CABO ROJO, PR — On July 21st, 2024, Latino sports will once again organize an all-day bus trip to Cooperstown, NY for this year’s baseball HOF induction ceremony. Latino Sports has been organizing a bus trip to the baseball HOF from the South Bronx since 1999 when Orlando Cepeda was inducted, becoming the second Puerto Rican after Roberto Clemente to be inducted.
Cepeda’s induction was a special moment for him and the Puerto Rican community because it was a moment that took twenty-five years after his retirement in 1974. The reason was that Cepeda was arrested soon after his retirement for possession of a large quantity of marijuana and as a result was blacklisted from everything baseball. It took a very organized movement between friends of Cepeda, the San Francisco Giants and Latino Sports to promote the value of Cepeda, a changed man that had more to offer baseball and the youth of America in helping them learn from his mistakes.
The results paid off and Orlando was finally voted into the HOF in 1999 on the very last year of eligibility by the special veterans committee. It was a major victory for everyone who had worked on the campaign to give Orlando a second chance and a place in the baseball’s sanctuary the baseball Hall of Fame.
Orlando Cepeda statue in SF – Image Credit: Eduardo Rosario
Latino Sports worked on that campaign to help get Orlando Cepeda into the HOF. We helped create the image of a man that could help a lot of youth and secure him a place where he belonged, in baseball’s HOF. We organized several free baseball clinics and short lectures to several Little Leagues in NYC. We covered each one and invited other Spanish news agencies to cover what he was doing with the youth. Therefore, when we were informed that Cepeda was inducted, we celebrated along with all the parties that had worked to get Cepeda into the HOF. Therefore, we had to go Cooperstown for his induction ceremony.
However, traveling to Cooperstown, NY is not an easy trip. Cooperstown is approximately 201 miles from the city and about a four-hour car ride. We knew that a lot of South Bronx residents would want to attend, but transportation to Cooperstown was not easy and affordable. That’s when we decided to organize our own bus trip to allow local South Bronx residents to attend that historic induction ceremony.
There were more David Ortíz shirts, caps, flags, posters and banners than any other symbol throughout Cooperstown, NY in July of 2022 – Image Credit: Latino Sports
The trip was such a success and appreciated by many that we decided to organize a bus trip to Cooperstown, NY every year that a Latino player was inducted.
Therefore, we invite all who would like to join us in this year’s bus trip to witness the induction of Dominican, Adrian Beltré to reserve your seat early.
Date: Sunday July 21, 2024. Bus will depart from 150th St. and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, NY
For more information call 718-402-9310, or email us at Latsports@aol.com
2022 National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Cooperstown, NY – Image Credit: Latino Sports
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