Omar López had spent weeks coordinating with organizers and communicating with players. By early June, enough of the groundwork had been laid to make López believe his wildest dreams might come true: a November parade through the streets of Venezuela, commemorating the national team that won the 2026 World Baseball Classic and brought so much joy to a baseball-loving country that desperately needed it.
"The first of its kind," López, Venezuela's manager for that run in March, told ESPN on June 9.
Fifteen days later, tragedy struck.
Twin earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.2 and 7.5 hit the northern section of Venezuela on June 24, devastating the capital city of Caracas and the neighboring coastal state of La Guaira. Thousands were found dead. Tens of thousands were left unaccounted for. Billions in damages were sustained. Days later, López circled back with key members of that championship-winning Venezuelan team. They agreed the parade should be put off.
"It would've been something really beautiful for the country," Milwaukee Brewers reliever Antonio Senzatela said in Spanish, "but it's made more difficult by what's happened. Too many people died. Too many people haven't been found."
On Aug. 3, the Venezuelan government announced the confirmed death toll had risen to 6,125, adding that 60,992 people had been treated in hospitals, 43,679 households had been affected in some form, and 346,755 tons of debris had been spilled.
An official tally of missing people has not been provided, but the search for bodies buried under rubble continues throughout the region. Resources remain insufficient. And while Venezuelan players and coaches throughout the majors remain eager to help their home country, many remain unsure how to do so effectively. With that in mind, López's focus has shifted from celebration to salvation.
He wants his WBC team to come together for a handful of days in Venezuela at some point this offseason, using that time instead to raise funds, host clinics, deliver supplies and assist in cleaning up some of the damage the earthquakes left behind. López broached the subject with Salvador Perez, Ronald Acuna Jr., Maikel Garcia and a handful of others. In late July, he reignited conversations with Venezuelan officials and began to think about a detailed agenda.
"We would like to go there, but just to spend time with our people," said López, also the Houston Astros' bench coach.
"I think it'd be good to get everyone together," Colorado Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar added in Spanish. "But to help. Not to celebrate. We won the championship, it was something huge for Venezuela, an amazing moment for us personally, but they need something else now. They need help."
Miguel Rojas, a veteran infielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers and a native Venezuelan, spent the final week of June in a state of shock over the devastation in his home country. When the earthquakes hit, Rojas' wife was in Venezuela to renew her passport along with her two American-born children, who were applying for Venezuelan citizenship. They stayed in Caracas, a couple blocks from where two buildings collapsed. Theirs shook, too. He felt grateful for his family's safety but sadness for so many others who weren't as fortunate.
"At the end, when I put my head to bed after everything is over, after the show is over, it's really hard to go to sleep," Rojas said. "I'm pretty sure a lot of Venezuelans are going through the same thing."
Boston Red Sox first baseman and countryman Willson Contreras broke down in tears in the dugout on June 29. Six days later, Dodgers catcher Eliezer Alfonzo learned his 16-year-old sister, Eliana, and stepmother, Patricia, had been found dead in the rubble. Alfonzo made his major league debut hours later.
Sixty Venezuelan-born players made up the 30 major league rosters on Opening Day, and these days, many of them navigate their jobs with a sense of longing. They feel guilt over not being able to help and struggle to remain present.
"We'd like to be there," Senzatela said, "but we're here working."
"It's sad because you feel like you're not doing anything," Tovar said. "You try to help from here the best you can, sending stuff, donating, but often you feel like you're not helping at all."
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players' Association announced a joint $1 million donation to the American Red Cross in late June to aid in recovery efforts. A handful of teams have made six-figure donations while an assortment of others has hosted drives and steered proceeds to local charities.
San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr., who was born in the Dominican Republic, made a $100,000 donation. Three Venezuelan members of the Brewers -- outfielder Jackson Chourio, catcher William Contreras and field coordinator Néstor Corredor -- partnered with a community group to launch a relief effort.
"We all feel like a family, because at the end of the day we're all Venezuelan," Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez said in Spanish. "That's how we feel. Seeing what people are going through, hearing from them, watching the videos -- that's what makes you the most sad, and what makes this the most difficult."
It was only five months ago that López and the rest of his Venezuelan WBC team rejoiced in an enthralling, unexpected triumph.
The United States, Japan and the Dominican Republic all fielded more star-studded rosters in this year's international tournament, which had never seen Venezuela advance past the quarterfinals. But López's group mashed three home runs to defeat Japan in the quarterfinals, used a gritty bullpen effort to get past a surprising Italy team in the semis and rode Eugenio Suarez's go-ahead, ninth-inning double to defeat the U.S. in the championship. López took great pride in the joy that moment brought to his home country.
Now, he laments all that has been lost since.
"We were the hope, in terms of perhaps providing some celebrations, some happy days," López said. "And now with this tragedy, it kind of, in our opinion, took away everything that our country was experiencing. That's the heartbreak that we all have. We just hope our country recovers quickly, as fast as it can. But we have to stay together. And not only the people outside, but the people inside the government, private companies, everybody has to come together. And then we can go back and probably remember our WBC.
"But right now, there is no reason to celebrate. There is no reason. There are so many of our brothers, sisters that are no longer with us."
