The hundreds of red, white, and blue flags in the ballpark were not those of the United States, but those of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, brought to the park by fans at the RD/DR Showdown, the All-Star Game between teams from the Dominican Republic’s Lidom Baseball League and Puerto Rico’s Liga Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente.
The Dominican All-Stars won 6-2 over the Puerto Rican Stars. But more than a sports competition, the event was the celebration of the heritage and culture of two of the Caribbean’s baseball powers, as well as the cultural contributions the large Dominican and Puerto Rican populations have made to New York City.
The game, which drew 20,057 to Citi Field, also honored two players who made their own marks in New York: the DR’s Robinson Cano, who is in what is likely his final season of winter ball with the Estrellas Orientales in his hometown of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, and Carlos Beltran, the Puerto Rican outfielder who was the 1999 American League Rookie of the Year with the Kansas City Royals and keyed a memorable Mets playoff run in 2006.
Also honored by Puerto Rico was former Met and Toronto Blue Jay Carlos Delgado, who managed the LBPRC team Saturday afternoon. Delgado is again under consideration for baseball’s highest honor, being inducted to Cooperstown.
“I think these kinds of events are positive because they give us Latinos the opportunity to unite, to showcase our baseball skills and the passion that exists on two islands in the Caribbean, full of enthusiasm: the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico,” Beltran said in Spanish. “People always talk about the rivalry and all that, but I don’t like to call it a rivalry. I prefer to call it brotherhood because we are brothers of the Caribbean, and even though when we step onto the field everyone wants to win, everyone wants to do well, at the end of the day we are Latinos.”
With Latin music blaring from Citi Field’s speakers, the atmosphere was as warm as San Juan or Santo Domingo, despite a November day in New York giving the teams significantly colder weather than they’re used to. But even the chilly, gray afternoon couldn’t dampen the spirit surrounding the game.
“Anyone who follows baseball knows that when the Dominican teams play Puerto Rico, it’s a healthy clash,” Dominican manager Carlos Gomez said in Spanish before the game. “And anyone who comes to see a game, to see a real game between two teams, no matter how small league, when they face off, they play their hearts out. And to bring two teams with that rivalry here to New York City, I think they’re going to put on a great show and people will enjoy it, and they’ll want to hold an event every year.”
A moment of silence was held before the game for former Major League pitcher Octavio Dotel and musician Rubby Perez, both of who were killed in the collapse of the Jet Set Nightclub in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2025. Dotel made his MLB debut with the New York Mets in 1989 and played for 13 different teams, the second-most of any player in MLB history. Perez, a merengue singer beloved in the Dominican Republic, was himself a baseball fan who aspired to be a player, but ultimately found fame as a musician.
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Pix11
17 November 2025