Named the inaugural Girls’ Baseball Ambassador for Major League Baseball in 2024, in addition to her role with the Athletics as player development coordinator for Latin America, Veronica Alvarez has spent the past year spearheading several youth baseball camps for girls of different age groups.
Last month, during the eighth-annual Trailblazer series, a two-day event comprised of 100 girls ages 11-13 at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Fla., Alvarez and MLB Manager of Youth Content Alexa Ramos were walking around the backfields to check in and chat with participants. A few minutes in, they came across an exuberant 13-year-old girl.
“Hey, what would you think if I told you that the A’s made Veronica a pair of maternity baseball pants?” Ramos asked the 13-year-old girl.
Without hesitation, the 13-year-old responded: “It would make me feel like we were welcomed in the game.”
Alvarez is due to give birth to her first child – a daughter yet to be named – in August. To that point, she had chosen to keep the news private, save for several family members and close friends. That interaction, however, helped Alvarez realize the importance of going public with her pregnancy, given the platform she has as a beacon of hope for girls all around the world who aspire to play baseball.
“This is the first public announcement of my pregnancy,” Alvarez told MLB.com on Friday. “That [interaction] was pretty epic. It makes it all worth it. … I’m doing this because I think it’s important for everything.”
Yes, those maternity baseball pants do exist, and they are a first-of-its-kind as far as Alvarez is aware.
The idea was sparked by A’s director of player development Ed Sprague. Soon after learning that Alvarez was pregnant, Sprague called A’s Minor League equipment coordinator Thomas Miller during Spring Training asking if he could help create the special pair of pants. It required two different seamstresses and the help of his wife, but Miller finally acquired the perfect pairs, one in gray, the other in white.
“I’m real careful with them because I don’t want anything to happen with them,” Alvarez said with a laugh. “I only give them to trusted individuals to wash. It’s incredible, right? We’re just now getting women in the game of baseball, and this showcases the good people we have within the organization.”
At first glance, the pants do not appear much different from regular baseball pants, especially when Alvarez is wearing her batting practice jacket. That’s why she makes it a point to show them off on the field during pregame interactions whenever possible.
“These are once in a lifetime,” Alvarez said. “I think they’re super cool. I’m like, ‘Check out my pants!’ and I’m just flashing my pants around. I have to wear suspenders with them because they have belt loops, but they fit me too mid-stomach and it would be uncomfortable sitting down.”
The alteration to include suspenders was made quickly by Miller, again highlighting why Alvarez is so appreciative of the organization where she began as a part-time instructor several years ago to now running the club’s baseball academy in La Victoria, Dominican Republic.
"They don’t see gender when it comes to us,” Alvarez said of the A’s. “We’re one of them, and they try to make us as welcome as possible. … I’m happy to be part of this org in so many different ways.”
Alvarez takes pride in being a trailblazer who is breaking down barriers in baseball for women, so the fact that she is having a daughter will only make the cause that much more special.
“Everything I do is advocating for someone,” Alvarez said. “I’m advocating for the girls and women trying to be a part of this game, because they love it. It’s always meant a lot to me. … Now, knowing that I’m having a daughter and knowing that I’m trying to push the game forward for them, whether they choose to play or not, that they have the option to play, definitely has even more impact now.”
The only thing left for Alvarez is to come up with a name for her incoming baby girl, which might be a game-time decision.
“It’s complex,” Alvarez said of the name-picking process. “You have to be able to say it in Spanish and English. … I thought maybe the hard part would be coming to a common decision with my partner. But in reality, it’s like all the pressure of like, ‘Well, this is their identifier for the rest of their life.’”