The new professional baseball team, the Gigantes del Nordeste (representing San Francisco de Macorís) officially joined the Dominican Winter League on Tuesday, 23 April. The Gigantes, whose board of directors were reported to be short of several thousand pesos required to enter the league just one month previously, will begin play in the winter league starting this October. The president of the Gigantes del Nordeste, Siquio Ng de la Rosa, announced that the team’s first manager will be Julián Javier, a native of San Francisco de Macorís and a former U.S. Major League player in the 1960’s. According to the agreement signed between the league and the Gigantes, the other five teams in the league will leave an undetermined amount of players available in a “supplemental” draft to fill the new team’s roster.
One of the concerns that the league had, in addition to the entrance deposits, was the condition of the Estadio Julián Javier, which is currently not suitable for the holding of any sports event, but the engineers in charge of the stadium’s renovation told Hoy newspaper that it will be ready by the end of July or August. The capacity of the stadium will be expanded from 8,000 to 10,000 spectators, and new lights will be installed. The total cost of the work is estimated at RD$28,000,000.
The Gigantes del Nordeste will join the Leones del Escogido (Santo Domingo), the Tigres del Licey (Santo Domingo), the Estrellas Orientales (San Pedro de Macorís), the Toros del Este (La Romana), and the Aguilas CibaeÑas (Santiago) in the Winter League, whose season begins in October and ends in late January.
3-9 May 1996