Biography
Navarro was born in Patillas, Puerto Rico, to Botello and Pepa Navarro, and raised in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. His father was a well-known shoemaker in Patillas who died when Navarro was 6 years old. His widowed mother soon moved to Ponce where she had family. From a young age, Navarro helped his family economically by selling newspapers, peanuts and ice. In Ponce he attended Castillo Public School and worked after school shining shoes and delivering the foods which his mother prepared to sustain the family. His first contact with the game occurred when he went to watch the school team play. Navarro developed a burning desire to play baseball. On one occasion he did not have enough money to pay for an entrance ticket to watch a game between the Castillo and Reina teams. He therefore, jumped a fence, which happened to be in the outfield. It so happened that one of the Castillo team members became sick and when the coach saw Navarro jump the fence he asked him to play. He agreed and played baseball since.
After graduating from high school, Navarro was offered a grant to attend the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez, which he turned down. Instead, 23-year-old Navarro felt that he should help his family financially and believed that he was more than ready to play in the Major Leagues in the U.S..
Read more about this topic: Millito Navarro
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