On February 22, 2014, Hernandez interviews Celio Sánchez Valdivia about his brother, José Sánchez Valdivia, who died in the plane crash. Celio says his brother left home when he was still young but that his brother’s best friend, José Sánchez González, is still living and would know more about him. In March, Hernandez arrives at the González residence. The family members tell him that José died the same day Hernandez called.

Eliseo, José González’s brother, tells Hernandez about the friendship of José González and José Valdivia. They were more like brothers than friends. They came from a small farming community in Mexico called La Estancia. Along with many people from their community, they worked picking crops in the San Joaquin Valley. La Estancia was very rural and quiet, unlike the San Joaquin Valley.

As a child, Valdivia dreamed of playing baseball. On October 1, 1932, Valdivia listened to Babe Ruth (“El Bambino”) call and then hit a home run in game three of the World Series on the radio. One of the old men remarked that “Luque would have struck el Bambino out” (85). He tells Valdivia that Domingo de Guzman Luque was a great pitcher from Cuba who played all over the US.