Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — Call it the Legend of El Culichi. In its September 16, edition, the LA Times ran a lengthy article by Dodger reporter Jorge Castillo on the early days of Julio Urías back in his native Mexico. In the piece, Castillo (friend of our Bleed Los podcast) traveled to Culiacán, Sinaloa to explore Urías’s short, but winding path to big league glory.
The article is far too detailed for me to do it justice here, but just a cursory reading holds many gems of Urías lore that the notoriously private pitcher has not yet shared with the English speaking world.
But some of the highlights include an interview with Julio’s dad Carlos, who played semi-pro ball himself well into his 30’s, and who has been Julio’s most important influence on the diamond and in life.
“It’s every father’s dream to see their son in the big leagues,” Carlos said in the article. “God has been good. I have a lot to be thankful for up there.”
Also detailed in the article was the truly troubling health issue that nearly sidelined young Julio’s career before it even began. From the moment of his birth, Carlos Urías and his wife Juana could see that their son had a problem keeping his left eye open. The problem baffled medical professionals until they diagnosed Julio with a tumor when he was four years old. It was benign, but trouble loomed if there wasn’t treatment.
Urías’s family estimates that Julio went through ten different surgical procedures before he hit the age of ten, his family dutifully shuttling the boy back and forth from Guadalajara for operations. At one point, hospital staff had to literally tie down Julio’s arms so he wouldn’t touch is bandages or remove his IV. Still, these trials at such and early age had a positive effect on Julio’s character, his father believed.
“I think all of that made my son strong,” Carlos recounted to Castillo, feeling sure that his son was growing into a remarkable young man in spite of the medical issues. When he was teased at school and even bullied, Julio’s parents were terrified that if he fought back, he might to permanent damage to his already fragile eye.
“It affected me a bit mentally because I looked in the mirror and I didn’t want to see me like that,” Julio said in the article. “But, little by little, I came around to understanding and learning so I think I took out the most positive and the most positive I feel was this sport.”
All along, the boy with the funny eye found refuge on the baseball diamond. Under his father’s watchful eye, the young Urías developed into a fine pitcher (he was throwing a change-up at 7 years old), and a powerful hitter.
“My son was younger than Julio so he would play on the field next to his,” the article quotes Carlos Rubio, a local businessman who owns a Dodgers-themed barbershop in the city. “And every time Julio was pitching or hitting, I had to watch. He was a phenom.”
“In our 9- and-10-year-old league, they would only let you pitch four innings,” recalled Fidel Alba, Julio’s youth league catcher. “And he wouldn’t allow a hit every time. He would strike out 11 or all 12 batters. And then he would hit two or three home runs a game. As a kid you don’t realize how good he is, but everyone in Mexico knew who Julio Urías was.”
There is much, much more in this profile, and I commend it to everyone. It’s the perfect read to get to know a truly great member of the the Dodgers. Check it out by clicking here.
