Jacinta Garay is a celebrity mother and a woman of African American and Puerto Rican descent. She is widely known as the mother of Giancarlo Stanton, a professional baseball designated hitter and fielder for the New York Yankees, a Major Baseball League(MLB) team. Stanton led the National League in home runs, hitting 59 home runs in 2017, the most in 16 years.
Jacinta Garay split from her husband more than two decades ago and she hasn't been linked with another person since that time. However, the erstwhile couple was able to raise their children well and one of them has become a popular sportsman. Want to know more about Jacinta Garay? Read on for more details.
Who is Jacinta Garay?
Jacinta Garay came to the limelight because of her son's successful baseball career. Information is lacking on the date of her birth, but her ethnicity is African American and Puerto Rican.
Moreover, Garay married Mike Stanton many years ago but they divorced after ten years. They share three children between them. The eldest is Egidio Carlos Moacir Garay Stanton, followed by Kyrie Valdivia and the baseball player, Giancarlo Stanton.
According to the New York Times, Egidio is a teacher of political science at Glendale Community College in California. If their names are a little strange, it is because of Jacinta Garay's eclectic taste. For instance, she found Egidio poetic, Moacir came from the Brazilian Jazz composer Moacir Santos, while Valdivia is the name of her grandmother.
Likewise, she named her son, Giancarlo, in tribute to the actors, Giancarlo Giannini and Giancarlo Esposito. Giancarlo was also given the name Cruz, partly because his mother's favorite singer was Celia Cruz.
Moreover, Jacinta Garay's distinctive taste can also be seen in other areas of her life. She has a penchant for flashy footwear; a passion she shares with her son, Giancarlo Stanton, and has piercings on each cheek. Also, her musical tastes range from Afro-Latin jazz to Lynyrd Skynrd.
What to know about Jacinta Garay's son, Giancarlo Stanton
Giancarlo Stanton was born in the Tujunga area of Los Angeles on November 8, 1989. He is the last child of Mike Stanton and Jacinta Garay who both worked in the Post Office. His siblings are Egidio Carlos Stanton and Kyrie Valdivia. Giancarlo was a Los Angeles Dodgers Fan during his childhood.
Initially, Giancarlo Stanton wasn't particularly happy about his given name because it was constantly mispronounced. His mother, Jacinta Garay had wanted to name him Fidel, which his father adamantly opposed. Garay then went with her second-best option which was Giancarlo.
However, neither was good enough for him making him switch to Mike in his sixth grade. And for the first few years of his career, he was known as Mike Stanton but his mother called him his middle name - Cruz. After hearing names like Gianpaolo, Gianluigi, and Giancarlo during a trip to Europe, he came back and declared that he is reverting to his original name, Giancarlo.
Meanwhile, Stanton attended Verdugo Hills High School and was a three-sport athlete, playing baseball, basketball, and football. He was later transferred to Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks. He was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the second round, the 76th overall pick of the 2007 MLB draft. He then joined the Gulf Coast League Marlins of the Rookie Level Gulf Coast League. His rookie season recorded an average distance of 399.6feet for home runs at an average speed of 104.3m. He was selected as an outfielder for Baseball America's 2010 All-Rookie Team and 2010 Topps Major League Rookie All-Star team.
In November 2014, he made the biggest total dollar value contract signing in team sports history at that time when the Marlins signed him a contract worth $325 million over 13 years. Subsequently, he was traded to the New York Yankees after the 2017 season. He finished the 2018 season with a .266 batting average, 38 home runs, 34 doubles, and 100 RBI and struck out 211 times.
Giancarlo Stanton measures 6 feet 6 inches ( 1.98m) in height and weighs 111kg (245lbs). He is known for regularly hitting long home runs and his physical strength. He has won some awards which include National League MVP award and is a Four-time MLB All-star award winner. Similarly, he has won the NL Hank Aaron award twice and also the Outfield Silver Slugger award. He is currently unmarried and has no children.
Jacinta Garay is quite close to her son Giancarlo. He posted a photo of them together on her birthday In 2017, with the caption that reads "Happy Birthday Momma". He also invited her to his birthday party at the Hollywood club so she could meet Snoop Dogg, according to the New York Times.
Meanwhile, Giancarlo is active on Instagram, with the username giancarlo818 where he has over 1.2 million followers.