It’s a Sunday afternoon at P.K. Park — home of the Eugene Emeralds and the Oregon Ducks baseball team. Music from local Latinx artists permeates throughout the stadium hours before the first pitch is set to be tossed. Up the stairs and around the concourse, long lines have begun to form in front of food trucks and concession stands stocked with hispanic food. Across from them, local Latinx organizations have set up booths to promote their cause.
For the national anthem, a mariachi band stands behind home plate and plays the “Star Spangled Banner.” As the song finishes, the crowd starts to cheer, and the Monarcas run out in their speciality uniforms and begin to warm-up for the game. On the video board, a graphic of the monarcas logo bounces on the screen, in sync with the music.
Even though baseball is considered America’s pastime, the sport is incredibly popular in Latin countries. Thirty-two percent of all major league players have Hispanic descent, and that percentage continues to rise each season. Since these numbers are increasing, fans are starting to contribute the growth of the sport’s popularity to these Latin athletes.
“The landscape of baseball would look very different without the contribution from Latin countries,” said Candace Dotte, a Minor League Baseball advocate. “We have been able to witness the talents of Roberto Clemente, Sammy Sosa, David Ortiz, and even the Giants’ own Juan Marichal. With just over 30% of players coming from Latin American countries, they rank second in demographics.”
These athletes have created a strong following, especially fans from their home countries. A 2017 ESPN Sports Poll report found that more than 18.2 million U.S. Hispanic/Latino individuals identify themselves as MiLB fans or 17.2 percent of MiLB’s overall self-designated fan base.
With a strong Hispanic following, Minor League Baseball launched Es Divertido Ser Un Fan (It’s Fun To Be A Fan) in 2017. It’s a multicultural fan engagement platform that aims to connect with Hispanic/Latinx fans.
The Eugene Emeralds, a High-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, joined the initiative in 2018 when MiLB took it one step further and announced Copa de la Diversión (Fun Cup). It’s a season-long event series that embraces the cultures and values of participating teams’ local Hispanic communities.
“Monarcas de Eugene provides us an awesome opportunity to further provide a safe and inclusive environment for everybody in our local community,” said Patrick Zajac, the Director of Promotions and Partnerships for the Eugene Emeralds. “Rather than just doing one-off Latino heritage nights, we feel that committing to hosting Monarcas games every Sunday shows that we are committed to that inclusive effort, making sure that not only do we wear different jerseys and caps, but incorporate Latino influences into the food, music, and PA announcements all throughout the ballpark. It truly makes for a unique experience outside of our traditional Emeralds’ games.”
What makes the night so special is the uniforms that the players wear on Sunday home games. These jerseys stand out because of their unique logo that captures the Hispanic culture in Eugene.
The Monarch butterfly is a symbol of migration. Within the butterfly, there are 33 dots spread around the wings to represent the 33 different Latin countries.
Inside the upper section of the wings, the Three Sisters, a cascade range in the Willamette and Deschutes National Forest, is shown. Above the mountains’ drawing is a symbol of Oregon’s bridges to represent connecting and building roots.
Around the butterfly’s thorax, a Nahui Ollin, a concept in Aztec cosmology, is placed to remind everyone to “move and act with all your heart; to be all in.” In the monarch’s lower half are hieroglyphs that portray the sun, moon, Oregon’s green forests, and the roads traveled.
“We sourced the local Latino community and created a focus group composed of local business leaders, Latino elders, high school students, and Mayor Lucy Vinis,” said Zajac. “From there, we asked them questions on what they wanted to see from the name and logo and we went from there, incorporating multiple different story pieces into the logo.”
Latin countries’ impact on baseball is unmatched. A lot of current and former Major League Baseball’s superstars have Hispanic descent and each of those athletes went through the different levels of the farm system. If the MLB wants the game to grow and evolve, embracing Latin culture is crucial, and it all starts at the minor league level.
