MIAMI, FL– The world of baseball is very much alive here in South Florida today with the first day of batting practice for all the teams in Group D. All of Miami has been promoting the World Baseball Classic in its cordial and subtle way. Throughout the city there have been flags and other promotional items welcoming and promoting the games.
However, the real excitement for the games comes from the streets of Miami. It’s in the different communities throughout Miami that you hear and feel the excitement of the World Baseball Classic. The fact that Miami is the epicenter of the Latino community in the Eastern United States with huge populations of every Latino country playing is reason enough to know that every game will be rocking.
MLB was wise to have the Group D games that include Venezuela, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico all playing out of this Latino Mecca. Israel is also in Group D and though Miami has a substantial Jewish community, I have not felt, or seen the excitement I have seen with the Latinos in Miami. As one Jewish reporter told me, “We are a very quiet community.” The fact that the yearly Cuban street Festival de Calle Ocho festival also takes place this coming Sunday adds a lot of Adobo to this mix. I have heard many people talking about the upcoming games and trying to get tickets for their countries game.
Today’s batting practice was a a festival on the field with Daddy Yankee and David “Big Papi” Ortíz joining in. (Photo Latino Sports)
Today’s press conference and practice for team Venezuela and team Puerto Rico was an example of what we expect to see throughout these games. It was a media mayhem on the field and having celebrities like David “Big Papi” Ortíz and Daddy Yankee heightened the frenzy to a higher level.
These games will be competitive in the spirit of friendship first, but competitive because the players know that playing at this world stage is different from playing in the regular season games, or in the post season. They have stated that representing their country and wearing their country’s name on their chest creates a different and greater feeling.
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