The Centro Leon opened its “See You at the Ballpark” exhibition with a special dedication to the DR’s only member of the US National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Juan Marichal. The exhibition coincides with the 25th anniversary of Marichal’s admission to the Hall of Fame and with the 50th anniversary of the Caribbean Series.
Dave Petrosky, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame personally brought over the plaque honoring Marichal and described the San Francisco Giants pitcher as the Dominican Republic’s best ambassador in the US. He highlighted the fact that it was the first time that a National Hall of Fame plaque had been allowed to leave the US.
Speaking at the event, Marichal described how he learned to pitch, and predicted that Dominican players such as Sammy Sosa, Pedro Martinez and Vladimir Guerrero would accompany him in Cooperstown in coming years. Players need to be in retirement for five years before being considered for admission.
The exhibition focuses on the ways that Dominicans have adopted the sport as one of their signature cultural expressions. Petrosky stressed that, “it captures the love affair between our great game and this great country.” He announced that Cooperstown would be staging an exhibition of Baseball in the Caribbean in April 2009, and some of the Centro Leon exhibits will be on display there.