Baseball over everything As a valuable team member, Bull delivers with passion

Assistant Sports Editor @S_Fariaz

Abaseball field is little more than green grass, white chalk lines and bases. But to Angel Cruz it means much more.

It’s home. Cruz isn’t a starter for the Pierce College baseball team, but his passion for the game is palpable.

For him, baseball comes first.

“Baseball is a passion of mine,” said Cruz, wearing red, white and black casual sportswear—his favorite colors, which also match those at Pierce.

Born in Houston, Texas and raised in Palm Springs, Calif., Cruz has chosen a life of baseball. While some people might play a sport recreationally or a small percentage can play it professionally, not everyone has the determination and love for the game as Cruz does. His older brother Gustavo Cruz introduced him to the game when Angel was five years old. His brother would tell him to bat lefthanded rather than sticking to his dominant right hand.

“He would just make me hit the other way,” Cruz said. “I never argued with him because I was a kid and I looked up to him.” Now he understands the statistical advantages you have when you bat left handed like being closer to first base.

In middle school, Cruz began to play the trumpet and found a love for music that he did not know existed. He loves to play and read music. He was in the school band which helped expand the music he listened to. Cruz went to Cathedral City

High School in Palm Springs where he continued playing the trumpet and baseball. He was soon faced with a decision he did not want to make. To either play the trumpet for his high school’s symphonic band, which was well known and toured to places like Germany, or to play varsity baseball in his sophomore year.

As much as he loves playing trumpet, giving up baseball wasn’t a thought in his head. From that point on he was fully committed to his school work and to baseball.

Cruz’s older sister Adriana Cruz said that he was always a quiet kid who would keep to himself but was serious about baseball for as long as she can remember.

“He would always want baseball stuff over anything else,” Cruz said. Cruz understood that in order to be great at something, he wouldn’t always have time for social events. He wanted to put in all his effort toward his passion.

Both of Cruz’s parents came from Mexico to the U.S. in their teens and have been an example to him, to work hard for what you want.

“Palm Springs is a blue collar, manual labor city, but it also has its bad parts,” Cruz said. “My parents and teachers helped keep me out of the bad environment and baseball kept me from doing any stupid stuff.”

“I think I’m the only boy in my family that hasn’t had any involvement with the law,” Cruz said.

After three years of varsity baseball and after graduating from high school, Cruz was all set to go to Cabrillo College but a friend of his told him to come to Los Angeles with him and try out for the Pierce baseball team. Cruz came and spoke previous head coach John