In Puerto Rico and in many Spanish-speaking countries, it is very common for people who bear the name Enrique to be given the nickname “Quique” or “Kike”. However, in the United States the writing of “Kike” with two “k” has another meaning that led to the nickname of the center fielder of the Boston Red Sox, Enrique “Kike” Hernández, a tilde was put to it to differentiate it from an English term that is insulting and pejorative.
As soon as the San Juan-born player began playing in the Major League minor league system, the narrators decided to put an accent (“Kiké”) on the player’s nickname to distance him as much as possible from the pronunciation of the word that in the English language is used to refer disparagingly to Jews.
In Spanish, the nickname Kike does not have an accent, since it is a flat word -the ones that have the tonic force in the penultimate syllable- that ends in a vowel. According to this 2017 Business Insider articleIn the case of the Puerto Rican nickname, in the United States a pronunciation that comes from the French language, not from Spanish, was applied, and that is why the accent was placed on the “é”, to provoke the pronunciation “ay” at the end ( KEE-kay).
“The teams began to use the accent to avoid controversy,” said the Puerto Rican according to a story from several years ago by the Examiner medium. “It doesn’t bother me. (My nickname) is in Spanish. If you don’t read it in Spanish, it can be offensive ”.
-
In an exciting and close game, Enrique “Kike” Hernández hit a sacrifice fly to knock the Rays out 6-5 in Game 4 of the Division Series. (Michael Dwyer)
:format(jpeg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gfrmedia/7MRBF3BNNJHZZHGUBJBHFXOUII.jpg "Why do you accentuate the nickname of Enrique “Kike” Hernández in the United States? 1")
Boston reached the Division Series for the league wild card, eliminating the AL’s best team in the regular season. Tampa Bay won 100 games. (Michael Dwyer)
:format(jpeg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gfrmedia/JLK5MWSJIVHYFNPMAKM3FEJPGU.jpg "Why do you accentuate the nickname of Enrique “Kike” Hernández in the United States? 2")
Boston won the last three games after losing the first in Tampa. (Michael Dwyer)
Now they will wait for the winner of the other series between Houston and the Chicago White Sox. (Michael Dwyer)
-
In the Red Sox’s three victories, Hernández played an important role, primarily with the tree. (Michael Dwyer)
-
In all, Hernandez hit .450 and also scored four runs in four games. (Michael Dwyer)
-
Puerto Rican manager Alex Cora has not lost a playoff series and is now heading for his second Championship Series in just three seasons. (Charles Krupa)
-
In the photo, Boston celebrates the victory over Tampa Bay. (Charles Krupa)
-
Photo of the team after the victory to qualify for the American League Championship Series. (Charles Krupa)
With an accent, in English, or without an accent, in Spanish, on the field of play the result has been just as positive for the Red Sox who signed Hernández to a two-year, $ 14 million contract beginning in the 2021 campaign. The investment has turned out to be a hit for Boston’s ninth as Hernandez produced big in his full-time role this year, hitting 20 home runs, 84 runs scored and 60 RBIs in the regular season. But it was his performance in the division series against the Rays that has made him headlines everywhere after hitting .450 with three doubles, two home runs and six RBIs, including the that gave the Red Sox a pass to the American League Championship Series Monday night.
Hernández made his Major League Baseball debut with the Houston Astros in 2014, who later sent him that same year to the Miami Marlins. From Florida’s ninth he went to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015, where he played until 2020, winning a World Series championship.
.