For Latinos living in the United States it is fiesta time.
This week it just started the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
It's the period to recognize the contributions of Hispanics to the United States and to celebrate Hispanic heritage and culture. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon B. Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on Sept. 15 and ending on Oct. 15.
Every year Hispanic Heritage Month begins on Sept. 15, the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on Sept. 16 and Chile on Sept. 18.
Oct. 12, Columbus Day or Dia de la Raza, also falls within this 30-day period.
As a very proud latino in this country, I have to acknowledge that one of the most notable contributions to the Nation’s history is baseball itself.
It is very true that baseball is the national pastime but also it have to be admitted that no matter were you look there is a latino star in most teams.
In the National League top candidate for MVP are Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval.
In the American league a possible candidate for MVP should be Miguel Cabrera; Felix Hernandez for the Cy Young Award and Elvis Andrus for Rookie of the Year. Watch out for Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez for the Comeback of the Year Award.
And in many other cities such names as Carlos Beltran, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Carlos Peña, Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero and David “Big Papi” Ortiz are not only ballplayers but also an integral part of their cities.
I can write an entire essay on this topic, however keeping it short, it’s a good time to bring in my opinion of the best 9 All-Time Latinos for each franchise.
Everyone I know have its own opinion. Because it is Hispanic Heritage Month I will come with the names of each Major League Baseball franchise in Spanish. I bet you can figure them out.
This season I have seen games played with their spanish uniforms such as Los Gigantes (San Francisco Giants); Los Marineros (Seattle Mariners) and just few days ago Los Marlins (Florida Marlins).
This is my own list of the top 9 Latinos by franchise:
LIGA AMERICANA
Orioles de Baltimore: Miguel Cuellar, Rafael Palmeiro, Miguel Tejada, Roberto Alomar, Luís Aparicio, Melvin Mora, Javier López, Bobby Bonilla, Rodrigo López
Medias Rojas de Boston: Pedro Martínez, David Ortiz, Manny Ramírez; Luís Tiant; Mike Lowell, Tony Armas, Alex González, Víctor Martínez, Orlando Cepeda.
Medias Blancas de Chicago: Luís Aparicio, Ozzie Guillén, Minnie Miñoso, Chico Carrasquel, Alexei Ramírez, Magglio Ordóñez, Tony Valentín, Carlos Lee, Esteban Loaiza.
Indios de Cleveland: Santos Alomar Jr, Manny Ramírez, Omar Vizquel, Roberto Alomar, Carlos Baerga, Julio Franco, Juan González, Jhonny Peralta, José Mesa.
Tigres de Detroit: Carlos Guillén, Guillermo Hernández, Iván Rodríguez; Miguel Cabrera, Placido Polanco, Magglio Ordóñez, José Lima, Ramón Santiago, Fernando Rodney.
Reales de Kansas City: Carlos Beltrán, Tony Peña, Danny Tartabull, Cookie Rojas, Joakim Soria, José Offerman, David de Jesús, Mike Aviles, Ángel Berroa.
Angelinos de Los Ángeles: Rod Carew, Vladimir Guerrero, Francisco Rodríguez, Bartolo Colón, Minnie Rojas, Kendry Morales, Luís Polonia, Bengie Molina, Juan José Beniquez.
Gemelos de Minnesota; Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Johan Santana, Zoilo Versalles, Camilo Pascual, Cesar Tovar, Cristian Guzmán, Francisco Liriano, Carlos Silva.
Yankees de Nueva York: Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Robinson Cano, Alfonso Soriano, Alex Rodríguez, Orlando Hernández, Luís Sojo, Eduardo Figueroa.
Atleticos de Oakland: Bert Campaneris, José Canseco, Miguel Tejada, Tony Armas, Erubiel Durazo, Geronimo Berroa, Ángel Mangual, Diego Seguí, Stan Javier.
Marineros de Seattle: Félix Hernández, Edgar Martínez, Alex Rodríguez, Joey Cora, Julio Cruz, Adrián Beltre, Danny Tartabull, Freddy García, Joel Piñeiro.
Rayos de Tampa Bay: Rolando Arrojo, Roberto Hernández, Carlos Peña, Miguel Cairo, Jorge Cantu; Julio Lugo, Dioner Navarro, José Canseco, Esteban Yan.
