JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Baseball fans may be familiar with the name Victor Mesa. A former player in the Cuban National Series for 19 years, Mesa also won a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics. He has two sons, Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr.
Victor Mesa Jr., an outfielder for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, recently achieved something unique in his family: he became a U.S. citizen.
"I'm pretty thankful for this country. Now, I can vote, now I can put in my little help," Mesa Jr. said.
The Mesa family hails from Cuba. Victor Mesa Jr. was drafted by the Miami Marlins in 2018, the same year he applied for U.S. citizenship.
"This is a country that opened the door for us. We are so proud to be here. That was one of the goals since we got here," he said.
Mesa Jr. had to wait six years to receive his citizenship certificate, but first, he had to pass a test.
"At the beginning, I didn't know anything. It's so hard for me to learn the history of the United States, but little by little, I studied 100 questions of history, physics, and a little bit of everything," he explained.
He took his citizenship test right before the 2024 baseball season and admitted it was a stressful time.
"I always said before my test, it's easier to play baseball than do that, but it wasn't that bad. I did pretty good and we're here," he said.
Mesa Jr. found out he passed the test the same day he took it.
"I was playing with my friends because after I took the test, I called them and said, 'I'm not going to speak Spanish anymore,'" he recalled.
Mesa added that he doesn't have any children right now but would like some one day and that he pursued citizenship, so his future children won't have to.