“There were a lot of texts, a lot of messages.”
As a lifelong Tampa Bay Rays fan, Alex Faedo couldn’t be more excited for an unexpected opportunity to pitch for his hometown team.
“Me and my uncle, I was allowed to miss school, to go to opening day,” Faedo said. “Every opening day we would go and the first playoff game at The Trop. It’s exciting, a cool experience.”
The Alonso High School graduate was acquired by the Rays in an offseason trade with the Detroit Tigers.
“There were a lot of texts, a lot of messages,” Faedo said. “My family was really excited, happy for them, happy for my wife. My kids don’t really understand what’s going on, but I am happy to be close to them for most of the season. A lot of people were messaging me, but it was cool to see how happy everyone was.”
Faedo’s father, Landy Faedo, is the longtime baseball coach at Alonso High.
“He gave me a call. I was super-excited,” Landy said. “I called my wife. She broke down in tears. She said she’d been praying for it to happen.”
Faedo was the number 18 overall pick in 2017 out of the University of Florida.
With the Tigers, he was primarily a starter. Last year, he posted a 3.61 ERA with 55 strikeouts and 28 walks in 57 1/3 innings over 37 appearances. But with Tampa Bay, he will likely transition to a reliever.
“I’m not in a position to be making demands, so I’ll just pitch whenever I am asked to pitch and try to pick up my team whenever I can and throw up as many zeros as I can,” Faedo said.
There is another Tampa Bay tie for Faedo. His dad was an assistant coach at Gaither High School in the mid-90’s when Rays manager Kevin Cash was there.
“Kevin was a gamer,” Landy said. “Super-high IQ baseball player. Fearless, just fearless.”
“You know, it might just be time we take a look if HOAs are really even necessary.
Maybe we should just do away with homeowner associations as a whole.”
South Florida lawmaker Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) says it may be time to do away with homeowners associations altogether, as more Floridians speak out about rising fees, costly lawsuits, and even arrests tied to HOA disputes. He said this week that he is considering filing legislation in the next session that would abolish HOAs statewide.
