As for his first significant game, at age 5, Soto remembers it very clearly. It might have been just below the reservoir. Or maybe down near that ice rink. But it was definitely in Manhattan's Central Park.

"It was awesome," said Soto, now an All-Star for the Chicago Cubs and one of the best young catchers in baseball. "You go with your dad to the practice field, but never in my life I'd ever put a uniform on and played with other kids. I felt like, 'Wow, it's really happening -- I'm going to play baseball.' "

Soto burst upon the major leagues last year, batting .285 with 23 home runs and 86 runs batted in and winning Rookie of the Year honors for the 97-win Cubs. He did so with many fans figuring he was yet another in the long line of top catchers with pure Puerto Rican pedigrees: from Benito Santiago and Javy López to Ivan Rodríguez and the three Molina brothers. But Soto's first years playing baseball came in New York City.

Practice Tuesdays and Thursdays, doubleheaders on Saturdays. His parents, Antonio and Norma, had moved the Soto family from San Juan to the Bronx so that Antonio could learn the auto-body trade and Norma could train as an insurance agent. But one parent always found time to take Geovany on the 6 train down to Central Park so that his dreams could be as sprawling as the fields.