Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk has developed a reputation in the outside world as the reliable, calm, and steady player at one of the most challenging jobs in baseball. Off the field, Kirk has mostly left his personal life off the radar scope, leaving his play to talk most things. That demarcation weakened a bit culminating this week, with his wife, Sofia Castaneda, posting an Instagram Story that gained the attention of fans.There was no caption explaining the occasion and providing context to the post. It rather just gave a candid family moment, an event that was based not on public milestones but on the real life. In the sporting world where the personal is frequently edited or commodified, the plainness of the post was refreshing, providing an authentic peep into the non-baseball side of life.
The Instagram story showed a relaxed family setting rather than a public occasion
(Image via: Sofia Castaneda’s IG story)
The photos displayed by Castaneda were those of a joyful interior where adults and children were seated around a festooned table and a little child was freely dancing in the center of the room. The mood was informal and unorganized and it was like a family occasion as opposed to a formal or announced event. One of the clips also contained the Spanish sentence Se renta para piñatas which is a play line, often employed in the parties of children, giving it a humorous touch without specifying the purpose of the meeting.One more frame also contained colorful decorations and display of cakes, thus reinforcing family-oriented character of the moment without associating it with a particular celebration. It is interesting to note that there was no attempt to make the post appear as a milestone or special announcement. The lack of description enabled the photos to be authentic, capturing time spent with each other and not one captured by the photographer to draw attention.The tale provided a silent depth to the persona of Kirk, who was used to reading game recaps and box scores by fans used to seeing him on TV. It depicted a sports person having fun with his family, living in the moment, and happy to leave little pieces of life to speak. At a time when schedules, pressure and performance are key drivers of a league, these instances are a reminder to the audience that there is a balance outside of the field.It is sometimes these uncaptioned, mundane scenes, exactly because of their unshared quality, which reach one most.
