Yankees Fernando Cruz still motivated by moms powerful words that helped reshape career

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.New Yankees pitcher Fernando Cruz gets the call for some Mother’s Day Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.Q: What does Mother’s Day mean to you?A: I’m really grateful with the Lord for giving me the mother that I had for 31 years.

Mother’s Day’s just special, never gets old for me.I’m also really grateful for my wife.

I think she’s the MVP of everything that I’ve done, everything that I’m doing right now, where I’m at.She’s been the wise woman that every man needs.Q: Describe your mother Virginia for me.A: She was the woman that taught me to keep going, and don’t matter if you’re in an adversity moment, it don’t matter what you’re going through, there’s always a step forward.

I grew up watching her going through struggles, going through adversity, going through stuff that came up surprisingly, and she just handled it the way you’re supposed to handle it.Every negative moment she found the positive stuff.

I think that is something that we all need to put into perspective.… She was just a warrior, and I think I took that from her.

I am where I am because of the values and everything she taught me.Q: What was the worst struggle that she had to overcome?A: She was from Dominican, she came illegal to Puerto Rico.She needed to reinvent herself in Puerto Rico without paperwork.

Without, like, being legal, it’s really tough.Like, you cannot work anywhere or however you want, you just gotta find a good work for you to be able to sustain.

She had three kids in Dominican that she had send money to.She was just impressive the way she handled everything.

When I was a little kid, one day she went to a house that was abandoned, and she said, “I’m gonna buy that house.” I remember that like it was right now.A year-and-a-half later, she bought the house.

They approved the house for her....