Rangers de Texas: Juan González, Iván Rodríguez, Rubén Sierra, Rafael Palmeiro, Julio Franco, Alex Rodríguez, Nelson Cruz, José Canseco, Alfonso Soriano.
Azulejos de Toronto: Roberto Alomar, Carlos Delgado, Tony Fernández, George Bell, Tony Batista, Alfredo Griffin, Damaso García, Alexis Ríos, Bengie Molina
LIGA NACIONAL
Diamantes de Arizona: Erubiel Durazo, Vicente Padilla, José Valverde, Danny Bautista, Edgar González, Armando Reynoso, Oscar Villareal, Liván Hernández, Miguel Montero.
Bravos de Atlanta: Rico Carty, Javier Lápez, Eduardo Pérez, Rafael Furcal, Andruw Jones, Javier Vázquez, Andrés Galarraga, Orlando Cepeda, Rafael Ramírez.
Cachorros de Chicago: Aramis Ramírez, Sammy Sosa, Carlos Zambrano, Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto, José Cardenal, Rafael Palmeiro, Rey Sánchez, Manny Trillo.
Rojos de Cincinnati: David Concepción, Tany Pérez, José Rijo, Cesar Geronimo, Mario Soto, Leo Cárdenas, Adolfo Luque, Luís Raúl Quiñones, Felipe López.
Rockies de Colorado: Pedro Astacio, Vinny Castilla, Andrés Galarraga, Neifi Pérez, Yorbit Torrealba, Willy Taveras, Armando Reynoso, Ubaldo Jiménez, Manuel Corpas.
Marlins de Florida: Miguel Cabrera, Liván Hernández, Mike Lowell; Luís Castillo; Hanley Ramírez; Antonio Alfonseca, Alex González; Edgar Rentería, Iván Rodríguez.
Astros de Houston: Cesar Cedeño, José Cruz Sr., Richard Hidalgo, Carlos Lee, Miguel Tejada, Wandy Rodríguez, José Valverde, Carlos Beltrán, Dickie Thon.
Dodgers de Los Ángeles: Pedro Guerrero, Raúl Mondesí, Fernando Valenzuela, Manny Mota, Ramón Martínez, Mariano Duncan, Adrián Beltré, Rafael Furcal, Manny Ramírez.
Cerveceros de Milwaukee: Teddy Higuera, Carlos Lee, Sixto Lezcano, Ben Oglivie, Jaime Navarro, Juan Nieves, Tony Valentín, Ricky Bones, Yovani Gallardo.
Mets de Nueva York: Carlos Beltrán, Carlos Delgado, José Reyes, Armando Benítez, Félix Millán, Edgardo Alfonzo, Bobby Bonilla, Santos Alomar, Sr., Luís Castillo.
Filis de Filadelfia: Bobby Abreu, Juan Samuel, Manny Trillo, Tony Taylor, Von Hayes, Mariano Duncan, Ozzie Virgil. Jr., JC Romero. Carlos Ruiz.
Piratas de Pittsburgh: Bobby Bonilla, Roberto Clemente, Manny Sanguillén, John Candelaria, José Lind, Tony Peña, Mateo Alou, Omar Moreno, Rennie Stennett.
Cardenales de San Luís: Orlando Cepeda, Julián Javier, Albert Pujols, Joaquín Andujar, Fernando Tatis, Yadier Molina, Pedro Guerrero, Edgar Rentería, José Oquendo.
Padres de San Diego: Adrián González, Carmelo Martínez, Benito Santiago, Roberto Alomar, Tony Fernández, Quilvio Veras, Luís Salazar, Juan Bonilla, Jerry Morales.
Gigantes de San Francisco: Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, Omar Vizquel, Felipe Alou, Bengie Molina, Pablo Sandoval, Benito Santiago, José Uribe, Marvin Benard.
Nacionales de Washington -antes Expos de Montreal-: Felipe Alou, Vladimir Guerrero, Dennis Martínez, Pedro Martínez, José Vidro, Vinny Castilla, Felipe López, Cristian Guzmán, Liván Hernández
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