SPRING VALLEY, Calif. (KGTV) — It's been two weeks since the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series, and Alex Vesia is still in shock.
“I still kind of pinch myself when, you know, all my buddies talk to me about it or congratulate me," he said. "People call, (and) it's like, 'How does it feel?' I'm like, 'I can't put it into words.'”
Can you blame him?
Vesia went from a no-name recruit coming out of Steele Canyon High School in Spring Valley to a name the baseball world won't soon forget.
Vesia is known for the passion he shows on the mound in the majors.
“My thing is I like showing the emotion because I feel like I've earned it," he told ABC 10News.
It's the same passion his peers have seen since high school.
“There's a picture of me and I'm on the front of the yearbook with a foam finger, like, yelling.”
What few have seen is the battle in between.
“One day he's at Steele, and the next day he's a World Series champion," he said, "but there is a lot of failure. There is, you know, a lot of uncertainty.”
Nothing was guaranteed for Vesia. He received one scholarship offer coming out of high school for Division II Cal State University, East Bay.
Yet, he would say to himself every day, "I am a champion."
On Oct. 30, he became one with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's a feeling few will ever understand, described in a way almost everyone can relate.
“Going back to my childhood, playing wiffle ball in my front yard," he said. "It's the same game. That's the weirdest thing to say because there's so much more going on around you. But for me, it was the same game.”
The Dodgers won all seven games Vesia played in this postseason. Some would call that a secret weapon. He would call it just a "piece of the puzzle"—one that's now complete.
“Winning the World Series — Best moment of your life?” ABC 10News asked.
“Oh, yeah. By far," he said. "Knowing that we won, I had butterflies. I mean, it was like my stomach was in my throat and my heart rate...I wasn't even pitching. My heart rate was going. To run out and then celebrate with the team, I mean, it's something that I'll never forget.”
ABC 10News wondered how Vesia's wife would feel about him calling the World Series his best moment over their wedding day.
“She understands," he said with a smile. "That's why I married her."
Vesia got married in January, which means he now has two rings in one year.
"Sounds like you've peaked," ABC 10News told him.
"I'd like to keep going," Vesia replied.
Click the video below to watch the FULL INTERVIEW:
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