Twins star Eddie Rosario shares story of his father's heroics during Hurricane Maria

Hurricane Maria probably hasn’t been front-of-mind for most Americans in the past few months. But the devastation and destruction caused last year in Puerto Rico is still a part of everyday life from the people who call it home. Among them, quite a few MLB stars.

A recent study out of Harvard says the death toll in Puerto Rico was much larger than the “official” number — 64. The study says nearly 5,000 people died as a direct or indirect result of the hurricane between Sept. 20 and Dec. 31.

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On this week’s episode of the Yahoo Sports MLB Podcast, we sat down with Jose Berrios and Eddie Rosario, two of the Minnesota Twins’ young stars who are from Puerto Rico. Our Jeff Passan asked Berrios about the 5,000 reported deaths.

“It’s tough,” said Berrios, a 24-year-old pitcher. “Almost 5,000 people died between both hurricanes, it’s a disaster for us. After that, we have to be grateful [for] God. We’re here.”

The eighth episode of the Yahoo Sports MLB Podcast was released Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Acast and other podcast platforms. It includes Jeff Passan’s interview with Berrios and Rosario, as well as a discussion about burner Twitter accounts in MLB, the Yankees/ESPN battle, our attempt at #HorseBaseballNames, an unbelievable Albert Belle story and lots more.

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Later in our interview, Rosario — a 26-year-old outfielder — told the story of his how father helped their neighbors in their aftermath of the hurricane when their roof flew off their house. Rosario’s father got a rope and helped them out of their house as harsh winds blew. Rosario’s father brought the other family into his house for safety.

“He tried to help the neighbors,” Rosario said. “Save their life.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Berrios and Rosario talk about being part of MLB’s young group of Puerto Rican stars, Roberto Clemente and the Puerto Rican stars of yesterday, whether Puerto Rico should remain in the MLB Draft plus more.

Once again, you can find the show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Acast and where ever you find podcasts. If you dig what we’re doing, we’d appreciate your ratings and reviews to help the show grow.

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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