Robert Refsnyder, adopted from South Korea in 1991, hopes to become the Yankees’ starting second baseman. He’s been working his way up through the team’s farm system since being drafted from the University of Arizona in 2012.

Refsnyder’s adoption story became public during his college baseball career and time in the minor leagues. Many adoptees and adoptive parents reached out to him seeking advice and heralding him as a role model, though he also faced taunts from opposing teams and their fans about his race and his adoptee status. While this attention is not something Refsnyder yearned for, he is happy to represent adoptees and remarked to The New York Times, “I have never shied away from it…I’ll never hide from being adopted. I’m proud of my family.”