New ballgame: Son of ex-GM Minaya a hoops hit at Providence

By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — By the time Justin Minaya hit his early teens, he knew the score. Baseball was in his heart. Baseball was in his blood. But basketball was his dream. Now he just needed to tell his father, and that made him nervous — because Minaya’s pop isn’t any old Little League dad. Omar Minaya was the general manager of a New York Mets team that nearly reached the World Series. And before that, the first Hispanic GM in major league history with the Montreal Expos. Safe to say, Justin grew up swinging a bat, running the bases and idolizing an All-Star shortstop. Switching screens and sliding his feet as a lockdown defender for No. 11 Providence came much later.