Make a Wish: El Paso boy manages Dodgers for a day
“I’m thinking of taking Kershaw out now. What do you think?” Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts asked Ziggy.
“Yeah,” Ziggy replied.
His real name is Lozaro Monarrez, but everyone just calls the 11-year-old from El Paso “Ziggy.”
As you may know, ESPN and the Make-A-Wish Foundation routinely team up for a popular segment called “My Wish.” (You can click here to watch the full video).
This time the segment featured Ziggy, a lifelong Dodgers fan, getting a chance to help Roberts manage the Dodgers against the Rockies on June 24.
When the reporter on the segment asked him why he chose the Dodgers, Ziggy had a simple reply.
“They’re the Dodgers!” he said. “That shouldn’t even be a question.”
Ziggy, along with his mother, sister, and grandma, flew from El Paso in June to attend a Dodgers home contest against the Rockies.
Ziggy suffers from a condition known as spinal muscular atrophy, which affects control of muscle movement.
But Ziggy hasn’t let that hold him back, and he didn’t let it stop him from helping Dave Roberts with key decisions in a 4-0 win over the Rockies, which gave the Dodgers their 50th win of the year.
Roberts even joked during a press conference that Ziggy should probably be the one to handle tough questions from reporters.
Ziggy left the game convinced the Dodgers, his team, were a serious World Series contender.
“This is our year, our year to win it all,” he said.
