First, a radio station called Andrea Soriano at her home in San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic. They told her that a major-league ballplayer was rumored to be on American Airlines Flight 587 out of New York that morning.
Was her son on that doomed plane?
Then came calls from friends, asking the same terrifying question.
Andrea knew that her son Alfonso, the young Yankee second baseman, wasn’t scheduled to come home until Saturday, the 17th, and on that day there would be a parade through town in his honor. She knew he couldn’t have been on that plane, but in these unsettling times, who knows anything for certain anymore?
She called her son’s apartment in Edgewater, N.J. There was no answer. She called again. She called his cell phone. She called his fiancee’s cell phone. No answer, again and again, each call more frantic than the last.
Nearly every day the mother and son had spoken throughout the season. His heroics had made her so proud. Why wasn’t he answering?
“She was so scared and she was crying,” Soriano’s fiancee, Angelica Cortes, explained yesterday.
Finally, a mother’s prayers were answered. Alfonso called.
He had simply slept through her calls. As soon as he saw the news reports about the crash and checked his messages, 11 of them from friends and family wanting to know if he was alive, he immediately called his mother.
“She was real worried,” Soriano said yesterday. “I told her everything was OK and then I started thinking about all the people who died.”
For now, Soriano will do what he can to help. “Everybody feels it,” he said sadly. One of his mother’s friends was on the plane, and so was the mother of pitcher Yorkis Perez. All 260 people on Flight 587 were killed. Most were Dominican.
Soriano is a hero back home because of his stunning rookie season and postseason. He was set to be named MVP of the World Series after his home run against Curt Schilling put the Yankees ahead in Game 7, but the Yankees’ dreams of a fourth straight World Series title ended with Luis Gonzalez’ bloop over short.
He should have plenty of chances in the future. Soriano is a star at the age of 22. The shortstop turned second baseman has shown tremendous power, and scouts project him to hit 30 home runs a year.
That’s the reason Soriano was at Gallagher’s Steak House yesterday to promote the restaurant’s new Power Lunch, a three-course meal for $20.01. Gallagher’s, like most city businesses, has taken a huge hit but is fighting back. Restaurant GM Bryan Reidy said business had dropped off as much as 70 percent.
Soriano had a great time joking with the chefs yesterday, wearing a big white hat and swinging a bat while Angelica noted, “He doesn’t even know how to cook an egg.”
Come Saturday, Soriano will fly home. He said he will think about Monday’s terrible crash, but added, “I think I am safe.” He has to feel that way because, “I know it is not the last flight I will take.”
When he does arrive, you can be sure Andrea Soriano will be there to give her hero the biggest hug of his life.
