Rotary Conference Speech: The Ethics of Doing More When the World Expects Less

Rotary District Conference Speech – November 4, 2011

Thank you, it is such a blessing to be here today.

I heard that the theme of this conference is ethics.

You know, when we talk about ethics, it has many definitions. Ethics involves morals, and values, and issues of right and wrong. But it can mean so much more.  The dictionary defines ethics as a

Noun:

1.    Moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior. The moral correctness of specified conduct.

Ethics can also transcend how we conduct our lives. Not just, is it wrong to steal or cheat? We knooow THAT answer. In fact, as humans, we know what ARE the right things to do.  We simply choose not to.  We take an easier path.

So in other words, is it ok to do less if the world accepts less?

For those of you whom I haven’t met yet, my life story is a different one but still filled with ethical choices and moments. I was born in Colombia, South America and the medicine Thylidamide caused me to be born with birth defects - specifically missing my arms and right leg.

When I was two, the Shriners Hospitals flew me from my hometown of Medellín, to California, to receive my first pair of prosthetics. When I was four, my mother knew that, because these trips were expensive, and because I had family living in the United States, it would be better for me to move here permanently. You see, in Colombia at that time, if you were disabled you could not go to school, or hold a job, or have a life. It was a dead-end existence.

But this meant my mother had to make a huge sacrifice. She and my father had very little resources and had never lived anywhere but Colombia. They knew they couldn’t move.

So she had a decision to make: keep her youngest child – I was the youngest of three kids – at home with her? Or allow me to move to the U.S.? That meant she didn’t know when, if ever, she’d see me again. Ever.

How many of you are parents? Raise your hand. How many could give up seeing their child grow up?  My parents did. In order for me to have a better life and to follow moral correctness not only for them, but for me.

Since I was four years old I’ve grown up here in San Diego. My mother has tracked my progress, from childhood, to undergrad at the University of Notre Dame, to graduate school at the University of San Francisco. I have visited Colombia twice, and my parents have taken great pride in a career that has included media relations, being an author and speaker, and working for the San Diego Padres.

Which brings up another question of ethics.

There were many, many times when things weren’t easy. Being a triple amputee and prosthetics wearer is not easy. Quite frankly, it would have been easier for me to just give up and not try so hard at life.

<TELL STORY OF GETTING STUCK ON MONKEY BARS AT AGE SIX.>

I could have expected less from myself. I could have kept expectations low. After all, there were doctors who told my parents I shouldn’t expect to have a normal life. I could have lived off social help, I could have been untrue to my moral and ethical compass.

Well they were right. My life has not been normal. Nor has it been ordinary. It has been EXTRAordinary.

And this is why. I made a pledge many years ago that if my parents were going to sacrifice being able to watch me grow up, in order for ME to have a better life, I needed to honor that. I needed to think of the largest goals and largest ambitions I possibly could. I needed to be unafraid to dream. I needed to be unafraid to TRY.

A major reason for this mindset was when I attended RYLA as a high school junior. Raise your hand if you’ve been to RYLA, the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards camp. If not, I urge you to go next spring. It is one of the GREATEST things Rotary does.

RYLA teaches high school juniors to work together; to break past their fears and worries; to value service above self; to dream, and to change their world while practicing ethics in every aspect of their lives. When I first attended in 1991 it changed my life! So much so that I go back every year.

RYLA also taught me the importance of humor in overcoming adversity. Humor helps you to overcome anything. It strengthens you. A couple years later if people would ask me how much it cost to go to Notre Dame, I’d say, “It cost me an arm and a leg.” And I’d say you can always trust me, because I’ll never commit armed robbery.

Ok, ok, I’ll stop with my disarming humor. Sorry.

RYLA is a special place because Rotary is a special organization. An organization that values service above self. An organization that teaches us if we have, we must give. If we prosper, we must help others. If we have time, we must serve others. If we don’t have time, we must make time.

So I ask you today: are you making the most of your life and your Rotary membership? Are you learning more and expanding your mind? Are you setting goals for you, and your club, that are more than safe and are exceeding expectations? If not, are you really living to the highest work and moral ethics possible?

You know, I entitled my first book “Swinging for the Fences” because that was the perfect baseball metaphor. Swing for the fences, hit a home run. But I took on a new challenge last year unrelated to baseball.

 I tried my first series of endurance races, from 5K’s to the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. The 5K’s I did on my own and the marathons I was part of a relay team. Let me tell you, going through the grind and exhaustion of a marathon with a prosthetic leg is not easy.

