Francisco Lindor honors his Puerto Rican roots

Long before Francisco Lindor became “Mr. Smile,” the Major League Baseball star with the colorful hair and unmistakable fashion sense was known to residents of his native Caguas, Puerto Rico, as a talented but shy young ballplayer nicknamed “Paquito.

Today, Lindor is 27 years old and recently signed a 10-year, $341 million contract with the New York Mets, the most lucrative for a shortstop in Major League history. However, he recalls his modest upbringing in Caguas with pride. He grew up playing baseball on the grounds of Villa Blanca, within walking distance of a local store called Al’s Sport Shop. Often, Lindor would go with his parents to purchase the implements he and his brother needed to learn the sport of diamonds.

“When you went in, on the right, there were all the gloves, the bats, the batting gloves…,” Lindor recalls. “And then if you went to the next aisle, there were all the tennis shoes. It was great to go to that store. But most of the time, we had to wait until the next fortnight. We couldn’t buy them right away.”

Maria and Miguel, Lindor’s parents, purchased their sons’ baseball equipment by paying bi-monthly installments, using the store’s layaway system. To this day, the shortstop who has been invited four times to the All-Star Game recalls with joy the feeling he felt when he could finally put on a pair of newly acquired ‘hooks’ at Al’s store.

“We would go every 15 days, pay $10 or $20 and eventually in three months, I had it in my hands,” Lindor stated. “That’s how my parents bought most of my stuff. And I’m very proud of that. That’s part of my roots. It’s part of me.”

The Al’s store is still open in Caguas. Only now, children bring their parents with them to buy the line of shoes and merchandise named after Lindor. Last March, New Balance launched the Lindor 1 tennis shoe model; the first to bear the Puerto Rican star’s name, with or without cleats, to wear on or off the diamond. Currently, Lindor is the only Latino Major League Baseball player with his own footwear model.

“Having my own tennis line means a lot to me,” Lindor said during an interview with ESPN Deportes and The Undefeated for Hispanic Heritage Month. “It has a special place in my heart. I know my whole family is proud. Obviously, the spikes are for Puerto Rico.”

Lindor’s spikes incorporate two straps to provide support: the first for added stability in the midfoot and another to support the ankle, added after Lindor suffered a sprain during the design process. The ankle strap is removable and is intended for ease of use when patrolling all ground positions. The shoe is also adorned with Puerto Rican hibiscus graphics. Thus, Lindor pays permanent homage to his homeland on his feet.

“I am truly proud to be Puerto Rican, and I wanted to send a little message to all the kids. That if I did it, coming from a modest place, then it is possible,” he said.

The brand-new model hits the market four years after Lindor signed a contract with New Balance to spearhead the company’s expansion into the baseball world. The shortstop is only one of three Latin-born players in the history of Major League Baseball to have his own footwear model, and the first in two decades. In 1999, a year after being awarded the National League Most Valuable Player award, seven-time All-Star Sammy Sosa, a native of the Dominican Republic, wore his debut model of athletic footwear, which featured versions with and without spikes, called Fila Sosa. In 2001, the Italian manufacturer launched a training model: the Sosa Strength.

Roberto Clemente, the late right fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates and inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973, was the first Latino player in Major League Baseball history to have sneakers named after him. Clemente’s sneakers, manufactured by a company called Super Pro, were launched exclusively in his native Puerto Rico in 1972. Production of the model was definitively halted after Clemente’s tragic death at the age of 38, the result of a plane crash on New Year’s Eve of that year, while he was on his way to help victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua.

Coincidentally, Al’s Sport Shop opened its doors in December 1972, the same month of the death of Puerto Rico’s greatest baseball legend. Edgardo Colón, current manager of Al’s, began working at the store in 2003. He still remembers the frequent visits made by the boy nicknamed “Paquito”.

“I would see him come into the store looking for gloves and hooks,” Colon recalls. “He would come in like the kid coming into the toy store, with his eyes wide open.”

Back then, Lindor would occasionally visit the store accompanied by Miguel Colón, his childhood friend and teammate. “It was Disney for us,” says Colón, who started working at Al’s as a salesman a few months after the launch of the New Balance Lindor 1.

