TORONTO — There isn’t much to the unusual tattoo on the left side of Yohendrick Pinango’s neck – a very noticeable set of red lips – that was essentially a fit of fancy when he was 18. “When you're young, you do things,” the Toronto Blue Jays outfielder explained. “I liked it, so I did it.”

The body art with real meaning, that offers a window into his backstory, is the sleeve that covers his right arm, a carefully crafted dedication to his late father, Alexander. An image of the man better known by the nickname, Reyito, stares out from his son’s shoulder and the words beneath it, “fu en cielo, yo en la tierra, un solo comazon,” are those of love and loss.

You are in heaven, I’m on Earth, one heart.

“My dad was a great human being. He was the guy always helping in the community. Unfortunately, he got killed,” Pinango recalled through interpreter Hector Lebron. “It's difficult to live with that. But you've got to learn, to find a way to live without him and to accomplish one of the goals that he had for me. One of his dreams for me was to become a ballplayer, a big-leaguer. That's one of the things I took from him and I'm very happy that I made it, not only for myself but for him, because I know that's what he wanted me to do.”

Pinango had just turned six when Reyito died May 11, 2008, the specific details of how he didn’t want to share. Before his death, the father had asked his older sister, Noris, to take custody and raise his son if something ever happened to him, which she did after consulting with Pinango’s mom Yarbelys, who was raising two step-siblings........

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