San Diego, CA: Yesterday the Padres celebrated the first of a three-day Hispanic Heritage weekend with a variety of entertaining events for the loyal Padres fans. One of the highlights was awarding Fernando Tatis Jr. his 2020 National League LatinoMVP Award.
Tatis is seen carefully looking over the detailed art piece done by nationally recognized artists, James Fiorentino. (Picture San Diego Padres)
Tatis was presented with his prestigious award prior to game two of a doubleheader. The first was a makeup game from a July 21st matchup that was cancelled due to rain. Call it a freak of nature, but yesterday’s resumed game was also postponed for over an hour due to guess what, yes rain. However, that first game was tied, and the Padres won with a homerun 6-5, from their local hero, Fernando Tatis Jr… The dramatic finish was a perfect way to introduce this young rising star on an on-field ceremony to receive the most prestigious award given to Latino baseball players, his 2020 LatinoMVP award.
They say a picture speaks a thousand words and the pictures we share will attest to that. Fernando was quite impressed and surprised that he was not receiving a plaque, or a trophy which we are sure he must have many of those stacked up somewhere in his home. However, judging from his emotion and smile we know that he and his family will be prominently displaying this watercolor painting done by one of the premier artists in the country, James Fiorentino. Judging by his age and ability we believe we might be returning to San Diego in the future to award him again, just as we have for several other players like Albert Pujols (8), Mariano Rivera (7), David Ortiz (4), Juan “Igor” González (3) just to name a few.
“Is this for me” Yes. (Picture courtesy of San Diego Padres)
If Tatis enjoyed the presentation, so did many of the fans. Fernando received a well-respected round of applause when the award was broadcasted and the Spanish voice of the Padres, Eduardo Ortega unveiled the award. “It was a pleasant surprise to see that Tatis was being presented with an award” stated season ticket holder, Jennifer. She continued, “We have season tickets since this park was built and we have never witnessed the excitement that we have seen this season and that is due in great part to players like Machado and Tatis.”
Latino Sports wants to thank the San Diego Padres, in particular Danny Sánchez, Senior Manager Business Communications & Spanish Media relations for all the help in making this 31st Annual award presentation a special day for Fernando Tatis Jr., his fans, and the team.
We also want to thank Major League Baseball for being a sponsor to this prestigious award. Special thanks to Pat Courtney, Chief Communications Officer for his commitment to enhance the participation between MLB and the Latino community.
This is the banner that the Padres put on display on their jumbo electronic screen for the awarding of the LatinoMVP to Tatis.
