Jesus Aguilar’s Long and Winding Road
Sometimes, all we really need is a change of scenery.
Jesus Aguilar was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in late 2007 at the age of 18. For the next nine seasons, he rode buses and played in front of paying crowds in the Dominican Republic, in his native Venezuela and in places like Zebulon, North Carolina, and Akron, Ohio. For more than 1,000 games, Aguilar chased his shot at big league baseball, in a way that few of us will ever know.
There can be little doubt that Progressive Field (or Jacobs Field, as it was known when he was first signed) was always the ultimate goal in Jesus Aguilar’s mind. Getting paid to come to the ballpark and play is probably an amazing feeling, but what we call “The Show” is the pot of gold at the end of the baseball rainbow. You’ve seen the scene in Bull Durham where Crash Davis explains to teammates what being a major leaguer is like. Here it is again, as a refresher. This is what thousands of guys chase in the minor leagues, and only a handful will see their dreams realized.
After nine seasons in the minors, the Cleveland Indians waived Jesus Aguilar after the 2016 season. Aguilar had been a call-up in 2014, 2015 and 2016, but by that point, the Tribe had seen enough. Baseball is a business, after all. Every player who gets cut or traded or DFA’ed realizes that.
So, the Progressive Field fantasies of Jesus Aguilar had come to a crashing halt. But sometimes, that’s exactly the sort of thing needed to bring about something even greater. The Milwaukee Brewers took a chance and signed Aguilar, where he found the type of playing time in 2017 he had never known in the Cleveland organization. He wasn’t an everyday starter at first base—Eric Thames had that job—but he started 45 games for the Brewers, and logged over 300 plate appearances. Progressive Field probably felt like a distant memory.
On Friday night in Milwaukee, Jesus Aguilar had the type of game the rest of us only dream about. In front of a home crowd at Miller Park, Aguilar broke up a no-hit bid by St. Louis’ Jack Flaherty in the seventh inning, and then hit a walk-off home run to win the game in the ninth. A better script for a ballplayer could hardly be written.
As he rounded the bases for the second time, with tens of thousands of Brewers fans celebrating his accomplishments, there were probably many thoughts swirling through Aguilar’s mind. But I would be stunned if Progressive Field and the Cleveland Indians organization were anywhere among them. Milwaukee is his home now, and will remain so for however many months and years he produces.
There will probably even be another change in scenery for Jesus Aguilar at some point, because that’s how it goes for a professional ballplayer. But it’s very unlikely the next change of scenery will turn out any better than this one has.
