sports

This is neither a reference to flying mammals nor a request to a hunchbacked assistant.

Juan “Igor” González is coming to town, along with some of Major League Baseball’s other heavy hitters, for a “Home Run Derby” batting exhibition at the National Stadium --- recently renamed Estadio Rod Carew --- on January 31. The action begins at 8 p.m. and if you’re a true baseball fanatic you won’t want to miss it.

Estadio Rod Carew is a wonderful ballpark in many ways --- the traffic and parking are not among them, so make your travel plans accordingly --- with a field, seating and lighting that meet Major League Baseball’s requirements to allow its players to perform there. Because it was the only ballpark in Panama that met those standards, our last attempt at a winter league that brought some big league talent here was short-lived.

However, Major League Baseball well understands that much of the game’s talent pool and fan base is outside of the US and Canada, where all of its franchises are. Thus in recent years winter ball, exhibition games in Latin American venues and home run derbies like the one on January 31 have been offered as concessions to the millions of fans south of the Rio Grande.

Appearing at Estadio Rod Carew this time will be, in addition to Igor, Vladimir Guerrero, Raúl Mondesí, Bobby Abreu and a number of other players. Panamanians Carlos Lee, Einar Díaz, Fernando Seguignol and Sherman Obando have all been invited to participate, but as this issue was uploaded their attendance had not been confirmed.

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