Constable: No Arrieta fans in Spanish town of Arrieta
Since everything started clicking for him last summer, Cubs ace Jake Arrieta continues to rack up eye-popping statistics that separate him from the rest of the pitchers in Major League Baseball.
The pitcher has opposing batters wasting away in Arrietaville. In his previous 24 starts, Arrieta has a 20-1 record with a minuscule 0.86 ERA. He's gotten so good that he has had to deny suspicions that he's using performance-enhancing drugs.
The only thing that could stop Arrieta from no-hitting the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night was a long stretch of rain that postponed the game.
Arrieta, still 4-0 this season, is on a pitching island all by himself.
But that's not the case in the tiny fishing hamlet of Arrieta, on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands of Spain, just off the northwest coast of Africa. The village barely has more residents (550) than Arrieta has strikeouts (466) in his four years with the Cubs. None of them is a Cubs fan.
"Unfortunately, prior to your email, I'd not heard of Jake," emails Michael Roberts, a travel writer for Islas Travel Guides. Islas does a wonderful job of helping tourists find Arrieta the village. But as Arrieta the Cub continues to venture into uncharted territory with his pitching dominance, he remains lost to the populace of the tourist spot.
"I've never heard any American voices in the village," Roberts admits. "The few tourists that do visit the village are either English or Germans … I once spoke to a young girl on holiday in Lanzarote and asked which part of the U.S. she came from. She took great offense and told me in no uncertain terms that she was Canadian."
The rare Americans who make it to Lanzarote arrive by cruise ship. They step off the deck and into the capital city of Arrecife, "and only spend a short time ashore," Roberts says.
"Arrieta still has a small working harbor from where the local fishermen unload their catch each morning," says the Islas.co.uk webpage about Arrieta.
"The main attraction of the fishing village of Arrieta is the small beach Playa de la Garita, a combination of volcanic rock and sand with a congenial beach bar and restaurant where you can relax with a beer and tapas," reads a description from LonelyPlanet.com.
In recognition of its cleanliness and water quality, the beach won a European Blue Flag, which is sort of a Cy Young Award for sand.
Born in Farmington, Missouri, Jake Arrieta grew up in Plano, Texas.
But he might have a link to the village of Arrieta.
His paternal grandmother is of Italian ancestry, but his paternal grandfather has roots in Puerto Rico, where Spanish explorer Miguel Arrieta sailed in 1865.
If Arrieta continues to mow down hitters and leads the Cubs to win the World Series for the first time since 1908, maybe Arrieta can make a name for himself in Arrieta.