Seeing Cubs hero Addison Russell succeed 'surreal,' Mom says

Connie Macatula-De Leon, ABS-CBN News Chicago

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/sports/11/02/addison-russell-110216.jpg"/></figure></div>MANILA, Philippines — As Addison Russell nears fulfilling every major league player&#x27;s dream, his mother remembers making a simple wish when the Chicago Cubs infielder was a newborn. That her baby would stay alive.The Cubs sent the World Series to a deciding game set for Wednesday night (Thursday morning, Manila time), thanks to a historic game by Russell. The 22-year-old All-Star infielder hit a grand slam in the third inning of Game 6, powering the Cubs to a 9-3 win over the Cleveland Indians. Russell&#x27;s six RBIs in the game tied a World Series record held by three other players.&quot;Watching your son do his dream, it&#x27;s surreal for all of us and we couldn&#x27;t be more proud of him,&quot; said Russell&#x27;s mom, Milany.Adulation, fame and World Series records were furthest from Milany&#x27;s mind when she gave birth to Addison, who was afflicted with respiratory problems as a baby. His condition was so dire he needed to stay in the ICU for two weeks when he was 3 months old. Milany said she thought her son wouldn&#x27;t make it.&quot;His body wasn&#x27;t digesting his formula. His body was rejecting it so it was throwing back in his lungs,&quot; Milany said.&quot;It&#x27;s a very, very emotional situation when you&#x27;re 19 years old and you have a son and he&#x27;s gonna die on you and they&#x27;re telling you to let go of him. And I refused to.&quot;Milany, who hails from Olongapo City and calls Florida home, said that episode drew her closer to God. Her faith and the close-knit nature of her family are both Filipino values that she hopes to preserve, especially since Addison seems to thrive being raised in this environment.&quot;He&#x27;s always in a good state of mind when family&#x27;s around,&quot; Milany said. &quot;His family is his strength.&quot;Addison, who was voted to this year&#x27;s All-Star game in only his second season in the majors, told ESPN.com that he has been preparing for big moments such as Game 6. “It&#x27;s kind of been throughout the whole year, being part of the Cubs, you&#x27;re put in the limelight,” he said. “And early on, you&#x27;re forced to deliver whenever the game&#x27;s kind of on the line. So having that practice throughout the whole season, and then, finally, here comes the big moment in the postseason, in the World Series. It&#x27;s just, I wouldn&#x27;t say it&#x27;s bread and butter, but you definitely learn to control those feelings, so you&#x27;re able to see the ball and able to think about pitch counts and all that stuff.”Addison&#x27;s feat has been splashed across major American news websites such as the New York Times and <a href="http://www.espn.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/42739/addison-comes-of-age-russells-slam-guarantees-game-7" target="_blank">ESPN</a>.But now that her son has been thrust into the limelight, Milany isn&#x27;t worried that success would get into Addison&#x27;s head. &quot;I don&#x27;t think that he is really aware of the magnitude of how much Filipinos are proud of our own because he is so humble about things,&quot; Milany said. &quot;He doesn&#x27;t look at himself as a super famous guy.&quot;He just thnks he&#x27;s a normal kid who loves to play ball and living his dream.&quot;For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/" target="_blank">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.

As Addison Russell nears fulfilling his baseball dream, his mother remembers making a simple wish when her son was a newborn — that he would stay alive.

As Addison Russell nears fulfilling his baseball dream, his mother remembers making a simple wish when her son was a newborn — that he would stay alive.

Seeing Cubs hero Addison Russell succeed 'surreal,' Mom says

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Seeing Cubs hero Addison Russell succeed 'surreal,' Mom says

Connie Macatula-De Leon,

ABS-CBN News Chicago

Published Nov 02, 2016 09:03 PM PHT

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Updated Nov 02, 2016 10:21 PM PHT

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Addison Russell

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