In a story I’ve been following for awhile, it appears that former Ranger closer Ugueth Urbina’s mother has been found alive. Late last season, the current Tiger reliever’s mother was kidnapped and held for ransom. This happened early last September, and has been ongoing till now. Ugueth understandibly had to leave the Tigers to deal with this, and I really had thought a few times she was dead. Fortunately, the story says she’s alive, which is very good news. I’m glad for all of them that there was a good resolution to this story.
What bothers me most about this is the fact that it probably could quite easily happen again to others in countries that are so poor, kidnap the rich guy’s family and demand money. Think about it.
Here’s the full story regarding Urbina’s mom being found:
PHOENIX (Ticker) – The mother of Ugueth Urbina was found alive Friday in Bolivar, Venezuela, two sources close to the Detroit Tigers reliever told ESPN Radio 1000 in Chicago.
Maura Villarreal, 54, was found alive and well but dehydrated by local authorities. She was abducted from the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela by what was believed to be four men on September 1 and Urbina left the team shortly thereafter to deal with the issue.
After initially demanding $15 million from Urbina, the kidnappers had lowered their demands to $3 million in January.
Urbina, 31, had 21 saves in 24 opportunities along with a 4-6 record and 4.50 ERA with the Tigers before leaving.
He signed a one-year contract with a club option for 2005 with Detroit in March 2004 after not being able to come to terms on a deal with the Florida Marlins.
The righthander split the 2003 season with the Texas Rangers and Marlins. Urbina had two saves in the National League Championship Series, when the Marlins rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Chicago Cubs in seven games. Urbina also saved two games in the World Series, when the Marlins beat the New York Yankees in six games for the franchise’s second championship.
The emotional Urbina, who often pumps his fist after recording key outs, has 264 career saves in 502 appearances with Montreal, Boston, Texas, Florida and Detroit.