SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — In April 1990, Latino Sports was born when we presented Rubén Sierra with the first-ever award that would later be known as the LatinoMVP Award.
Rubén was not selected by a committee of sportswriters or broadcasters as we do today by the Latino Sports Writers and Broadcasters Association (LSWBA) and our Latino Sports team members. Instead, he was chosen based on his outstanding 1989 season, during which he posted remarkable numbers: a .306 batting average, 101 runs scored, 194 hits, 35 doubles, 14 triples, 29 home runs, and a league-leading 119 RBIs.
With those statistics, many Puerto Ricans on the island and throughout the diaspora believed that Puerto Rico would once again have something to celebrate — a native son winning the American League MVP. It would have been an honor the island had not experienced since the days of legendary players like Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda, whose achievements brought immense pride to Puerto Rico.
Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda paved the way for countless MLB players coming from Puerto Rico and the Caribbean – Image Credit: Major League Baseball
However, when the votes were announced by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA), the American League MVP Award was given to Robin Yount. While Yount also had an excellent season, many fans and observers believed the statistics favored Sierra.
This was long before the internet, smartphones, and social media. Yet the sentiment that Rubén Sierra had been overlooked spread like wildfire through Puerto Rican communities both on the island and across the diaspora. In fact, one national baseball magazine in the United States had even predicted that Sierra would win the American League MVP.
Amid that controversy, the idea of honoring Sierra was born.
Ruben Sierra was named the recipient of the first-ever LatinoMVP Award in 1990 – Image Credit: Baseball Egg
At the time, I was a former Social Studies teacher at my junior high school in the South Bronx, where I still lived. I often noticed that many of my students — most of them Puerto Rican — lacked visible role models from their own community. Too often, the figures they saw with status in the neighborhood were drug dealers driving flashy cars and wearing expensive jewelry. I felt they needed to see positive Puerto Rican role models who had achieved success through talent, discipline, and perseverance.
So I decided to present Sierra with a plaque recognizing him as the American League LatinoMVP.
Rubén Sierra’s LatinoMVP award presentation at Yankee Stadium in 1990 – Image Credit: Latino Sports
What began as a loosely organized and unofficial gesture — without the backing of any major sports organization — became the seed that grew into the LatinoMVP Award.
My original plan was simple: to wait for Sierra outside Yankee Stadium with a group of neighborhood kids behind the wooden police barricades where fans often gathered to watch players arrive at the ballpark. From that humble beginning, the award has grown into what is now recognized as the oldest and most prestigious award honoring Latino players in Major League Baseball, proudly recognized and sponsored by MLB.
The early years of the LatinoMVP Awards reflected the strong impact of Puerto Rican players in the game. Four of the first five recipients were Puerto Rican — three born on the island: Ruben Sierra, Carlos Baerga, and Juan “Igor” González — and one Nuyorican star, Bobby Bonilla.
In those early years, the awards were humble — plaques or poster-style drawings presented with great pride but limited resources. Over time, however, the LatinoMVP Awards gained significant recognition and prestige.
For the past fifteen years or more, each LatinoMVP winner has received a one-of-a-kind watercolor painting created by nationally recognized and award-winning artist James Fiorentino.
James Fiorentino & Julio Pabón awarding Miguel Cabrera his 2009 LatinoMVP award – Image Credit: Latino Sports
With the World Baseball Classic being celebrated in Puerto Rico this year, we thought there could be no better moment to honor the Puerto Rican legends who helped build the legacy of the LatinoMVP Awards. To celebrate the occasion, we decided to present special paintings to the three award winners born on the island — Rubén Sierra, Carlos Baerga, and Juan González — as a tribute to the pride and glory they have brought to Puerto Rico both on and off the field.
On Tuesday, March 10, Major League Baseball has arranged for us to present the paintings to Carlos Baerga and Juan González — both of whom still reside in Puerto Rico — during a pregame ceremony prior to the World Baseball Classic matchup between Puerto Rico and Canada.
Latino Sports will be honoring Carlos Baerga, and Juan González in San Juan, Puerto Rico next week as well as Rubén Sierra in Miami, Florida soon after during the 2026 World Baseball Classic knockout rounds – Image Credit: Julian Guilarte/Latino Sports
Sierra, who now lives in Miami, will receive his painting during the later stages of the World Baseball Classic. The presentation will likely take place in Miami, home to a vibrant and proud Puerto Rican community near Roberto Clemente Park.
What began as a small gesture of recognition has grown into something far greater — a testament to how sometimes the forces of the universe can transform disappointment into something meaningful, lasting, and positive.
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