Baseball VFL Julio Borbon Reflects on Recent Earthquake Experience

By Kyle Williams, UTSports.com

As the magnitude 8.1 earthquake began to devastate southern Mexico in the late-night hours of Thursday, Sept. 7, former Tennessee baseball star Julio Borbon was sleeping in a hotel room, and awoke to what he described as "the craziest thing I've ever experienced."

Borbon, an outfielder for the Vols from 2005-2007, was playing in the Mexican Baseball League's championship series for the Pericos de Puebla club. After using that Thursday to travel back home from Tijuana, the team booked a hotel, where Borbon's wife and 8-month old daughter could stay in his room before he had to prepare for the next game.

Approximately 10 minutes before midnight, Borbon and the baby were sound asleep. It seemed, by all accounts, to be the ending of another regular day. What came next, however, was total chaos that started with his wife frantically jolting him awake.

"She was kind of in shock because the building was swaying," Borbon said. "It felt like the building was rocking side to side. When I finally realized it, I opened my eyes and said, 'oh my gosh.' The water in the pool looked like waves were starting. It was the craziest thing I've ever experienced, because I've never been a part of an earthquake."

The rattling of the walls continued for what Borbon estimated to be more than 30 seconds. Once it finally settled down, he checked his team group message to make sure everyone was safe, and received an advisory call from the hotel lobby to take caution for any potential aftershock. Borbon knew he had just experienced something rare, but the scale of the disaster remained unknown to him until the next day.

"I talked to an Uber driver on the way to the ballpark," he said. "He told me that it's not uncommon here in the city of Puebla, but that that one was the biggest one in 100 years. Every year these guys say they feel a bit of an earthquake, but it's never been to this magnitude."

Borbon's lack of knowledge on seismic activity in the region is somewhat understandable, given that he only began playing in the Mexican League in April. After being drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2007, he played 294 games in the MLB, making stops with the Chicago Cubs and the Baltimore Orioles before leaving the league in 2016.

While the transition provided its own set of uncertainties, Borbon feels that he has acclimated to his new life well, especially since his work environment includes some familiar faces.

"There's quite a few other Americans on the team," Borbon said. "One of them is actually another former Vol who I played with my sophomore year, (pitcher) Deunte Heath. It's awesome. It's definitely been an enjoyable ride being on a winning team, and having a great year here, too, definitely helps out."

Borbon was born in Starkville, Mississippi, while his father attended Mississippi State, but was raised in the Dominican Republic. It was there where he was first introduced to baseball, and after standing out in high school, Borbon was eventually recruited by UT. Although he has resided in the United States for the majority of his career, he still spends his offseasons playing winter ball in the Dominican, where he has the chance to be with extended family, if only for a couple months out of the year.

As a new father, however, Borbon has been forced to deal with the challenges that come with balancing being a professional athlete and being an always-present parent.

"At first it was really hard because I was away from them for months sometimes," he said. "At the stage the baby was in, she was growing by the minute, so I had to miss a little bit of that. I'm glad that now they're close enough with me here that I get to spend pretty much every day with them."

The Pericos de Puebla season came to an end on Sunday, as the team was defeated in five games by the Toros de Tijuana in the Mexican League's King's Series. While it was a successful first season that nearly ended with a championship, Borbon understands that it all comes as part of a larger journey that has given him the opportunity to experience different North American cultures.

However, he still maintains that it was his time spent in Knoxville, particularly with the 2005 team that reached the College World Series, that has helped shape him into the player he is today.

"Those were the best days of my life," Borbon said. "I had just transitioned from coming from the Dominican, and I couldn't have been with a better group of brothers and people I still keep in touch with today. They helped me transition with getting back to the states. We had unbelievable times from day one that I got there. Obviously, with the ride that we had and how successful all those guys that were on that team have gone on to become, we definitely keep up with each other and we look forward to every offseason."

University of Tennessee Athletics

Baseball VFL Julio Borbon Reflects on Recent Earthquake Experience

Related Videos