With the upcoming season of the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (Lbprc) on the horizon, Major League Baseball (MLB) arrives on the island to inspect the stadiums where playball will be sung.
Although the 2021-2022 tournament will have the participation of five teams, the official field examiner and consultant in the construction of MLB stadiums, Murray Cook, will evaluate six parks from today until this Wednesday, as confirmed by the Lbprc tournament director , Carlos Berroa, to THE SPOKESMAN.
Berroa indicated that the parks that will be inspected are the Hiram Bithorn stadium, from San Juan, Yldefonso Solá Morales, from Caguas, Isidoro “Cholo” García, from Mayagüez, Roberto Clemente Walker, from Carolina, Néstor Morales, from Humacao, and Pedro Montañez by Cayey.
“For now, Ponce is not on the agenda,” said Berroa about the Francisco “Paquito” Montaner stadium, from Ciudad Señorial, which will be used by the Ponce Lions in the next season 2022-2023 once the park is repaired by the damage suffered after the passage of Hurricane María in 2017 and the earthquakes in the south in 2020.
The Lions hope to reach an agreement with MLB, as Paquito Montaner will not be fully ready for next year.
The Bithorn will be home to the Cangrejeros de Santurce and RA12, while the Solá Morales will host the defending champions Criollos de Caguas; Cholo García, to the Indians of Mayagüez; and Clemente Walker, to the Carolina Giants.
The Humacao and Cayey stadiums will be alternate venues for RA12 and Caguas, respectively, in some games.
Plan B for Bad Bunny
The Hiram Bithorn stadium will not be available from December 3 to 17 due to the two concerts that the urban music singer, Bad Bunny, will present there.
“The availability of the Hiram Bithorn we will not have. Therefore, in that period, both Santurce and RA12 will have to play as visitors (in Humacao) and in the case of RA12 to play as ‘home team’ (local team) in specific games. But that is subject to Major League (Baseball) approving the park ”, expressed, for his part, the president of the Lbprc, Juan A. Flores Galarza.
Those matches in Humacao are scheduled for December 3 (Santurce vs. RA12), 5 (Carolina vs. RA12), 14 (Carolina vs. RA12), 15 (Caguas vs. RA12) and 17 (Santurce vs. RA12). But everything is subject to change.
The Bad Bunny concert is on December 10 and 11. That weekend the Lbprc will hold its All-Star Game on Sunday, the 12th, in Carolina, and there will be a free day on the 11th and 13th of that month.
“The park is supposed to be handed over to us on the 13th. There is a game on the 14th. But, in addition to the concert, there is a long assembly period and then a disassembly period. That plan B (to play in Humacao) is just in case the disassembly is delayed for something, that this game does not have to be canceled and we already have it predetermined in the calendar, “said Flores Galarza.
The Lbprc does not expect any inconvenience to the MLB inspection. Humacao Stadium is currently the home of the Grays in the semifinal of the Baseball Superior Double A.
The winter tournament kicks off on Saturday, November 6, with Mayagüez in Caguas, and Carolina in Santurce.
.