Father’s Day took on a new meaning this year for Yorvit Torrealba.

The Rockies catcher, in Colorado Springs on a rehabilitation assignment, beamed with emotion Sunday when asked what he did last weekend to celebrate the occasion with his 11-year-old son, Yorvit Eduardo.

“Absolutely nothing,” he said. “Just the fact that in the morning, before I went to the ballpark, I saw my son sleeping right next to me. He gave me a hug for Father’s Day. It was great.”

A hug might not seem like much until you realize that just more than three weeks ago little Yorvit was thousands of miles away in the hands of captives.

On June 2, Torrealba learned that his son, along with two of his brothers-in-law, had been kidnapped in Guarenas, Venezuela.

“My wife called me and told me,” Torrealba, 30, said. “As soon as I found out, I flew back to Venezuela. The Rockies were OK with me leaving so fast. They said, ‘Obviously, family’s first.'”

Yorvit Eduardo and Torrealba’s brothers-in-law, Daniel Antonio Alvarez Morales and Agrey Alexander Marquez, were detained for a day before being released along a highway in Araira, Venezuela.

Although no harm was inflicted, Torrealba said he gained a new perspective on life.

“Baseball, it’s just a game,” he said. “I mean, it’s my job. I love my job, but family’s first. Sometimes we put so much pressure on our work that we forget that our family’s the most important thing.

“This whole thing really opened my eyes, like realizing how important family is. It’s terrible it had to happen this way, but thankfully everything’s good now.”

As for Yorvit Eduardo, who wished not to speak about the kidnapping, life with dad in the States couldn’t be much better.

“It’s a lot of fun seeing my dad play,” he said. “We’ve gone to the mall, shopping – just been going everywhere with him since I got here.”

That includes Security Service Field, where he enjoyed a front-row seat Saturday while watching his dad patrol home plate.

Torrealba scratched out only one hit, but you wouldn’t know it by talking to his No. 1 fan.

“Watching him play here is cool, and it’s more fun than (in Denver),” said Yorvit Eduardo, sporting a Sky Sox beanie and hoodie.When Torrealba stands in the on-deck circle or walks back to the dugout between innings, it’s rare that he doesn’t lean on the rail and talk to his son.

“He’s just saying hi and asking me how I’m doing,” Yorvit Eduardo said as he diligently filled out a scorecard for Sunday’s game. “I know he’s in the middle of the game, so it’s pretty quick.”

While his son appears to have put the terrible events of earlier this month behind him, Torrealba is not ready to do the same. He takes many precautions, rarely letting his son out of his sight.

“He’s always around me,” Torrealba said. “Wherever I go, he goes. I know he’s not in any trouble or anything now. It’s just, I don’t know, I just want him with me everywhere.”

Yorvit Torrealba spoke to his son, Yorvit Eduardo Torrealba, 11, who was sitting in the front row Sunday at the Sky Sox game. Photo by JERILEE BENNETT,THE GAZETTE