05/24/2026
As some of you know, we have a special connection to the Sacramento River Cats (SF Giants AAA team) through some cousins of mine, Tina and Topo. The third base coach is Jolbert Cabrera. He played 10 years of Major League Baseball. He played for the Indians, Reds, Dodgers, and Mariners. He was the manager of the Columbian team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic with his brother Orlando by his side. He is a really nice guy, and I wanted to do something for him to show our gratitude for all the little things he has done for us. We have been very fortunate to get to know him.
I started working this project 2-1/2 months ago and I started by pouring epoxy in layers of red, blue, and yellow. Which are the colors of his home country Columbia. I located a baseball card of his from each team he played for. I also found a great photo from the 2023 WBC of him and his brother enjoying their time in the dugout together. All I needed was a central piece for the project and found a drawing of the Columbian Flag that I liked. A big “thank you” to my daughter-in-law Cassie for reproducing it as a decal. Once everything was set, I poured a layer of clear epoxy over all of the items. After a week of cure time, I beveled the edges so the other colors could be seen better. This was the longest I’ve worked on a project of this size to date. It was also one of the most rewarding as well. I have not presented the board to him yet. So if you know him don’t say anything and ruin the surprise!! I hope to present it to him in the coming weeks.
I got into this “arts & crafts” stuff to do things like this. Make special items for special people and to say thanks to them for being who they are!!!
