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Twins closer Fernando Rodney can usually be seen locking down the ninth inning for the Twins. Instead, on Sunday, Rodney had to leave mid-game to lock down his U.S. citizenship.

Rodney had an immigration hearing in Miami on Monday , and needed to catch the flight that would take him to Miami. His flight was scheduled to leave two hours after first pitch on Sunday. Luckily, the team was willing to comply with what he needed. Twins manager Paul Molitor put him in for an inning, allowed him to get two outs, then the team dismissed him — which allowed him to catch his flight back to Miami.

Rodney wrote on social media , “After 19 years in this wonderful country today I am blessed to say that I am an official US Citizen. Today I fly the American Flag but in my heart always hold my Dominican Flag. I want to thank all those who have been with me throughout the process and especially thank the @twins organizations for allowing me to catch my flight. Big thanks to the @tigers who made this dream possible 19 years ago.”

He posted pictures of himself during his immigration hearing, and in front of a model of the Statue of Liberty holding an American flag. How much more American can it get?

Rodney started his MLB career back in 2002 with the Detroit Tigers, and played with them for seven years. He was a journeyman around the MLB for a while after the 2015 season. He has played for the Angels, Mariners, Cubs, Padres, Marlins, Diamondbacks, and finally landed with the Twins. He has 321 career saves, which is very impressive for a closer.

This is just awesome. You have to love it when professional athletes show this type of commitment to the US. Rodney was so persistent on getting his American citizenship he left his high-paying job to make sure he could immigrate to the US successfully. The best part is, his team let him do it with no questions asked! They did not even try to give push back or say that they needed him for the game. Kudos to the Twins organization for letting Rodney do this.

In today’s news, you barely ever hear of someone trying this hard to do anything for this great country. Usually, everyone is just complaining about how bad this country is. Then you hear stories like this that restore your faith in this country. People like Rodney are trying this hard to join our amazing country. We need more people like Rodney in our country. These are the people that make America the greatest country out there.