But it’s not impossible. <Pause.>

It requires months of preparation. It takes prayer. It takes stamina. It takes the ability to push through, even when your body wants to just stop.

This is living to the highest possible standard. This is giving it your all, because you CAN.

In my job, I am blessed to work for an organization that believes in giving. The San Diego Padres make community giving part of our everyday corporate culture. My role is to specifically help the ballclub impact the Hispanic community. That’s a part of having strong ethical standards.

I often talk to my mother about it, and though she’s getting older and battling some things, she’s tough. She tells me the pride she feels in my accomplishments and how I’ve overcome. I tell her it’s what she instilled in me.

And what Rotary instills in YOU. A work ethic that is tireless and fierce. A moral ethic to do good in this world!

It is who Rotary is! It is who we are! It is who we ALWAYS will be!

God bless you. Thank you.

Latinos in Baseball Speech - July 6, 2011

Here is a speech I delivered at Cal State San Bernardino yesterday to approximately 100 Latino retired baseball players and Latino baseball historians. There were some current, college-age players as well. The event was a reunion and reception for the "Latino Baseball History Project", an archive and book series founded at CSUSB:

Baseball in our Heritage

Thank you so much, Dr. Caballero and Santillan, and Cal State San Bernardino.  It is such a great blessing to be here.

In my career, I have the honor of working for the San Diego Padres. It is an honor because I am working for a Major League Baseball team, but also because I get to work with the Latino community. As Manager of Latino Affairs, I oversee the Padres’ Hispanic marketing and outreach efforts.

I get to share my love of the game with others. And I do love this game. It is beautiful, it is acrobatic, it is passionate, and it is what shaped my life as an American immigrant.

You see, I was born in Medellin, Colombia in South America. I was part of a generation that was impacted by the morning-sickness medicine called Thylidamide, which was found to cause birth defects. As a result, I was born missing both of my arms and my right leg.

When I was four I moved to the United States so I could receive the proper medical care, including two prosthetic arms and a prosthetic leg. I moved to San Diego, with relatives who had already moved there, and it was a strange, new world. In my first book, “Swinging for the Fences”, I describe how everything was new: the language, the bigger houses, the constant swirl of activity.

I felt like I was on another planet and I felt lost. So I did what every kid naturally does - in my new home I turned on the TV. The first thing I saw was this game being played, men in their majestic white uniforms, playing on lush green grass, whacking this white ball around. I was captivated. Then the next day, it was on TV again. And then the next day. And then the day after THAT. I thought, this is the best NOVELA around.

I started to recognize certain words, like Ball, Bat, Stadium, and Ozzie Smith. Watching baseball on TV is what taught me English.

But it gave me more than a new language. It gave me a purpose. I fell in love with the sport and saw that, although I couldn’t play it, I could still work in it and be a part of it. It gave me a purpose and a passion.

Years later, after completing my undergraduate work at Notre Dame, I took a job in PR and then a second part-time job as an usher for the San Diego Padres.  This allowed me to apply for a full-time job within the organization, which I didn’t get. But I Kept Swingin’.   I applied again and again, and kept getting turned down. But I Kept Swingin’ and Swingin’.   Until finally, on my fourth attempt, I got hired into the front office.

I mention all this because it parallels the Latino experience in baseball. Ours is a history of struggle, and determination, but ultimately success in the game we love. Our community has been downtrodden, and often rejected, yet we persevere. It’s in our blood. It’s in our DNA. From the farm workers in the Central Valley, to the factory workers in Chicago, to hard-working first-generation college students in Southern California. We struggle and we overcome. And baseball is a constant part of our history.

That is why I fell in love with the exhibit here. When I first read “Mexican-American Baseball in Los Angeles” I was amazed. Not surprised, but amazed. I was amazed that teams have been formed in barrios, and in times of war, and as a means of keeping communities together. But I was not surprised at our level of passion, and perseverance, and pride. It’s in our blood. It’s in our DNA.

It is not important to keep this history alive – it is crucial. Today’s youth need to know about the Chorizeros, and Naranjeros, and Chavez Ravine, and Fernandomania.  Those are the predecessors to A-Rod and Adrian; Pujols and Panda; Reyes and Ramirez.    And the more cities we do this in, Inland Empire and San Diego and Tijuana and beyond, the histories will come alive.

I urge ALL of you to do two things: always keep supporting projects like these; keep the history alive; and the legacy flowing. And use baseball as your inspiration, your catalyst, your fire. Embrace adversity. Embrace struggle. Dream large.  Overcome. And always, always Keep Swinging!