FLUSHING, NY — The temperature in New York City yesterday morning was 38 degrees, not exactly baseball weather, but you could not tell by the 32,536 baseball fans that attended the last of the three-game series between the Tigres Del Licey and the Áquilas Cibaeñas, two of the top Dominican baseball teams playing at Citi Field.
The excitement and party type baseball atmosphere that is the norm in Caribbean baseball was so present at Citi Field yesterday that I could not help remembering the conversation I had with the events promotor, Felix Cabrera a well-known music promoter last year at a business luncheon in New Jersey. Mr. Cabrera has promoted some of the largest Latin music concerts in New York and the Caribbean. I love Latin music, so Mr. Cabrera and I hit it off and got into a very good conversation. When he learned that I was the President and founder of Latino Sports, he told me something that materialized this weekend. He told me then that he was seriously thinking of promoting a three-game series of the two top Dominican teams in New York City. I asked him where? He told me he was talking to people at Citi Field. I asked him when would he want to do this? He said it would be after the World Series in November. I wished him the best, but in my mind, I thought that a baseball series of two Dominican teams in November in New York was a serious gamble. Yesterday I saw that Mr. Cabrera’s gamble paid off quite well.
Dominican fans came out strong for this 3 games series of their two top Dominican teams – Image Credit: Henry Ordosgoitia (Henry O.)/Latino Sports
Mr. Cabrera had pulled it off as thousands of Dominican fans had come to watch baseball in a festive atmosphere with music, bands and celebrities that proved that New York has a true and strong Latino baseball fan base. Citi-Field was packed yesterday with avid fans of both teams that Mr. Cabrera had contracted to play. Friday’s opening game brought 25,233 majority Dominican fans to Cit-Field. Saturdays attendance was 33,131 and yesterday there were 32,536 fans for a weekend total of 90,900. I believe that Mr. Cabrera and any of the other possible promotors as well as the Mets did extremely well financially.
Fans await for the gates to open to get into Citi Field for Titanes del Caribe – Image Credit: Henry Ordosgoitia (Henry O.)/Latino Sports
However, as well as the weekend of baseball was, I also learned there were some concerns of disorganization in the tech area where they did not get much of the information they needed to coordinate the video, stadium commercials and back-end issue until the last minute. Also, there was some issue with the agreement made to pay the players. The agreement was to pay each player fifteen thousand. Apparently, some issue developed after the second game that the Dominican Baseball Federation threatened cancelling the last game if the players were not paid. Apparently, players wanted to be paid in cash, something that was not an easy task. Apparently, the issue was resolved as game three was played without a hitch.
Another concern was that the games as exciting as they were, unfortunately were not enjoyed by anyone outside of the stadium. The games were televised to the Dominican by Grupo Telimicro, but apparently there was no television, or radio transmission here in New York for the greater Dominican community that could not afford to attend the games. I was told the Optimum and Spectrum was televising them, but I could not verify that from my calls to people that subscribe to those services. The ticket price when I checked was $100 a ticket. That’s a bit steep for the average Dominican, or Latino fan.
Baseball in New York lived on in November as Titanes del Caribe hit Citi Field this weekend with a different type of baseball atmosphere – Image Credit: Henry Ordosgoitia (Henry O.)/Latino Sports
This brings to question another issue which is, was MLB approached to support and possibly help promote and transmit these games?
One thing was clear, Dominicans came out and supported professional baseball in New York in November. The question now is where the promoters go from here? The other question is what if anything did MLB know, or did not know about these games and what would they like to do for any future games like these? Another question is, if Dominicans can pull that many fans out for baseball in November, could Puerto Ricans and Mexicans who both have huge communities here in New York and both are baseball strong countries do the same? These are questions that we will continue to explore.
Chistopher Morel and Miguel Andújar share a moment together at third base during Game 3 of Titanes del Caribe – Image Credit: Henry Ordosgoitia (Henry O.)/Latino Sports
By the way, the Áquilas Cibaeñas swept the series, but in my opinion, there were no real losers as these games proved that the Latino community has a lot more desire for baseball that the regular baseball season has to offer.
Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content
Instagram: @latinosportsoficial
Facebook: Latino Sports
Twitter: @latinosports
