By George Williams
How do I put this lightly? I am a baseball MANIAC! Anything baseball and you can count me “in”. A lifelong Cubs fan (please, you can hold the jokes now that we’ve finally won a World Series in the last century), my newly born son lasted roughly 24 hours in this world before he was touting the glorious blue and white pinstripes. That’s how baseball-crazy I am.
Fast forward a few years from that historic World Series win, and my family and I are on the beach in the Dominican Republic enjoying a relaxing vacation. It’s somewhat of an un-talked about the subject, but anytime we travel outside of Chicago it is almost certain that I will do something involving baseball. Usually, it involves going to a local game, but it could also include a museum, batting cages or anything baseball-related depending on where we are. What can I say, I need my fix!
Well with the DR being a baseball-crazy country, what better way to get my fix than by seeing a local game. And by local I mean an hour away from Punta Cana which is where we were staying. Sunday, November 17th, 2019 saw the Toros del Este (home) up against the Aguilas Cibaenas (away). Or in other words the Bulls versus the Eagles!
Having mentioned the idea to my wife, she stopped me dead in my tracks and said “absolutely not”! Leading up to our vacation there had been a lot of negative press about the Dominican Republic due to American tourists dying. A lot of people, including us, wondered is the Dominican Republic safe to visit? We did a bit of research before we came and noticed that none of the incidents were results of violent crime, so we felt it was ok to come as long as we ensured that the food and drinks we consumed were of the highest quality.
Long story short, I was able to convince my wife that it was ok for me to go see the mighty Toros! I arranged the ticket and transport with the hotel reception and was on my way to the Estadio Francisco Micheli in La Romana.
So the Estadio Francisco Micheli isn’t exactly Wrigley Field, but I never expected it to be. It’s a quaint stadium that was welcoming to baseball fans of all ages and genders, which was great to see. There was also fantastic energy in the stadium, something almost replicable to professional soccer games in Europe.
While not the most exciting game of all time, I had to root, root, root for the home team which got the win in the end. The entire experience was truly magnificent, and I can’t help but thank the hotel staff for helping me arrange it, as well as all the lively Dominican fans at the stadium. I never once felt in danger and even felt very welcome in la casa de Los Toros!