Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez greets players before a spring training baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Spring training games can be dull and repetitive. But not over the weekend. The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays played a pair of pulsing exhibition games at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal to kick off the 2024 MLB World Tour.
The Dominican Republic is a baseball-crazed country, and the passion for the game was evident over the weekend. There was music between each pitch, drummers turning up the volume, and raucous chants between fans of the Tigres del Licey and the Leones del Escogido, the two Dominican professional teams that call this stadium home.
“It was a great experience,” said Red Sox Manager Alex Cora.
“The last three days have been pretty spectacular,” agreed Rays Manager Kevin Cash.
The weekend easily could’ve been a distraction for two teams getting ready for the regular season. Instead, both teams were thrilled to play before Dominican fans who kept their cell phones down and their interest up through the weekend.
The weekend wasn’t about wins or losses, even though the Red Sox won both games over their AL East rival. For many, it was about bringing the best players in the world back to their native land.
Rafael Devers brought teammates to his home town about two hours north of the city of Santo Domingo.
“It was nice for me to show my teammates where I actually come from,” said Devers. “Now they will have a knowledge of all these places where I’m from. I’m very happy about that. I’m very proud.”
Dominican pride was on display everywhere over the weekend. The Red Sox used this visit to officially announce a six-year, $55 million contract extension for 24-year old pitcher Brayan Bello, a native of the Dominican Republic. The contract was celebrated by young players who idolize the righty and have tracked his journey from the local Red Sox Academy to the bright lights of the big leagues.
“I’m super happy and super grateful to be able to do this here in front of my family and friends,” said Bello.
Bello spent time this offseason working with Pedro Martinez, his idol and the man who brought a Latin flair to Boston when he first pitched for the Red Sox in 1998. When Pedro took the mound at Fenway, merengue played and fans waved Dominican flags. It was a massive culture change for America’s oldest ballpark.
Martinez, along with fellow Hall of Famer David Ortiz, were on hand to kick off the festivities with the ceremonial first pitch before Saturday’s game. Both legends have foundations that have helped people in their homeland, and the crowd roared its approval when they came out of the dugout to get the party started.
And what a party it was. Red Sox starters stayed in their dugout for the entire game, autographing baseballs and tossing them into the crowd. Several players arrived early on Saturday to take part in an exhibition game of vitilla, a local version of stickball that many Dominican players credit with giving them exceptional hand-eye coordination and quickness. The Baseball Hall of Fame was on hand to gather artifacts for an exhibit in Cooperstown.
Devers’ game jersey was one of the items taken for the display.
“We’re ambassadors of the game,” Cora said. “It means a lot – coming here to this stage, to this country. The passion and the knowledge they have for this beautiful game is second to none.”
The World Tour continues later this year with games in South Korea, Mexico City and London. Those games are regular-season games and will have a bigger impact on this baseball season. But these two games had a major impact on everyone who took part in them. Both Cora and Cash said they would love to see meaningful regular-season games played here.
As the two teams packed up and headed back to Florida to resume their preseasons, Dominican fans were left savoring the afterglow or a weekend they will long remember. Young fans will talk of the day they saw Devers and Bello in their big league uniforms at Quisqueya. Just as their fathers talked of seeing Martinez, Ortiz and others when the Red Sox last played here nearly a quarter century ago.
Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.
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