Eddy Alvarez

Eduardo Cortes Alvarez, born on January 30, 1990, in Miami, Florida, is a former professional baseball utility player and short track speed skater. Alvarez’s early life demonstrated diverse athletic talent, beginning roller skating at age five and ice speed skating at age seven. By age eleven, he had secured national age-level titles in inline, long track, and short track speed skating, earning the nickname “Eddy the Jet.” During his high school years, he paused his skating career to focus on baseball, playing shortstop well enough to attract college scholarship offers. However, his aspiration for Olympic competition led him back to speed skating, foregoing the baseball scholarship.

Alvarez notably participated in the 2008 and 2009 World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships, winning a gold medal in the 3,000-meter relay in 2009. After missing the 2010 Olympics due to a stomach virus, he returned to baseball in 2011 to address chronic knee pain, playing for Salt Lake Community College and earning All-Conference honors as a shortstop. His knee issues persisted, leading to surgery in March 2012 for multiple torn patellar tendons. Despite a difficult recovery period where he was immobile for four weeks, Alvarez persevered, returning to the National Team in July 2012 and undergoing extensive physical therapy. By December 2012, he had recovered sufficiently to qualify for the World Cup team, climbing to third overall in the U.S. rankings by season’s end. During the 2013–14 World Cup season, he earned three medals, including a gold and a silver in the 5,000-meter relay and a bronze in the 500 meters. His performance at the 2014 Olympic Trials secured him a place on the U.S. Olympic team, becoming the first Cuban-American male speed skater to achieve this.

At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Alvarez experienced various challenges but ultimately earned a silver medal in the 5,000-meter relay. Following the Winter Games, he transitioned back to baseball, signing a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox in June 2014. He steadily progressed through the minor league system, reaching Triple-A with the Charlotte Knights. In 2019, he was traded to the Miami Marlins, making his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut on August 5, 2020. In 2021, Alvarez was named to the U.S. national baseball team for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, where he served as a flag bearer for the U.S. and earned a silver medal in baseball. This achievement made him only the sixth athlete in history and the third American to medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. He continued his professional baseball career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets before retiring from professional baseball in June 2025 while with the Atlanta Braves.