Yankees star Anthony Volpe attributes his early MLB success to ‘selfless’ mom on Mother’s Day
There was a moment when Yankees star Anthony Volpe’s love of baseball didn’t sit so well with his mom.
As a kid growing up on the Upper East Side, space was tight for the Volpes, so dad Michael set up “little baby ball” for his 5-year-old son using magazines as bases.
It was great, the now-23-year-old shortstop recalled — until it wasn’t.
“She was on board until I hit one and ruined one of her vases,” a piece his parents got on their honeymoon. “I definitely got yelled at for that and had to go back outside — no more playing ball in the house.”
Now Volpe is breaking records instead of pottery.
Last season he became the first Yankee rookie in franchise history to hit at least 20 home runs and steal at least 20 bases, while also becoming the first rookie in team history to win a Gold Glove.
Volpe’s work ethic is modeled on his mom’s. He also gushed about her selfless support — and chicken parm.
“I’m definitely a momma’s boy in so many ways,” he confessed. “She’s my best friend, my first call for anything. She’s the most selfless person I’ve ever been around.”
In the Bronx, The Boss was the late Yankee owner, George Steinbrenner.
In the Volpe’s New Jersey household, it’s Anthony’s mom.
“She is definitely the boss,” the shortstop told The Post. “I think anybody that knows our family knows everything goes through her. Everyone knows that if they want to come to a game, they gotta go see my mom. She decides everything. So, she’s the boss. She’s the queen. She’s the head of the family.”
Volpe said he inherited his mom’s “competitiveness . . . whether we’re playing card games or playing sports.”
Isabelle Volpe, 56, a first-generation Filipina immigrant and an anesthesiologist — would wake up between 4 and 5 a.m. to commute from New Jersey to Manhattan but “she never failed to pick us up from practice or school, whether it was me or my sister [Olivia]. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody work harder — while also not really talking about it at all.”
Volpe also admires his mother’s magnetism. Even animals gravitate towards her.
He recalled how in high school, his mom was the one family member who didn’t want a dog.
“Within two weeks, the dog [Jedi] was following her everywhere and absolutely loves her,” Volpe laughed.
Asked if his mother — who is a big Harry Styles fan — ever offered him words to live by, Volpe immediately responded, “Family. How important it is.”
The rising MLB star predicted his mom will “be embarrassed” by this story because she’s so “humble and unassuming.” But since he’ll be in Tampa Bay on Mother’s Day playing the Rays, he wanted to pass on this message: “Hey, Mom, Happy Mother’s Day. Love you so much.”
