— By Katie Mayock, Journalism Intern. Photo: S. Owusu-Ansah
The Pittsburgh Pirates celebrated their first-ever Hispanic Heritage Night at PNC Park on Saturday, September 7th as they took on the Washington Nationals in the second game of a doubleheader. The celebration was part of the MLB’s recent brand campaign, El Béisbol Es Otra Cosa (“Baseball Is Something Else”), which aims to spotlight the involvement and contributions of the Latine community throughout baseball.
The celebration started before the game with a pre-game ceremony on the field to recognize the local organizations that helped to plan Hispanic Heritage Night, including the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Casa San José and ALPFA Pittsburgh.
Members from these organizations also got to enjoy a tour of the stadium and watch the game from the World Series box. ALPFA also hosted a tailgate outside the stadium before the game.
$3 from each ticket sold went to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Fund, which helps students with Hispanic heritage in the Pittsburgh area continue their education, whether that is in vocational school, community college, four-year universities, etc. Ticket holders also
received a limited edition Piratas baseball cap.
The pre-game celebration continued with Pirates players with Hispanic heritage running onto the field with their countries’ flags. The Pirates current active roster includes Cuban (Aroldis Chapman, Yasmani Grandal), Mexican (Rowdy Tellez) and Dominican (Luis L. Ortiz, Dennis
Santana, Oneil Cruz, Bryan De La Cruz) players.
Dr. Diego Chaves-Gnecco, a behavioral pediatrician at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Dr. Chaves-Gnecco started the first bilingual pediatric clinic in southwestern Pennsylvania, Salud Para Niños (Health for the Children), in 2002. Zuly Inirio, an Afro-Latina singer from the Dominican Republic, capped off the pre-game festivities singing the national anthem. Throughout the game, Hispanic music was played in between innings.
As for the game itself, it was heartbreak for the Pirates as they coughed up a two-run lead in the top of the ninth to lose 8-6.
Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller struck out the first five batters he faced and the offense got off to a hot start to stake the Pirates to a 4-2 lead after six innings. In the top of the seventh, the Nationals tied the game on a two-run home run by 1B Andres Chaparro. The Pirates then retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth, 6-4, on an RBI single by SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa and an RBI fielder’s choice by DH Bryan Reynolds. The Pirates brought in reliever Aroldis Chapman in the top of the ninth to close out the game, but he gave up four earned runs to blow his fifth save of the season and the Pirates went on to lose 8-6.
The Hispanic Heritage Night game was the second game of the day, as thunderstorms forced the Friday night game to be postponed to Saturday afternoon. The Pirates lost the afternoon game 5-3, but thanks to wins on Thursday and Sunday, they were able to salvage the series split.
Despite the result, the Pirates first-ever Hispanic Heritage Night was a huge success and there are already plans in place to make it a yearly recurrence. In the meantime, the Pirates will continue to celebrate baseball’s Latino community through the MLB’s annual Roberto Clemente Day on Sunday, September 15th against the Kansas City Royals.