“We grew up together and could never have imagined anything like that,” says Colón, who played with Lindor from the time they were 4 years old until they were 11. “We never talked about him getting a line of New Balance shoes … of getting that contract. I know people play for money, but he loves the sport. That’s the reason he smiles all the time.”

The Lindor family moved to Florida when “Paquito” was 12 years old. He attended Montverde Academy, located near Orlando (today, the high school’s baseball complex is named after him), and Lindor managed to play at a level that landed him on USA Today’s All-USA high school baseball team. Lindor committed to play for FSU until the Cleveland Indians selected the 17-year-old eighth overall in the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft.

He decided to forgo his full scholarship at FSU to sign a contract with Cleveland for $2.9 million. A few months later, the Mayaguez Indians selected Lindor in the second round of the draft of the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League, Puerto Rico’s winter baseball circuit. Despite that, Lindor stayed on the mainland, working toward realizing his dream of a Major League career.

“He was a diamond that needed to be polished,” Colon said. “In the United States, I had the tools to do it.”

Lindor made his Major League debut in June 2015, wearing an Indians uniform. Over the 16 months that followed, he made his first All-Star Game appearance, won the Gold Glove and was a starting shortstop in the World Series. New Balance had been tracking him since his days as an All-Star in high school.

“Francisco was always on our radar,” says Neil Brooks, head of baseball marketing for the athletic apparel maker. “During the year of his draft pick, we were just beginning to develop our plan to assemble a roster with younger ballplayers. After watching him play in high school events, [we noticed that] he always played with energy and a love for the sport. You could tell he gave off a different vibe than some high school ballplayers at the time. Off the field, we knew he was an extremely respectful and generous person. But aside from all of the above, he had the style we knew we wanted.”

Despite the company’s interest, New Balance didn’t initially have enough style to attract Lindor. The infielder admits that, at first, he didn’t feel much interest in linking up with the brand.

“During the 2016 World Series, some New Balance representatives approached me, saying, ‘Hey, we’ll talk to you during the offseason.’ ‘ Being very honest, I was like, ‘Well, I don’t know,'” Lindor recalls.

“Back then, New Balance wasn’t fashionable,” continues Lindor, who has built a reputation as one of the most stylish Major League Baseball players, dyeing his hair every color imaginable and wearing extremely flashy chains. “I always perceived New Balance as the brand that my dad and grandfathers wore, you know?”

Lindor spent his first five years playing in the Majors wearing spikes made by rival Under Armour. However, Lindor’s contract with the brand was set to expire at the start of the 2016 offseason after Cleveland lost in the World Series to the Chicago Cubs. As a result, Lindor became a free agent in athletic footwear. He received a shipment of New Balance products and his perception of the brand immediately changed. In particular, Lindor liked the soles made of composite plastic, rather than the traditional metal spikes.

“I put them on and I remember texting my agent, saying, ‘Herman, this is completely different than what I’ve been wearing. We definitely need to have this conversation.'”

Brooks, who resides and works in Florida, drove in 2016 to the home where Lindor spends the offseason to deliver an official proposal. In February 2017, Lindor formalized his partnership with New Balance through a multi-year contract that made the 23-year-old Puerto Rican the face of the baseball footwear division, the main generator of sales for the brand.

It’s surprising to learn that naming a New Balance shoe after him wasn’t always part of Lindor’s plan… at least in his mind.

“During a meeting; right before we hired him, or shortly after, I remember hearing him say he didn’t want to create a shoe model with his name on it,” says Matt Nuzzo, New Balance’s baseball specialty product manager. “His agent would say, ‘Wait, wait, wait…what did you just say?’ Francisco felt he had to earn that right. To my mind, that said, ‘This kid is different.'”

Lindor took on his personal challenge and linked an impressive 2017 season in the majors. He hit .279, with 33 home runs, 44 doubles and 89 runs batted in. He picked up the first Silver Slugger of his career, in addition to finishing fifth in the American League Most Valuable Player voting.