This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
HOUSTON -- The favorite meals and desserts typically associated with Thanksgiving and some traditional dishes from Puerto Rico help make for a memorable holiday season each year for Astros manager Joe Espada. The blending of food, music and traditions while spending time with his family give him plenty of reasons to be thankful.
This year, Espada along with his wife, Pam, and daughters -- 13-year-old Eliana and 9-year-old Viviana -- made the long drive from their Houston area home to Dallas, where they spent Thanksgiving with Espada’s parents -- his mother Miriam and father Dolores. Joe’s sister, Rebecca, lives in Dallas and helps care for their parents.
Espada said the family typically alternates holidays each year, spending Thanksgiving with his family one year and Christmas with his wife’s family the next. They switch it up the following year.
“It means a lot, because my parents are getting older and it’s hard for them to travel,” Espada said. “We make time to drive up and see them and the grandkids come and spend some time with them. We make the effort, so we can spend time with them.”
Any time Espada can spend with his parents is special these days, especially at the holidays. His father hasn’t been in the best of health the last few years. His parents were at Minute Maid Park last March to see him manage the first game of his career when the Astros took on the Yankees, which was the most memorable moment of his managerial debut.
Miriam and Dolores raised three kids in Puerto Rico, where Thanksgiving is celebrated. Espada’s wife is from Florida, so when both sides of the family get together, it’s a mixture of culture and influences.
“We keep some of the Puerto Rican traditions, obviously, when it comes to the food,” Joe said. “We have some of the American-style plates. Pam will do a sweet potato casserole, a green bean casserole, which my family really enjoys. We also have your typical Puerto Rico meals for Thanksgiving, so it’s a combination of both. It’s very typical. There’s a lot of people, there’s a lot of music, we have a good time during this time.”
One of the most popular holiday dishes in Puerto Rico is pasteles, which is similar to tamales, but has ingredients wrapped in plantains instead of corn husks.
“It’s like a plantain mash and we put meat in it and olives and stuff like that,” Joe said. “We’ll have a ton of desserts, you name it -- cheesecakes and we usually have tres leches. We’ll have leftovers, of course. We’ll be eating this for the next three or four days after Thanksgiving. It’s fun. We start decorating some Christmas stuff during these days. We all do it together.”
In addition to food and music, football is on the television. The adults gather to watch the Dallas Cowboys play their traditional Thanksgiving home game, while the children are in front of another television watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Of course, baseball remains a big talking point over Thanksgiving dinner, as well. Baseball’s hot stove is just starting to heat up, and Joe can’t escape members of his family peppering him with questions about the Astros. Of course, the future of free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman is at the top of everyone’s mind, even over turkey and dressing.
“It’s hard not to talk baseball with my dad,” Joe said. “He wants to know the same questions I get asked from the fans. He wants to know, ‘Are we signing Breggy? Are we getting any starting pitching?’ It’s baseball [talk] for the first day and after that things kind of settle down.”
Baseball has always been at the heart of the family. Dolores had a hip replacement at a young age and couldn’t work, so Miriam worked long hours while Dolores took Joe to his practices in Puerto Rico. As a young kid, Joe watched baseball at home with his father, who was a fan of the Yankees, Mets and Braves. Espada’s parents put family first, and being with them for Thanksgiving is a reminder for Joe how much that has meant to him.
“It’s important for me to take time and make time,” he said.