The following was written by Dominican Republic’s Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres and published on The Players’ Tribune.
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Querida República Dominicana,
I am writing this to you with a full heart.
Wearing the jersey of the República Dominicana and playing for our national team in the World Baseball Classic is one of the proudest achievements of my life.
Just having the chance to represent my country — to represent you — in front of the whole world is something that is hard to describe. It hits different, on a deeper level. If you grew up in the Dominican Republic, then you know what I mean, because to us this isn’t just a game. Baseball … it is part of who we are.
Baseball is in our blood.
I know that as well as anyone. When I was very little, I watched some of the greatest athletes in the world at Quisqueya Stadium, hitting long home runs and making diving catches in the outfield. I saw them giving everything they had. Expressing joy and passion on the baseball diamond. Working together. As brothers.
I would lay in bed at night and close my eyes and see myself winning the Winter League championship. I’d see the crowd, and hear the musicians and bands playing their drums and trumpets. I’d see the flag, our flag, waving everywhere I looked. The songs and chants from the crowd ringing in my ears. I could hear them as though they were real.
And I’d see myself lace a line drive into the gap. People screaming and yelling, jumping up and down. I saw that every time I closed my eyes. But also … I believed.
I believed that one day I could be great, too. Because those around me showed me the way.
It started in the late ’60s with my grandfather, Fernando Antonio Tatis, grinding through the Houston Astros system all the way to Triple-A. He passed his passion on to my father, Fernando Tatis Sr., who made it to the big leagues and put our family name in the record books one crazy night in 1999 with two grand slams in the same inning. (He is still the only guy to ever do that in the majors!) My dad’s hard work and hustle on the field was the model for me and my brothers Elijah and Daniel, and each of us chose to wear the number 23 just like our dad. Generation after generation, living out a love for the game.
That’s Dominican baseball.
To read the entirety of Fernando Tatis Jr.’s letter, check it out on The Players’ Tribune – The People of the Dominican Republic
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