Athlete of the Week: Chris Mondesi

Chris Mondesi grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and is playing his first season for the UTRGV Baseball Team as an infielder, according to goutrgv.com. He is a junior and the nephew of former Major League outfielder Raul Mondesi, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Yankees and others.

Q: What has inspired you to become a baseball player?

A:“It’s been in my family DNA. It’s just been something I was born into. The first thing I did was pick up a baseball.”

Q: What is a song that hypes up the baseball team before a game, and why?

A: “There’s a lot of them, but right now, it’s ‘City of Gods’ by Kanye West and Alicia Keys. It’s a song that we

all like and we all listen to it in the locker room and play it about 10 times a day.”

Q: What is your favorite aspect about baseball?

A: “Favorite aspect is that you’re not always going to succeed, but you

have to try and maximize the opportunities that you do succeed in and just enjoy the game and have fun with it.”

Q: What is the most memorable game you have played?

A: “That’s a tough one. I would have to say my first game ever. I still remember it vividly. My dad had asked me if I was nervous, and I said, ‘I am not nervous.’ I remember my first pair of spikes I wore to the game. I just remember having fun and being a kid.”

Q: Besides baseball, what are your favorite sports and favorite teams?

A: “My favorite sport, besides baseball, would have to be football. My favorite pro football team would have to be the Giants, since I’m from New York and that’s where I grew up.”

Q: Who is your favorite famous athlete?

A:“[Former eight-division world boxing champion and current Philippines Sen.] Manny Pacquiao and [Los Angeles Rams wide receiver] Odell Beckham Jr.”

Q: What is a random fact about yourself?

A: “I grew up in New York, but I also went to high school in Florida, as well.”

—Compiled by Ailed Montague