The 22-year-old California native would soon be seeking his seventh win on this particularly humid Virginia summer evening against the Richmond Braves.
One of the first things that the fans sipping from plastic cups of beer and hanging over the railing above the visitors bull pen notice about Alvarez as he warms up is that tilted lid. "Must be a hip-hop thing", one of them mutters to no one in particular. There's laughter. Whispers. More laughter.
They're quick to judge Alvarez, but they're not alone.
Even Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson admits he had bad thoughts running through his mind the first time he saw Alvarez in spring training.
"When I first saw the hat, I thought he was some screwball," Johnson said. "But when he goes out, he competes and he gives you everything he has. I don't give a s--- if he wears his hat backwards."
Unless you took time to look past his tilted bill and the sunglasses, you would never know that the hat is not a fashion statement ˜ or any other statement, for that matter. Alvarez is legally blind in his left eye. He has exceptional vision in his right eye, the more important side when he turns in his delivery to zero in on the catcher and the batter. Wearing his hat like that helps to shield the glare from his right eye.
His eyes appear normal. One just doesn't work. He's never known it any other way.
"To me, it's like no big deal because it's what I'm used to," Alvarez said.
Alvarez was born with a crust-like infection in his eye. Drops were prescribed and his mother began dripping them into her newborn child's eye, but the infection would not clear.
There were more powerful eye drops. Doctors knew there would be risk of side effects but they had to try.
The side effect occurred. His vision degenerated to the point that it's worse than 20-200.
"I can see the batter, but I can't read anything in the outfield," Alvarez said. "It's a big blur. I had glasses as a kid with a really thick lens on (the left) side, but it was just a bigger blur. And I had a contact for one year, but it was just a waste of money and a waste of time. Now, I just wear these (he points to the dark sports glasses. He wears clear ones during a game) because my eye doctor said it's better when I'm on the field to just protect my eyes."
Alvarez was Boston's second-round pick (49th overall) in the 2003 draft out of Long Beach State University where he assembled a 23-5 record with a 2.56 ERA in three seasons and was twice named Big West Conference pitcher of the year.
That summer, he pitched 19 scoreless innings in short-season Single-A ball for the Spinners in Lowell, Mass. -- a 20-minute drive from Boston -- allowing him to leap straight to the Double-A level the following season.
Alvarez was named Double-A Portland's pitcher of the year last season, compiling a record of 10-9 with 3.59 ERA, 108 strikeouts over 135 1-3 innings, and a strikeouts-to-walks ratio of 3.38.
He does not possess a blazing fastball. A 'crafty lefty' control pitcher with command of all his pitches, his fast ball, which is in the 84-88 mile-per-hour range, is complemented by a curve ball and change-up.
Alvarez, who is on the Red Sox 40-man roster, got a World Series ring last season by virtue of a spot start for Boston in July, when he was called up from Portland to help a depleted pitching corps.
"It was pretty cool last year when I made my start . . . Schilling and Damon and some guys inside the dugout had [their hats] like [I wear it], messing around. It means they don't care. That's who I am."
In the organization of the year, chock-full of great pitchers, Alvarez has gone as far as he can go without going up. He has some work to do on toying with hitters, given the fact that he can't blast heat past them. He has starter potential, but, for this season, one of the nicest guys on the Pawtucket roster seems more parked than in motion, and just misses the FAB50 cut. We still think he's One2Watch, though.
- Bruce Wells
