Caribbean Winter League Baseball Coming Soon to Orlando
SAN JUAN, PR (Sept. 9, 2015) – At a news conference in Puerto Rico today, Puerto Rican baseball officials announced that two teams from its Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League will play three regular season games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida. This season, the famed Cangrejeros de Santurce will face the Indios de Mayaguez in a three-game series at Champion Stadium on November 20-22.
This series marks the first time Clemente League teams will play official season games within the continental U.S. The league last played outside of Puerto Rico in the Inter League Series in 2009 and played with the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League.
The Indios de Mayaguez are the Clemente League’s Sub-Champion this past season, while Cangrejeros de Santurce is the League’s defending Champion, and the home team in this series. The three games will be part of the League’s regular season calendar, and as such, are to be counted towards the team standings at the end of the season.
“The games are meant to reconnect the Hispanic community in Central Florida with Caribbean Baseball, especially those of Puerto Rican descent living in the area which, for the most part, are already second and third generations and have never had the opportunity to witness our baseball,” said Cangrejeros de Santurce President Dr. Miguel Sosa Padilla .
“Our level of play here in Puerto Rico is highly underestimated by the rest of the baseball world,” said Cangrejeros General Manager Frankie Higginbotham. “Most Major League Baseball players in the Minor League system look to us for the opportunity to polish their skills and develop their level of play during the winter in order to make a definite statement when they report back to their teams for spring training,” he added.
“Puerto Rico has been a Latin American baseball powerhouse for many years and is now living a resurgence with young players such as Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, and Eddie Rosario taking charge in re-establishing prior prominence,” said Sosa Padilla.
During the news conference, Higginbotham previewed some of the players who are expected to participate in the 2015 edition of the series, including Javier Baez, Rene Rivera, Neftali Soto, Pedro Feliciano and Yadiel Rivera from the Cangrejeros, and from the Indios, Jonathan Sanchez, Randy Ruiz and Danny Ortiz.
Tickets go on sale September 14 2015, and are available through Ticketmaster® at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (800) 745-3000. Ticket prices range from $17.50 to $30.