Bob Nightengale of USA Today took advantage of Manny Machado’s future brother-in-law, Padres first baseman Yonder Alonso, being in town this week to do a profile on the whole family – Yonder, Manny, and Manny’s fiancée, Yonder’s sister Yainee.
The entire piece is well worth your time.
However, one entertaining part of the article that stuck out for me was Nightengale describing how Machado proposed to Alonso, back on February 6 of this year.
…Machado drove Yainee to South Beach on Feb. 6 to propose. It wasn’t something quite out of Hollywood. The kitchen sink broke during the day. The Cuban dinner was postponed until late evening. There was a homeless man sleeping on the beach right where Machado was about to propose.
“I was a mess,” Machado says. “I was struggling to get the ring out. It was stuck in my pocket.”
Says Yainee: “He’s on his knees and talking, saying sweet things, and I didn’t even hear him propose. Guys think that it’s like the movies, the woman says yes automatically. But you are so in shock. I finally said yes, but then I asked him to ask me again, because I didn’t hear him.”
It’s pretty hard to imagine Machado struggling to find a ring in his pocket, after all the incredible bare-handed plays we’ve seen him make as O’s fans. Maybe he should have been wearing his baseball glove during the proposal, and things would have gone more smoothly.
If you saw/see a lady wearing a half O’s/half Padres jersey at the Yard last night or today, there’s a good chance it’s Yainee.
Machado also talked a bit about playing third base, as opposed to his natural position of shortstop.
He’d love to show he can become the game’s best shortstop, too.
“You think about it, it’s in the back of your mind,” says Machado, who ranks his meeting with Robinson this season as the highlight of his career. “But I love this game so much, I just want to be out there. If you stop having fun, that’s when you struggle.”
