Edinson Volquez returns to the Royals, prepares to start Game 5

Late on Saturday night, in the afterglow of another World Series victory, Edinson Volquez pressed through a doorway in the concrete bowels of Citi Field. He moved quickly, heading back to a clubhouse with teammates and brothers and an organization that sits 27 outs from its first world championship in 30 years.

A few minutes earlier, Volquez had sat at a microphone and said what he wanted to say, which is to say that he wants to pitch on Sunday night in Game 5 of the World Series. He wants to pitch because this is his job, and this moment was his dream, and in the days after his father died Tuesday at the age of 63, he returned home to the Dominican Republic and wrapped his mother, Ana, in a bear hug.

In that moment, Volquez says, he did not know if he could pitch again this series. If he would have known that his father, Daniel, had died of heart failure on Tuesday — just hours before Game 1 of the World Series — he is not sure he could have withstood six innings on the mound against the New York Mets. (“I don’t even know,” he said.) But then he returned home. He buried his father. He mourned with his family. And he listened to the words of his mother.

“My mom told me before I got here,” Volquez said on late Saturday night, in the moments after the Royals’ 5-3 victory in Game 4. “ ‘Go over there and enjoy the game like you always do and be proud. We are proud of you. And be proud, and make people proud, more proud than they are.’ ”

So Volquez will pitch. On Sunday night at Citi Field, just five days after losing his father, Volquez will take the ball in Game 5 of the World Series. He will inscribe his father’s initials somewhere on his hat, and he will pitch to honor the man who worked long hours as a mechanic to support his family, the father who bought him his first glove and hauled him to the local field in the Dominican Republic.

“He was everything for me,” Volquez said. “He was one of the greatest men.”

When Volquez digs in on Sunday night, the moment will bookend a heart-wrenching week for the 31-year-old right-hander. On Tuesday night in Kansas City, as Volquez warmed up in the Kauffman Stadium bullpen, reports began surface: Volquez’s father, Daniel, had died earlier that day in the Dominican Republic.

With Volquez slated to make his first World Series start, his wife, Roandy, asked Royals general manager Dayton Moore and manager Ned Yost to shield the news from Volquez. For six innings, Volquez kept the Mets at bay, allowing three earned runs and six hits. When he exited the game, his family — and the news — awaited him in Yost’s office.

“If my wife told me before that,” Volquez said, “I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to pitch. She decided to tell me later, and I think that was the right choice.”

As the Royals wrapped up a 5-4 victory in 14 innings, Volquez and his family headed home to the Dominican Republic, preparing to bury Daniel Volquez. During the next two days, as Volquez mourned and the World Series moved to New York, the lines of communication were sparse. Volquez needed the time, and the Royals waited to hear back. On Thursday night, Volquez picked up a phone and called Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland.

The conversation was brief, Eiland said, maybe six or seven minutes. Eiland offered his condolences and asked about Volquez’s family. The subject of baseball did not come up until the conversation reached its end.

“I said: ‘We’ll see you Saturday,’” Eiland recalled.

“OK,” Volquez responded. “I’ll be ready.”

The next day, on Friday, Volquez prepared for his return by playing some light catch. This time of year, Eiland said, Volquez would not be throwing bullpen sessions between starts, not after throwing more than 220 innings in the regular season and playoffs. But Volquez’s postseason routine would require some light throwing on the side and some flat ground work. With his teammates in New York, Volquez found a baseball at home and went to work.

“I threw a little bit,” he said.

On Saturday night, Volquez finally returned, fighting New York traffic and landing in the clubhouse just before the game. A line of teammates awaited him — Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas and Chris Young, and after a moment, pretty much the whole roster.

“It was unreal,” Volquez said.

"Every one of us gave him a big hug,” Royals pitcher Danny Duffy said. “We love the dude. He's our brother."

A few minutes later, Volquez found a seat in the dugout next to Johnny Cueto and settled in to watch the Royals take a 3-1 series lead with another improbable comeback in Game 5. As they sat together, Cueto asked his old friend and teammate if he was going to pitch on Sunday.

“You want to pitch tomorrow?’” Volquez answered.

“No,” Cueto said. “That’s your game now, and make your dad proud.”

So Volquez will pitch. He will pitch because this is what he has prepared for, over a career that has stretched 11 years and six teams and came to wind up in Kansas City last offseason. He will pitch because his family will watch from the Dominican, and the Royals sit one victory from a championship, and in those moments back home, when his father gave him a Pedro Martinez glove and took him to the fields, this is all he ever wanted to be.

“That’s why I’m here,” Volquez said. “I want to pitch. I want to make people proud. That’s what I love … that’s the only thing I know.”

This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 8:49 PM with the headline "Edinson Volquez returns to the Royals, prepares to start Game 5."