Members of the winning World Baseball Classic team were at the Presidential Palace yesterday, Thursday 28 November to meet with President Danilo Medina and celebrate the Dominican players’ victory now that their MLB commitments are over for the year.
President Medina said that the March win was especially welcomed by his government as it had brought optimism and hope to the Dominican people at a time when the government had just passed a new fiscal reform. The fiscal reform was levied to cover the government deficit resulting in part by overspending by the PLD administration to ensure a win during the past election with a fiscal reform. At the Palace, the players received commemorative champion rings from the President before touring the Santo Domingo streets for three hours.
“Playing for the country is the greatest, this was not for the contract, it was not for money. It was for putting the name of the country up high, something that has no comparison,” Robinson Cano said.
As part of the celebrations at the Presidential Palace, the Most Valued Player of the 2013 World Series, Boston Red Sox’s David Ortiz presented President Danilo Medina with a ball and a bat. Robinson Cano, Jose Reyes, Erick Aybar, Nelson Cruz, Edwin Encarnacion, Miguel Tejada, Hanley Ramirez, Carlos Santana, Leury Garcia, Ricardo Nanita, Francisco Pena, Eury Perez, Moises Sierra, Samuel Deduno, Wandy Rodriguez, Fernando Rodney, Santiago Casilla, Octavio Dotel, Angel Castro, Lorenzo Barcelo, Edison Volquez, Juan Cedeno, Pedro Strop, Kelvin Herrera, Ataualpa Severino and Alfredo Simon Cabrera attended the ceremony, along with managers Moises Alou and Tony Pena.
During the event, the players described many of the key experiences that inspired the win.
www.elcaribe.com.do/2013/11/29/atalo-palabra-clave-del-equipo-durante-clasico
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq-23TUUv64
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wLuEVBMKa8