CHICAGO — The artist formerly known as Felipe Rivero stood in front of his locker Tuesday morning, in which hung a No. 73 Pirates jersey with the name “Vazquez” across the top. The Pirates closer said he changed his last name to match the surname of his sister, Prescilla Vazquez Cosme.
“My sister and I have been talking,” Vazquez said. “She decided it’s time. If she says something, I just get it done. That’s the way it is.”
Rivero began the process January 29, according to Osceola (Fla.) County court records, and the case was closed March 26. He wore a Rivero jersey the last time he suited up, Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds, by which point, Vazquez said, manager Clint Hurdle used his new name when calling down to the bullpen. Beginning with Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Cubs, he’s Vazquez.
Asked why the names were different in the first place, he said, “I don’t know. ‘Why are you Vazquez and I’m Rivero?’ You know, my dad, and everything is messed up. It was weird. We decided — well, she decided that it was time for me to have the same [name] so we can be actual brothers.”
When he signed his four-year, $22 million extension in January, way back when he was Felipe Rivero, he said Vazquez Cosme participated in the negotiations. According to social media, he visited her last week on an off day.
The name-change process was involved, Vazquez said, requiring fingerprints.
“It was the first time for me being in court,” he said. “I was a little scared. At the end of the day I kind of knew what I was doing. The judge, she treated me pretty good, and my lawyer took care of it.”
The surname is spelled with a Z on the jersey and Vazquez’s Twitter account, but court records spell the name as “Vasquez.” The surname made its debut on the jersey on Tuesday, April 10, National Sibling Day, because of course it did.
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Bill Brink: bbrink@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrinkPG.
First Published: April 10, 2018, 5:11 p.m.
