in their cars."

Torrealba, who quietly put together a nice rookie season as the backup to Benito Santiago, never feared for his life as the South American nation underwent political and economic turmoil.

But coming off the euphoria of his rookie season in the big leagues and being in the World Series, it was disheartening for him to return home and see what had become of his country.

"It's definitely frustrating," Torrealba said. "I know that Venezuela is a great country. A lot of people don't like the president and don't like the rules. It's tough. I love my country.

"You want to go somewhere, and you are afraid of what's going to happen, whether they are going to be killing people or what. One day, it was all right and everybody was happy. The next day, almost half the country take to the streets and argue about the president."

Torrealba didn't have the misfortune of some major-leaguers.

Houston outfielder Richard Hidalgo was wounded in the left arm in an attempted car jacking. Anaheim Angels pitcher Francisco Rodriguez said his grandmother and uncles were robbed three times in one week at gunpoint because the men thought the World Series hero's family members had money.

Instead, Torrealba stayed mostly in his neighborhood and spent time with his family.

"If I go to a neighborhood that I haven't been before, I definitely have to be careful," he said. "They know ballplayers have more money and they might try to do something to you. Each player in his own neighborhood is all right though. Most of the time, I stay in my neighborhood with my family, my wife, my son."

At Scottsdale Stadium, players arrive and breakfast is waiting for them in the kitchen. After workouts, lunch is waiting for them. A big refrigerator has beers, sodas and waters for the players.

Back in Venezuela, the owner of the biggest beer distributor took part in the strike designed to force President Hugo Chavez's ouster.

"For two months, we didn't have beer, we didn't have soda, we didn't have some food we need to eat," Torrealba said. "What we did was buy big bunches. Like I'd buy the biggest package of rice that I could find. One day, you could buy food. The next day, you couldn't. You would never know what to expect.

"There's been a lot of crime and other stuff. It's tough when you are sitting in your house and you need money to support your family."

RAIN FORECAST: The Giants intrasquad game this morning is in jeopardy because of a storm headed to Arizona that is expected to keep the Phoenix area wet for two days. No veterans were expected to play in the game, but manager Felipe Alou was eager to see some of the youngsters play.

ONE-HOPPERS: Individual game tickets for the 2003 season (opening day excluded) go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Giants Web site at sfgiants.com, the Pacific Bell Park ticket office, all Giants Dugout Store locations and all Tickets.com locations. ... Thursday's Cactus League opener will be the first of 13 exhibition games airing on 680 AM.

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