WATERBURY — Team Puerto Rico is back, and you had better believe that the Mickey Mantle World Series is thrilled about that.
For opening night of the 2019 Series on Wednesday more than 2,000 fans crowded into Municipal Stadium to watch the host team, Overlook Blacksox, play the Ponce Cyclones, the Mantle champions of Puerto Rico. Meaning no disrespect to the Sox, but the Stadium grandstand was filled with Cyclones’ fans.
The game was remarkable for a number of reasons. For starters, Overlook pitching had a perfect game going through four innings, ended up with a collaborative no-hit game, and lost. But even that was the No. 2 story on the day. The best part of the Mantle Series thus far, without question, is the return of the champions of Puerto Rico.
[This post contains video, click to play]
![]()
To review, in September of 2017 Puerto was hit by two, not one, but two hurricanes, first Irma -we forget about Irma, don’t we -and then the monster storm, Maria. Both hit within two weeks.
The island was devastated. That we knew. And though it may seem like a secondary problem to some, the double hurricane whammy also destroyed the island’s baseball infrastructure. That was a disaster to the baseball kids of Puerto Rico.
![]()
![]()
![]()
“After the devastation of the hurricanes, things were pretty tough,” said Cyclones manager Ismael Rivera.
No food. No water. No electricity.
And no baseball.
As recovery work began, to save lives and provide basic necessities, there was another priority. Rivera said that one of the first tasks was “to bring the baseball fields back. Everyone was united in that.”
That might seem odd, until you realize that baseball in Puerto Rico isn’t just a game, it is life. “These kids play baseball in Puerto Rico year round,” Rivera said, “and the young people were among the hardest hit because their fields were destroyed.”
In many areas, before power was restored before were repaired.
“People had their needs, and it made things difficult to live, to get money for the house and food,” said Cyclones captain and leadoff batter Abiam Medina. “After Maria, it was a disaster. We did not know what to do. And it was difficult to do team sports, and go to school.”
Baseball wasn’t just important. For kids, the best way to resume a normal life was to grab a bat, a ball, a glove and get back on a diamond.
“It was a union I never saw before in Puerto Rico,” Medina said, “and important in our life.”
In Ponce, a city of 150,000, one field was restored almost immediately.
“We had to change our strategy of practice,” Rivera said. “We had to practice during the day and use the light of the sun. We had to share one baseball field between two, three, four teams, at the same time. It was the only time of the day we could use the field.”
The kids played baseball, yes, but as Rivera added, “They were united, and they forgot about the hurricane.”
Medina put it this way: “When you get on the field you forget about your life and your problems. It is another world.”
A baseball world is a pretty great world.
So in 2018, when teams competed in American Amateur Baseball Congress championships, Puerto Rico decided not to travel to the states. They could have. They had champions, and they had the money, too, but 10 months after Maria was too soon to fly teams to world series sites around America.
However, in 2019, Puerto Rico is back. Champion Ponce has come to Waterbury.
“Everything came together and, two years later, here we are,” Rivera said.
“I am grateful that the people in America, and other countries, helped us,” said Medina. “And this is amazing for me. This is the first time that I have been able to represent Puerto Rico. It is amazing. It is incredible. I am very proud for my country.”
Send comments to jpalladino@rep-am.com, and follow on Twitter at @RAOffTheRecord.
Waterbury-based baseball bat maker Tater Bats presented gifts of personalized fungo bats to all the teams in the Series. The bats were labeled with the name of each team.
