Celines Toribio and Other
Babes of Washington Heights Await A-Rod's
Arrival
This piece
originally ran on Gambling911.com February 16, 2004. Here we introduce all
new photos of Celines Toribio.
Jennifer Woo,
www.gambling911.com
It's not even summer and the surrounding neighborhood of our
Upper Manhattan office is heating up with the sounds of "Oh Papi" from this
predominantly Dominican community over the arrival of Alex Rodriguez. It
ain't the male sports fanatics crying out "Oh Papi" either (although this area
does have its fair share of pillow biters). Chances are the first woman
ARod will encounter is sizzling local model, Celines Toribio.
The girls here love their
Dominican men and Celines Toribio should be no different. Her
sizzling hot calendar
is sold throughout Manhattan, but she's also a noted sports personality, having
interviewed a number of big name Major League baseball players.
It should be no surprise that
Ms. Toribio's
website features Alex Rodriguez's photo first of several dozen
professional ball players.
Bronx, NY served as a perfect
scenery for "La Copa Junior Pony MoneyGram" an event where Celines Toribio had
the opportunity of throwing the first ball as the grand opening for this game.
There, she encouraged more than 50 young baseball players to dedicate and give
their 100% to the sport.
A
unique talent CELINES TORIBIO, was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and
for the last 12 years has been living in New York City.
For more than a year, she was part of the most privileged team of models of her
native country. In 1996 she graduated from Lehman College with a Bachelors
Degree in Mass Communications and a Minor in Theater.
From 1996-2001 she worked on some of the best Univision
Network programs, like “Fuera de Serie” a primetime show, “Primer Impacto”, the
#1 news magazine among Hispanics; and as a full time correspondent for “El Gordo
y La Flaca”, the #1 Hispanic gossip program in U.S.
If Jenny were going to play matchmaker, this is the woman I'd be
setting A-Rod up with...and hopefully she'd be paying me a commission on that
huge multi-million dollar contract of his.
Girl, you won't be sticking around here much longer if that
hookup takes place!
Hail To The King
A Rod wasn't born in the
Dominican Republic, he was born right here, just three blocks down from the
Sports911.com office.
"It's like New Year's Eve
around here," El Nuevo owner Miguel Montas told the New York Daily News, as he
nodded toward the lunch crowd in his restaurant. "All day, it's all people want
to talk about. They have so much pride in Alex."
This is the place they can not
only talk, but feel a connection of sorts to A-Rod. El Nuevo is where virtually
all of the Dominicans in the major leagues come for lunch when they're in town
to play the Yankees or Mets, as the dozens of autographed pictures with Montas
on the walls attest. A-Rod himself rarely makes an appearance because, Montas
says, "it's too crazy when he comes," but the people know that A-Rod loves the
food here so much that for years Montas has prepared his order and delivered it
personally to his hotel whenever he was in town with the Rangers.
"Alex has always liked coming
to New York," Montas says. "He knows how much he means to the people here. Alex
and Sammy Sosa, they are the two biggest to the Dominicans. But now that Alex is
in New York, he will be the biggest. "You're talking about the Latin Babe Ruth.
But Can He Help Them Win?
Alex and his huge contract
may very well have drained the Yankees in other areas. With all the hoopla
surrounding his arrival, many are quietly wondering if Rodriguez can get the job
done.
Without strong pitching,
something the Yankees are not expected to have early on, no Major League
Baseball team can survive over the long haul.
Jason Stark of ESPN
makes some valid points.
Lieber was tremendous once. But he hasn't thrown a big-league
pitch in a year and a half.
Contreras has astonishing stuff. But his next major-league
start will be his 10th. And as we know, the history of Cuban pitchers who come
to America is a little troublesome.
They are also injecting a
highly paid player into the mix and this almost never helps from a chemistry
point of view. It should be of no surprise that a team like the Carolina
Panthers, with a bunch of no-names stars, made it into the Super Bowl in this
day and age of greedy free agency.
As Stark points out, The
Yankees of 1996-2000 were polished and selfless and seamless. Every piece fit
together. Every personality meshed into the big, ego-less picture.
With A-Rod joining the mix, the
"ego" factor now shoots up several notches.
In the meantime, all the honies
of Washington Heights, including Celines Toribio, await anxiously for super star
A-Rod to come back home.
For most of the Dominicans in
this community, a winning Yankees team is probably just an after thought.
Originally published on February 16, 2004 (8:10 pm
EST)
updated July 28, 2005 9:00 am EST
