The president of the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League received recognition from the Dominican Sports Foundation during the inauguration of the World Baseball and Softball Classic in which 64 softball teams and 24 little league teams participated in various categories and from different parts of the United States.
The head of Lidom was one of the personalities recognized by the organizers who also valued the career of former New York Yankees pitcher, Panamanian Mariano Rivera, a member of the Cooperstown Hall of Fame, as well as the Vice Minister of Sports, Fraklyn de la Mota; Magitt Canaan and Ramón Tallaj.
“We feel that being here is a commitment that we fulfill on behalf of Dominican professional baseball,” said Mejia Ortiz during his brief speech. “This event has been very emotional because I see people who are not Dominicans supporting him, as in the case of Mariano Rivera and Don Dean.
Dean Jameway, executive director of a famous U.S. supermarket line, was dedicated to the event and was in charge of throwing out the first ball, while Mejia Ortiz served as the batter of honor and Rivera as the catcher.
The sporting event aims to become institutionalized, said Daniel Reyes, main organizer of the event, which counts with Dominican chroniclers Martin Zapata and Tenchy Rodríguez on its staff.
