Always Relentless, Always Fighting, Eddy Alvarez Reflects On His Historic Career

As Eddy Alvarez looks back on a highly successful career in two professional sports, one moment stands above all others. It was when this son of Cuban immigrants carried the American flag into the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

“I can’t help but think about the sacrifices that had to be made for me to thrive in that point in time,” Alvarez said. “I’m talking about generations before me in my family who came from Cuba, and … had to fight to then make it to this country to then start all over with nothing and then to give the next generation a better opportunity at life, a greater opportunity for freedom and a chance for a better life.

“I owe my career to my parents, to my grandparents and the generations before them because I would not be a United States citizen without them.”

That career saw him earn Olympic Silver medals in short track speed skating in 2014 and in baseball in 2021 while also reaching the major leagues. He became just the sixth athlete all-time and the third American to take home medals from both the Winter and Summer Olympics.

Alvarez’s speed skating medal came in the Men’s 5000m Relay at Sochi. He reached the podium again as the starting second baseman with the U.S. baseball team at the pandemic-delayed Games in Tokyo, making the All-Olympic Team.

His athletic career ended at age 35 in July, when he announced his retirement from professional baseball. He played parts of four seasons in the major leagues for the Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets.

“It’s been exciting times. It’s a little nerve-wracking,” Alvarez said of the early days of retirement. “I’ve done sports for so long, and I’ve been a professional athlete for so long. It’s all I’ve ever really known. I’m looking forward to life after.”

For now, he’s focusing on being a good father and husband. The future is less certain, but he’s fine with that.

“I haven’t had the urgency to make any decisions right now,” he said. “I can’t tell you exactly what I want to do. It still hasn’t hit me that I’m going to be here 24/7, 365 days a year, with time.”

Alvarez is taking time to reflect on a remarkable career that began in his native Miami. His family’s deep baseball roots had him playing that sport by age 4. He eventually found his way into speed skating after receiving roller skates for Christmas a year later.

When he began winning national speed skating titles, Alvarez knew he could do something special in that sport, also.

“I was very, very adamant about becoming a Major League Baseball player and Olympic skater,” Alvarez recalled. “That was one dream that I had on a daily basis that I wanted to chase.”

Alvarez admitted that juggling the two sports while growing up could be challenging. His daily schedule in middle school included classroom time and practices with the school baseball team, his speedskating team and his travel baseball team.

“I wouldn’t change it for the world because it really taught me at a very young age what it is to have discipline and to chase … dreams that I had,” he said. “It demanded a lot of my time and a lot of my parents’ time, too.”

It was physically demanding, as well. Knee surgery a year and a half prior to the Sochi Games nearly derailed his Olympic career before it began, but he never gave up.

“I’ve always been relentless,” Alvarez said. “I never, ever had any thought in my life to ever let go of either sport. I’ve never been scared of the uncomfortable. I’ve always just kind of gone down the street it took me to.”

After earning his first Olympic medal, Alvarez returned to baseball for what he thought would be a brief time before going back to speed skating. Instead, he rose rapidly through the Chicago White Sox minor league system after signing as an undrafted free agent. He finally reached the major leagues with Miami in 2020 at age 30.

“I played with a sense of urgency every day,” he said. “I kind of pushed the envelope every day.”

As he settles into retirement, Alvarez said he knows how much he owes to US Speedskating.

“I grew up with US Speedskating,” he said. “I became a man with US Speedskating. US Speedskating is very dear in my heart.”

Bob Reinert spent 17 years writing sports for The Boston Globe. He also served as a sports information director at Saint Anselm College and Phillips Exeter Academy. He is a contributor to USParaSwimming.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.