Phillies' Galvis and Hernandez ever connected

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The bus rolled for nearly five hours across the northern part of Venezuela, hugging the coastline as it took Freddy Galvis and his teammates on a baseball adventure.

The boys from Falcon trekked once a summer to Valencia, where they would spend a week playing games against three or four other teams from the baseball-crazed nation. And it was one of those trips that a friendship - and future Phillies double-play tandem - was forged.

Each Falcon player was assigned to stay at the home of a player from Valencia. The Falcon coached skimmed through the roster and paired Galvis, his shortstop, with the shortstop from Valencia: Cesar Hernandez.

The future Phillies teammates were just 13 years old that summer. Galvis and Hernandez spent almost the entire week at the ballpark. They played three games a day and used their free time to field ground balls, bragging about who was a smoother fielder. Hernandez sometimes moved during practice to second base, offering a preview of their major-league future.

The friends would return exhausted to Hernandez's home, each collapsing into a twin bed in a spare room. Hernandez and his team bused to Falcon later that summer, where he would stay with Galvis' family. The friends would stay with each other for the next three summers as they chased their baseball dreams.

"Playing in the majors is great," Galvis said. "But I think it's better when you do it with a friend."

The Phillies found Galvis around the same time that he met Hernandez. Sal Agostinelli, the team's director of international scouting, remembers watching Galvis grab a blazing grounder behind the second base bag at the Latin American Games, a tournament of the best youth teams from each country. Galvis, who was just 5-foot-6, leaped into the air to grab the bouncing ball and tossed it behind his back, hitting the second baseman in the chest.

"It was a spectacular play and I said to my scout, 'Did you see that?' " Agostinelli said. "You don't see a 13-14-year-old guy doing that."

Hernandez was just 130 pounds when Agostinelli first saw him. He expected that the Phillies would have to move Hernandez to second base, which they would do in the minors. Agostinelli said Hernandez could not hit a ball out of the infield.

"But I loved his swing," Agostinelli said. "His lefthanded swing is so pretty. He always put the bat on the ball. He really was a good runner and had good hands."

Agostinelli and his scouts built a relationship over the next few years with the two friends from Venezuela. They became close with their parents. Galvis' father coached the team in the Latin American Games. Agostinelli would meet him out after games, telling the father the Phillies wanted to sign his son when he turned 16.

Galvis and Hernandez, Agostinelli said, are like sons.

Hernandez and Galvis tried out together in the spring of 2006 at the Phillies academy in Venezuela. The process was less stressful, Galvis said, because he was able to go through it with a friend. The tryout was a success and both received phone calls from the Phillies. The team wanted to sign them.

Hernandez and Galvis signed together on July 2, 2006. Hernandez received $49,000. Galvis was awarded $90,000. He turned down a contract from Tampa Bay that was worth nearly three times as much. The friends wanted to play for the same team and the Phillies were the lone club to offer them both a contract.

"That felt really good," Galvis said. "Four months before, we were practicing together every two weeks. It was cool to have a friend and sign with the same team."

Galvis and Hernandez took separate paths after signing their deals. Galvis was dropped into the minor leagues. Hernandez stayed in Venezuela for more seasoning. They did not meet back up again for seven more seasons, until both were together in 2013 at triple-A Lehigh Valley. Galvis and Hernandez were one step away from their dream.

The Phillies told them they would be the ones to replace Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley. Galvis was not so certain. He told Hernandez that they would see what happens. The Phillies traded Rollins before last season, opening up a spot for Galvis. Utley was traded last summer, pushing Hernandez into an everyday role.

"There it was. I was playing short and he was playing second," Galvis said. "It came true. After the first start, we were like, 'This is crazy.' We started together when we were 13 years old and now we're here together."

The pair have grown since signing with the Phillies. They both married and had children. Their families are close as the two remain friends off the field. They are like brothers, Hernandez said. And their friendship, the two believe, creates symmetry on the diamond.

"It's almost like we're thinking alike," Hernandez said. "We know where each one wants to be. We know how to flip the double play to each other."

Galvis and Hernandez may just be placeholders, turning double plays until the Phillies are contenders again. They could soon be replaced by rising prospects, but that would not diminish their journey. When they take the field Monday - their first start together on opening day - Galvis and Hernandez will remember that their path to the majors started with those bus rides across the nation where a friend was waiting.

mbreen@phillynews.com

@matt_breenphilly.com/philliesblog