Hot with a Chance of Sexy: Angel Pagan

With baseball season finally upon us again-praise be to the gods- I thought that I would commemorate the occasion by celebrating Angel Pagan.  I don’t usually board the “sports-figure- as- a- hero" train because ultimately these are just men, which means they are only human.  And even though his very name is a wonderful paradox of the sacred and mundane, at the end of the game, Angel Pagan is human too.  Being human and given enough time, he will do something to disappoint/anger me and I will be reminded AGAIN why idol worship is never good. But for now, Pagan’s got this broad seriously thinking of buyin’ a ticket to ride.  His passion, drive, and sense of community are simply inspiring.  He’s every delicious lick it takes to get the center of a Tootsie Pop.  He is the sugar on top of everything.  Angel Pagan is bacon.

Let me start from the beginning.  Born in Rios Piedras, Puerto Rico on July 2, 1981, Angel Manuel Pagan, (a Cancer/Rooster for the astrology enthusiasts) began playing baseball at six-years-old.  His mother encouraged her rowdy “energetic” boy to focus his attention on something positive to get him away from the negative options readily available in his neighborhood.  Although he also gravitated toward basketball and boxing- can he get sexier?- he says of baseball, “I fell in love with the sport.”

When he was 17, Pagan was training with MLB players Juan Gonzalez and Carlos “Umm” Beltran in Puerto Rico who were in awe of his energy,  and “Caballo Loco” came neighing out of Gonzalez’s mouth.  It stuck.  Preparing to come up with the Mets, the Cubbies purchased Pagan’s contract from them in January of 2006, and he made his MLB debut on April 3, 2006. Pagan was quickly injured and out for two and a half months.   He returned on his 25^th birthday and proceeded to hit his 1^st and 2^nd career home runs.  He is the first person in MLB history to it 2 career home runs on his birfday.  In 2008, Pagan returned to the Mets, and then in December of 2011, thank you Jesus, Buddha, Allah- whoever helped me- this Angel with the devil in his eyes was traded to the SF Giants for Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez.

One of the things that I adore about Pagan is that even though he has moved teams and positions a lot because of numerous injuries, m’man has never quit.  He has never given up.  And as a result of his whole seeming “pain is weakness leaving your body”, win or else “you didn’t get the job done” attitude, not only has he acquired a staunch legion of fans (including this bitch obviously), he helped the Giants win the World Series last year, and he helped his national Puerto Rican team get to the finals against Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year, which no one outside of Puerto Rico expected I’m sure.

When he bursts onto the field each game, you can feel not only his love the said game, but his steely intensity only makes a woman- or a man who appreciates that in that in another man- think of one other thing.  Ahh, yeah, bacon makes you want more bacon.  I digress.  Caballo Loco’s still got it and brings it 110 to the field every time.  He once said that he wants to leave his heart on the field every time, and to watch him wearily trot off after a game, he appears to do that. I know his ass is a rich baller, but doing what he loves and loving what he does, makes him an incredibly wealthy person to me.

And how much better does it get when you hear that Angel leads off-season workouts at a public track facility in Dorado, Puerto Rico for young boxers, basketball players, track stars, and kinds who want to follow the fabulous Mr. Pagan’s road to the majors.  There were 36+ athletes at the time the article I read was written, some as young as 5 years old who come to train.  This cat could be living large and relaxed with his new 4-year- $40 Million dollar contract, but he’s out there with his wife, Windy, and daughters, Brianna and Suil Angelina- so they know where their food comes from and the hard work it takes to get it on the table.  Angel, how do I love thee?  Let a bitch have a minute to count the ways. Damn.

This Angel is settin’ heaven on fire with his intense baseball prowess. For the second time in his career Pagan played more than 123 games with the Giants last year.  He hit .288 with eight home runs and established a Giants’ record with 15 triples.  So next time you’re at the ballpark in SF and you can’t quite figure out that heavenly scent wafting up, know that it’s Angel.  And remember that Angel is bacon.