Pedro Sr. and Luz (Angel Chevrestt)
HEIGHTS OF FAME: Pirates All-Star Pedro Alvarez has come a long way from his days in Washington Heights, where he played in the Inwood Little League as an 8-year-old (inset, bottom) and was guided toward a college education before the major leagues by his parents, Pedro Sr. and Luz (inset, top). (
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Big money was on the table, his future guaranteed, and Pedro Alvarez passed — at the time — on his lifelong dream of becoming a professional baseball player.
It was a decision that set the stage for the Dominican Republic-born and Washington Heights-raised Alvarez’s rise to major league prominence, as the first New Yorker to play in the All-Star Game since Manhattan-born Raul Ibanez in 2009.
Displaying patience and maturity beyond his age, Alvarez went to Vanderbilt University and developed into one of college baseball’s elite stars instead of signing with the Red Sox, his favorite team growing up, after they picked him in the 14th round of the 2005 MLB Draft.
“It wasn’t easy,” Alvarez told The Post in a phone interview. “I remember the day, pacing back and forth, trying to make that decision. I had a gut feeling that college was what I needed to do, and it was by far the best decision I ever made. It’s gotten me to where I’m at now.”
His father, Pedro Sr., a taxi driver, and his mother, Luz, a teacher, had worked furiously their entire lives to support his dreams. They put the choice in his hands.
After three dominant seasons at Vanderbilt, the left-handed hitting third baseman went second overall to the Pirates in the 2008 draft, landed a $6 million signing bonus and was in the majors three years later. To those who know Alvarez, nicknamed “El Toro” — Spanish for ”The Bull” because of his sculpted 6-foot-3, 235-pound physique — and his family, it didn’t come as a surprise. His parents always valued academics over sports, wanted to see their son prepared for the pros mentally and physically when he got there. They felt Vanderbilt offered that opportunity. Money never entered into the equation.
“I always said any amount of money like that I would never miss because I never had it,” Alvarez Sr. said through a translator, at the upscale home in Cresskill, N.J., Alvarez bought for his parents shortly after he was drafted.
Going to college has helped him deal with adversity in the bigs, enabled him to handle the pressure of being a top pick and of going through early-season slumps the last two years. Now, at the age of 26 and hitting his stride halfway into his fourth season with the Pirates, he’s on the cusp.
Alvarez has emerged this spring as a linchpin for the surprising Pirates, a lethal middle-of-the-order power threat who went into yesterday with 24 home runs, second most in the National League, a steadily improving .253 average and
62 RBIs. Alvarez’s two-run homer helped lead the Pirates to a 3-2 victory over the Mets on Friday night.
“He’s putting his foot down and has become more of a bully in the box,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.
“Once he got into a comfort zone, I knew he would accelerate,” Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said. “The kid’s a hitter, he’s got skill. They haven’t seen it yet, they’ve seen glimpses. Wait until he starts getting older and starts figuring things out.”
His skills have led him to Citi Field on Tuesday night for the All-Star Game, one of the brightest nights of the baseball season in his hometown, in front of family and friends.
“Every kid who plays baseball — any sport — they dream of doing something like this,” he said. “I obviously dreamt of this growing up. For it to become a reality is pretty surreal to me.
“For it to be in New York, it puts the icing on the cake. I can play as long as I want to play baseball, and there might not be another All-Star Game in New York.”
From a young age, Pedro Sr. knew his son was special. He put a bat in his hands at 4 years old, taught him the basics and watched Pedro fall in love with the sport. Everywhere he went, he had a glove, a ball and a bat. He would play soft toss against mattresses in the winter and hit crumpled up paper balls to keep his swing sharp as he grew older.
Family vacation always included baseball. One time, the family drove to Miami, arriving at 4 a.m. Four hours later, Pedro and his dad had found a field.
When he was old enough to play Little League, at the age of 8, Pedro Sr. wanted him playing with 9, 10 and 11-year-olds, rather than 8-year-olds. Inwood Little League declined. Pedro Sr. threatened to go elsewhere.
“He was the first pick after tryouts [for the older league],” Pedro Sr. said. “He hit two home runs over the fence as an 8-year-old. Since early on, he had that natural power.”
But Pedro Sr. didn’t let baseball take over his son’s life. He attended Horace Mann, a private high school in The Bronx, rather than local traditional powerhouse George Washington, Manny Ramirez’s alma mater. As was the case when he didn’t sign with the Red Sox after high school, academics came first then, too.
“As much as he was a good baseball player, [Pedro Sr.] was very proud of the fact he was in private school and had the opportunity to go to a school like Vanderbilt,” said Corbin, the Vanderbilt coach.
Pedro always has been responsible and grounded, his parents say. He prefers to listen rather than speak, to think things through rather than act. They never had to get on him to get ahead in school. He spends large chunks of the offseason helping out the baseball team at Vanderbilt.
When he was initially bypassed for tomorrow’s Home Run Derby by National League captain David Wright the soft-spoken slugger declined to feed into the frenzy.
“He’s an old soul,” Corbin said of Alvarez, who later was chosen by Wright as a replacement for the Rockies’ Carlos Gonzalez, who withdrew.
Alvarez’s maturity shined through years ago, when he held off on professional baseball. As a result, he’s at the precipice of stardom.
zbraziller@nypost.com