World Baseball Classic Is a Party in Miami for Latin American Teams and Fans

“This is our World Cup,” Omar Prieto, 28, a native of Puerto Rico, said in Spanish, alluding to the soccer tournament that is the globe’s most popular sporting event. Along with his father and girlfriend, Prieto flew from Puerto Rico and landed two hours before the first pitch of the team’s game against Nicaragua on Saturday afternoon.

“I’m full of pride,” added Luis Gonzalez, 36, a Nicaraguan who lives in Sweetwater, a city in Miami-Dade County nicknamed Little Managua for its high concentration of Nicaraguans. “This represents all Latinos. This is something that people like me are also living, people who have emigrated here from Latin America, and having the W.B.C. here in Miami is a great experience.”

Prieto and Gonzalez each said this while sitting in adjacent sections of the stadium’s lower bowl. They didn’t know each other but engaged in friendly banter during Puerto Rico’s 9-1 win.

In Section 23, Prieto, his brother, who lives in Miami, and his brother’s friends formed part of an ensemble of seven drums, a bell and a güiro, a notched hollow gourd played by rubbing a stick against it. And all throughout the game — but particularly after notable moments by their team — they played the instruments and sang a range of Puerto Rican chants, sometimes while staring at the Nicaraguan fans to their left.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/sports/baseball/world-baseball-classic-miami.html