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New Marlin Sergio Romo overcame racism and more to make majors, motivated by promise to his father

JUPITER, Fla. — Not American enough. Not Mexican enough. Not good enough.

Sergio Romo wasn’t accepted by either side of his ethnicity growing up.

And many thought he’d never make it out of his hometown of Brawley, Calif. (about 20 miles from the United States-Mexico border).

“I got called a spik, a wetback, all of that,” Romo said referring to the slurs he heard directed at him while he pitched in college in Alabama.

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He wasn’t safe from such racism across the border either.

When he played baseball as a teenager in Mexicali, Romo said he was once denied the chance to play for a team simply because he was “the American kid.”

“‘Pocho,’ they called me,” Romo said, referring to a derogatory word used by Mexicans to describe someone they don’t deem one of their own, and that literally describes a fruit that’s become rotten or discolored. “I hate that word.”

Romo, who is proud to be Mexican American, learned to deal with the discrimination and the doubters.

Of his many tattoos, Romo has a large one blending the American and Mexican flags together on his upper back that he says represents “an American made with Mexican parts.”

As he pursued his baseball dream, Romo motivated himself to prove wrong not only those who insulted him but also those who said he was too short and didn’t throw the ball hard enough to make it to the majors.

Such resilience helped Romo (who’s listed at 5-11, 185 pounds) trek through a bumpy road that took him from Arizona Western College to North Alabama to Colorado Mesa University before being drafted in the 28th round by the San Francisco Giants at age 22.

It helped him become a three-time World Series champion with the Giants, a baseball pioneer and a two-time representative of the Mexican national team in the World Baseball Classic.

Quitting wasn’t an option for Romo.

He had a promise to keep. A promise he made to his father, Frank, when he was 11 years old as both watched a baseball game together on the couch at their home on a random Wednesday night.

Romo’s father once pitched for the popular Mexican team, the Diablos. But like his father before him, working to help the family took precedence over playing baseball.

“I remember it was a Dodgers game, ESPN Wednesday night baseball, Rudy Seanez was pitching,” Romo said. “My dad had torn his rotator cuff and he had to keep his arm lifted up.

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“I turned and looked, and he had a tear in his eye. I was like, ‘Papa, what’s wrong?’ He said, ‘Whatever you end up doing with your life, just make sure it’s something that makes you happy.’ I told him, ‘You see that guy pitching, I’m gonna be that guy one day.’ It’s crazy to think I could say something like that to him. Something I had no control over. But I’m 35 now. I’m still here.”

The rebuilding Marlins went down to Jalisco, Mexico, recently during winter ball and scouted Romo, who will turn 36 in two weeks, eventually convincing him to sign last week to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million.

Romo reported to spring training with the Marlins’ other pitchers and catchers last week. (Andre Fernandez / The Athletic)

The Marlins, whom Romo said this week expressed “exciting ideas” on how he will be utilized, are open to pitching Romo in any and every role in 2019.

And Romo wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m so far outside the box, I don’t even know what the box looks like anymore,” Romo said.

Growing up in Brawley with a younger sister and older brother, Romo’s original path in life almost led him to the Navy.

When he was growing up, Romo showed a high aptitude for math. Later, he almost pursued becoming an electrician, but he ultimately decided to go after his baseball dream.

His father, who still played baseball with men younger than him on the weekends in Mexicali in recent years, became a machinist working hard labor much like his grandfather did farming along the Imperial Valley in California to help the family make ends meet. That was the family way.

“They both got drafted to play pro ball in Mexico,” Romo said. “But my great grandpa didn’t let my grandpa do it because there was work to be done on the ranch. It wasn’t a sure thing they could make it. So, he told them, the family needs you to work.”

Back in Brawley, his father built a small pitching mound in his backyard and taught Sergio how to pitch.

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Romo’s determination has led him to Miami, where the versatile right-hander enters the 12th year of a major-league career that’s seen him pitch as a middle reliever, set-up man, an All-Star closer, and most recently as a trend-setter.

Romo has defied expectations by complementing a four-seam fastball that’s never averaged over 90.4 mph with a wicked slider he used 58 percent of the time last season that induced batters to strike out 34.7 percent of the times he threw it.

Romo also improved a changeup he threw 134 times in 2018 to fool lefties, inducing a 48.1 percent strikeout rate.

“He still looks like a lot of the same guy (he was in San Francisco) and actually gives different looks now for lefties,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “The biggest thing is he knows who he is and he knows how to use his repertoire. You get guys who know how to use their stuff and know how each pitch complements each other, you’re getting a guy who’s going to be effective.”

Last season, the outside-the-box-thinking Tampa Bay Rays used him strategically to pitch in the first inning of games as an “opener.” Romo stepped up to the challenge and had his best season since leaving the Giants in 2016.

Romo had never started a game in the majors before the Rays asked him to do so.

“Initially, I didn’t really believe it when (Rays manager Kevin) Cash came to me with it,” Romo said. “He was like, ‘No, this is serious.’ I was like, ‘Who am I to say no, right?’ My job didn’t change. I took that mentality going into it. I even warmed up while we were hitting and ran in from the bullpen a few times to just not change the mentality of it.”

Romo recorded 25 saves last year (tied for eighth-most in the American League) in 27 opportunities when he entered to pitch in the ninth inning.

He pitched 67 1/3 innings overall, going 3-4 with a 4.14 ERA in 73 appearances and posted a 4.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

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For his career, Romo has held right-handed hitters to a .197 batting average in 1,459 plate appearances and has a career 7.40 strikeout-to-walk ratio. This was part of the reasoning that prompted the Rays to start him on May 19 against a righty-heavy Angels lineup. Romo opened five games overall last season.

