Nick Alvarado says helping his friend and former MLB scout Rudy Vasquez by donating a kidney “was meant to be.”
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Rudy Vasquez and Nick Alvarado have known each other for about 20 years going back to a baseball academy that the two were instructors at in San Antonio.
Vasquez then had a lengthy career as a scout for the Los Angeles Angels while Alvarado went on to coaching with Coastal Bend stops at Alice and Flour Bluff before going into the Hornets’ administration. When Vasquez told his friend earlier this year that he was suffering from stage five kidney failure, Alvarado’s response was immediate.
“The minute I told him, he just didn’t hesitate,” Vasquez said. “He said, ‘I’ll give you a kidney.’ And I said, ‘You know, Nick, that’s a really, really wonderful, beautiful gesture, but catch your breath and really think about what you’re saying here.'”
“God was, speaking to me and said, ‘This is what’s supposed to happen,'” Alvarado said.” That was what filled my heart with assurance that it was going to happen and everything is going to be alright.”
The two have helped hundreds of baseball players reach the collegiate and professional levels in the San Antonio and Coastal Bend areas respectively. And Alvarado says that Vasquez taking a chance on hiring him as a young instructor all those years ago and helping set him on the life path he’s on today made that instant life-saving decision a no doubter.
“(It was) a time when I was trying to raise a young family, finish school and pay bills. He doesn’t realize what he did for me in order for me to be in the situation and to see the things that I have.”
Vasquez says he’s lead a great life. And while he’s thankful for the chance for that life to continue, he does worry for his friend.
“God has blessed me beyond imagination. I just don’t want anything to happen to him. That’s my biggest prayer.”
The procedure is supposed to take place later this year in San Antonio.
It was also a return to familiar territory of sorts for Vasquez because prior to his baseball life, he worked in production at Kiii-TV in the mid 70’s with the likes of Domingo Pena and Charlie St. John.