Get to know Q&A with Brewers shortstop Willy Adames: On being a romantic, playing point guard and Derek Jeter's cleats
Willy Adames is in the midst of a resurgent season for the Milwaukee Brewers.
He's been the team's best run producer while also once again playing a tremendous defensive shortstop. Adames also has been a fixture in the lineup , as usual.
Since coming over to the Brewers in May 2021, he's also become one of the franchise's most popular players in recent memory, thanks largely to his gregarious nature and ever-present smile.
He took some time in San Diego last weekend to answer some questions from the Journal Sentinel's Todd Rosiak that help shine some light on the man inside the uniform.
Q. What is something that people would be surprised to learn about you?
Adames: That I like romantic movies? "The Longest Ride" and "The Notebook." You've got to like that one. Everybody likes that one. I love those kinds of movies. I've even been reading some – I don't want to say romantic, but they kind of are – books.
Q. Are you a crier?
Adames : No, not really. I love romantic stuff. I don't know if I can describe myself as a sensitive guy. I just love that rom-com stuff. I feel like I'm a romantic.
Q. What sport aside from baseball are you best at?
Adames : Basketball. I'm not tall, but I'm pretty good. I wouldn't say I could go and play college.
Q. Point guard?
Adames : Yeah. I wouldn't be Stephen Curry, but…
Q. Can you dunk?
Adames : I have. I've done it. I can't really jump that high. But I've done it.
Q. What's the best advice you've ever received?
Adames : I would say never think you know it all. There's always going to be somebody smarter. Always be learning. The guy that I train with, we always talk a lot and he told me one time, "Always know there's going to be somebody that knows more than you, so never think that you know everything because there's going to be that knows something that you don't."
Q. Whenever you post on Instagram, you use the hashtag #NoBookBag. What does that mean?
Adames : We have a saying in the Dominican – "No bulto." What it means to me is basically, "Be humble." Just, show love for whatever you reach. I don't like seeing people show off. People can do whatever they want in life, but sometimes it seems like it's not fair when you're doing it in front of people that don't have anything. So it basically means, "Be humble." We always say that. When I was coming up I started posting it on social media.
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Q. You were signed in July 2012 by the Detroit Tigers as a 16-year-old out of Santiago, Dominican Republic. How much English did you speak back then?
Adames : I would say no English, nothing at all. But I could understand some of it because most of my friends grew up in New York and they used to come every summer, so I would spend a lot of time with them when I was a little kid.
Q. How fast did you pick it up once you came to the United States?
Adames : I did my first interview, one-on-one, the same year I got here in 2014. I'm not going to say that I could speak fluently. My first interview in front of a camera and in English by myself was 2015. I would say that I was pretty good at it in about two years, comfortable with it.
Q. The Brewers have English classes for young Latino players. Did the Tigers also have that?
Adames : They did. But I think what helped me the most was off the field. Living with English guys and just listening to it all day long. Being around that and watching movies in English with Spanish subtitles just to hear what it means. I think living with my teammates, that's what helped me the most. If you're not around it, you're not going to speak the language. I always tell the Latin guys, "If you want to learn English, you've got to hang out with Americans. If you're hanging out with the Latinos all the time, you're not going to practice English, you're not going to listen to English. You're not going to be around it." If you want to learn, you have to switch it up. That's what I did in High-A, living with Kean Wong (Kolten Wong's brother) and then Andrew Velazquez in Double-A. Me and Kean lived together in Triple-A. I was good.
Q. Elly De La Cruz made a point this past offseason to learn English, understanding he's the face of the franchise for the Reds and that fans want to hear from him directly. Jackson Chourio is in a similar situation with the Brewers. Do you believe it's important for him to eventually begin speaking English?
Adames : Of course it's important. It's one of the most important things you can learn. It's going to help you understand the American culture, your teammates, your coaches. They're not going to be Latin all the time. Your manager's going to be American. So you've got to be able to understand what they're trying to tell you, how to communicate. My main thing was I wanted to be able to express myself and I wanted them to understand what I feel. I don't want a translator saying something that I didn't say. That was my main point and why I think it's so important – if you don't speak, you're not going to be able to say what you want to say. You know what I mean? You've got to be able to express yourself, and I think that's the most important thing. And for a guy like me with a big personality, if I can't express that, then you're not going to know my best tool. I think that's the biggest reason I learned and why I think it's so important.
Q. You speak English so well now one might think you're actually from New York. Have you heard that before?
Adames : I always get that. If you're going to be here, I want to be able to order from a restaurant. Stuff like that. My girl is from Canada and she went to Harvard. Ten years ago, I could never date a girl like her because I didn't speak English. You've got to do it. It's hard, but you can pick up enough for you to talk, for you to communicate. The basics.
Q. What's your most prized possession?
Adames : Well, I don't have it yet. But I'm going to have it because my boy from New York is going to get them for me. He has some of Derek Jeter's cleats. It's not what it costs or whatever; it's what they mean to me .
Q. You're the same size?
Adames : Yeah. He was going to give me a pair last year when we were playing the Yankees. I put them on and everything. The ones he was going to give me were ones he was going to use for the WBC and they were the USA ones and they had made just a few of them. I was like, "I can't take these." He gave them to me, and I said I can't wear them; I'd feel bad. And that was the day I met him. I gave them back to him because I was like, "Those are rare, and I don't want to feel bad wearing them."
Q. So, you're going to be wearing a less-rare pair when you get them?
Adames : Yeah, I will.
Q. What are the three best words that describe you?
Adames : Fun, loving and passionate.
Q. If you were commissioner for a day and could change one thing about baseball, what would it be?
Adames : Wow, putting me on the spot. To wear your team uniform in the All-Star Game. It was so much cooler.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Q&A with Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames
