Driving force: regardless of where A's shortstop Miguel Tejada plays, he has a passion and focus worthy of an MVP

Sporting News, The, April 7, 2003 by Ken Rosenthal

Some players shy from responsibility; Tejada welcomed it. The straining part was, he grasped immediately that he needed to grow as a hitter. Seemingly overnight, he adopted a more disciplined approach.

In 119 games in the No. 3 spot, Tejada batted .314 with 28 home runs and 108 RBIs. He led the league with 86 two-strike hits, ranked third with a .375 average with men in scoring position and provided Giambi-style leadership during the A's run to the American League West title.

"He changed. I swear to you, he changed in a series" Mulder says. "He stopped swinging at high pitches. He stopped swinging at pitches in the dirt. And it was like that fire rest of the year. It's almost like he said, `No more of this.'"

MVP runner-up Alex Rodriguez sounds disingenuous when he says that winning the award would not have meant as much to him as it did to Tejada. But he might be right. Tejada grew up in Los Barrancones, a slum in the Dominican city of Bani. The poverty he experienced is incomprehensible to most Americans. A hurricane destroyed his family's home when he was 3. He lost his mother when he was 13.

The day Tejada won the MVP, he was home in Bani. He had been up all night, playing dominoes with friends. Benz, his agent, was at a hotel in Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital, working with government officials to arrange a news conference at the presidential palace if Tejada won the award.

Benz got the news first, then phoned Tejada at home.

"Are you sure?" Tejada asked as his house erupted. "I can't believe it!"

"Most people couldn't believe it," Tejada recalls. "They never thought a guy like me, a guy coming from nowhere, could win an MVP."

Three buses carried Tejada, his friends and relatives to the presidential palace for the official announcement with President Hipolito Mejia. The 40-mile drive usually takes one hour. On that day, with throngs of people swarming the motorcade, it took four.

The next day, Tejada was the host for a daylong party on the street where he grew up. The street was paved only two years ago. It still lacks electricity. Tejada brought in generators so the food could be cooked.

That night, he was the host for a more formal event at a club in Bani.

"I don't think he slept for three days," Benz says.

Those who know Tejada find it unimaginable that the award might change him. The same goes for the big money that awaits him as a free agent. Tejada is who he is--the MVP who plays winter ball, the superstar whose passion never erodes.

He talks about the simple joys of baseball, putting on his uniform, playing in front of big crowds. As a boy, he shined shoes. As a major league star, he receives free designer sunglasses and gives extra pairs to A's clubhouse attendants.

"Every time I come to the field, I play happy," Tejada says. "I have everything."

Next stop, the Bronx?

The Yankees certainly can afford to sign Miguel Tejada in the offseason, but they aren't the only team on the list of favorites to land the 2002 A.L. MVP.

1. Yankees. Derek Jeter could move to third base.