“I watched him for a lot of years while I was in Arizona do his thing and I used to get chapped at him,” Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said. “He’s flamboyant, but he competes his butt off, knows himself and we all know the breaking ball that he has. There’s no doubt by the conversations I’ve had with him that he’s going to play a big part in our guys understanding their breaking ball, and that takes time and it’s a process, but it’s nice to have that veteran back there that has gone through some troubles and that has gotten to a point in his career where he knows what to do and knows what he has.”

The Marlins love the prospect of their young pitching staff (which has no members older than Romo and only two over age 30) interacting with the offbeat, emotional, fun-loving, battle-tested veteran this coming season.

“I didn’t come here to change anybody,” Romo said. “I’m here to help them figure out who they are and figure out more about who they are and have fun. Really let them know they’re the ones responsible for their own careers. Whatever they need, I told them I’m in.”

For his career, Romo has held right-handed hitters to a .197 batting average in 1,459 plate appearances and has a career 7.40 strikeout-to-walk ratio. “He’s been a guy that’s been a tough look for hitters,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. (Kevin Sousa / USA Today)

In Romo, the Marlins know they have a guy who isn’t afraid to express himself.

Like he did when he once wore a T-shirt displaying the words “I just look illegal” to the Giants’ 2012 championship parade.

They have a guy who’s comfortable in his own skin in and out of the game.

They also want the guy who knows that his slider — a pitch he told a Marlins pitching coach recently “paid a lot of bills on his way up” — still has the bite necessary to fool hitters.

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“It’s important for us to have a guy that’s emotional, competitive and we want that kind of juice on our team,” Mattingly said. “He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t getting people out. He’s been a guy that’s been a tough look for hitters.”

It took a long time for Romo to feel comfortable with who he was.

During his pitching days at the University of North Alabama, Romo recalls vividly how fans and even one of his coaches mocked him while he bowed his head and put his cap to his heart during the U.S. national anthem.

“I couldn’t find a place and I just didn’t understand why, either,” Romo said. “Things like that kept happening to me. I had to keep this promise. Maybe at that time, I was afraid to fail. People were saying the same things for so long that I started to question it.”

After a mutual decision between North Alabama and Romo to release him from his scholarship, Romo hopped in his car and drove back home to Brawley.

He contemplated quitting baseball and staying home to work and provide for the family.

But Romo still had to keep his promise.

“My dad was the reason I got up (in the morning) a lot of times,” Romo said. “He’s the reason after my junior year I didn’t just go home and quit the game. He’s the reason I kept going after my scholarship got taken away. It hurt. It kicked my butt.

“But my dad raised a man of his word. He raised a good kid. I made a promise and I didn’t want to let him down.”

Romo transferred to Division II Mesa State back in Arizona for his senior year. He broke six school records and went 14-1 his senior season.

Three years after signing with the Giants in 2005, Romo made his major-league debut with the franchise he’d play with for nine seasons. In addition to the three World Series titles, Romo became an All-Star in 2013.

That same year Romo earned an opportunity to represent his Mexican roots in the World Baseball Classic.

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The kid who was often treated as a foreigner in his family’s homeland finally felt welcome.

“I had to wait till I was 30 years old till they called me a Mexican and really accepted me as 100 percent Mexican,” Romo said.

Romo, one of the multitudes of veterans left looking for major-league jobs this offseason, had a handful of teams interested in his services.

He said the Marlins were the most persistent in scouting him and made the most appealing offer.

Romo joined a team many expect to lose in excess of 100 games this season, but he said the outlook isn’t too different from what the Rays faced a year ago before defying expectations and winning 90 games.

His one-year deal likely means he won’t be around by the time the Marlins’ long-term plans to rebuild come to fruition.

Romo, who has been on teams in the past where veterans offered little encouragement to rookies trying to find their way, genuinely wants to help his new teammates carve their own paths successfully.

“I’m not a hair on the ass of half these guys in (this clubhouse) when it comes to talent,” Romo said. “But I know exactly who I am and what kind of pitcher I am, and I’m comfortable with that. That’s what I want to do for these guys is help them find out who they really are on the mound.”

Romo bursts through the door of the clubhouse these days full of energy — even at 8 a.m.

The guy who screams with emotion after closing out a save and later likes to photobomb guys during interviews knows when to engage in some “real talk” with the pitchers he figures to spend a lot of time around this year.

“He told me just ‘be yourself and the guys around you will gravitate to that,’” reliever Drew Steckenrider said. “He’s been around long enough that everybody will respect him and what he has to say. He’s seen and done a lot of things that guys around here hope they can accomplish in their careers.”

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Romo said his father, now 61 years old, is retiring soon, a reality that boggles his mind.

Sergio can’t fathom retiring from baseball.

“Until they stop me at the door, I will believe I can play,” Romo said.

Once his baseball career concludes, Romo wants to continue being the best father he can be to his own four sons that range in age from six months to 13 years old.

Persistence, belief and hard work are things he learned from his dad and “Abuelo” and hopes he has passed on to his kids.

“I’m pretty fortunate I had a dad around and a grandpa that had so much self-respect and believed in themselves so much that they got up and worked hard every day,” Romo said. “I’m just trying to be that kind of dad to my sons. Maybe deep down inside I want my sons to love and respect me the way I do my dad.”

(Top photo: AP Photo / Jeff Roberson)

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