Henry grew up in El Paso. Father left before he was born. Raised with younger sister by mother. Uncle, his mother’s brother, was Father Figure, guided Henry’s gravitation to baseball. Uncle played in the Mexican League, a catcher., like Henry, a left-hand bat with power and rifle arm who excelled in high school and was drafted in the third round by the Minnesota Twins.
He played Rookie Ball in Elizabthton, Tennessee, where he played well enough to be sought by the Seattle Mariners in a deadline trade that season, dealing away a star pitcher nearing free agency for Henry and two other minor league top prospects.The Mariners promptly assigned Henry to their AAA affiliate in Tacoma, where hr picked up where he left in Elizabethon.
After the season he returned to El Paso, works out with his high school team, buys his mom a house, visits uncle in Deming, goes to Spring Training.in Arizona, fifteen pounds of muscle heavier and thirty feet farther in the barrel of the maple bat he finds with an old catcher’s mitt in his uncle’s belongings.
