Alonso's family escaped from Cuba when he was 10, fleeing to Miami for a better life and settling not far from Marlins Park, the site of this year's All-Star Game presented by Mastercard. A blue-collar attitude replicated from his parents earned him a baseball scholarship to the University of Miami, where he turned himself into a first-round Draft pick of the Reds in 2008.
Alonso didn't find quick success on the big league stage, and for years he lacked the kind of power those within the baseball circle identify with first basemen. Amazingly, the most home runs he hit in a season before this year was nine, with the Padres in 2012.