Daddy Yankee named global ambassador for 2023 Classic

MIAMI -- Before he decided to focus on music, Ramón Luis Ayala Rodriguez, much better known as Latin music global icon Daddy Yankee, dreamt of one day becoming a Major League third baseman.

Daddy Yankee’s first dream never came to fruition because of an accident as a teenager, but his love for baseball never went away. “The Big Boss,” as he's often referred to by his fans, is the owner of the Cangrejeros de Santurce, one of the top teams in the Puerto Rican winter league.

Now that Daddy Yankee completed his last music tour in 2022, the Puerto Rican icon, who is singlehandedly responsible with turning reggaeton into a worldwide genre with numerous award-winning albums and songs, his focus could start shifting more into building the game he fell in love with as a kid.

The first step to put his imprint on the game came on Friday as Daddy Yankee was named the global ambassador for the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Daddy Yankee hopes to continue to blend music and baseball, two aspects of life he believes go hand in hand.

And there’s nobody better to accomplish that than Daddy Yankee, who just wrapped up “La Última Vuelta World Tour,” which finished as the second-biggest tour by a Latin artist in Boxscore history.

As part of his special role for the tournament, Daddy Yankee’s song “Chispa” will serve as the World Baseball Classic’s anthem and will be featured across WBC & MLB social platforms, in-park activations and presentations throughout TV broadcasts around the world.

“It’s just a blessing being here,” Daddy Yankee said. “I dreamt of being at this kind of event and being part of it. Baseball is part of my life. Besides being the global ambassador, I just want to share this sport with the entire world.”

Play-N-Skillz, the Latin producing duo that collaborated on the song “Chispa” with Daddy Yankee, said when the trio produced the song, it was initially set to be part of Daddy Yankee’s last album “LEGENDADDY,” but that ultimately fell through and the single was left off the album.

Despite that, they all knew that the song was special and would find a home. Once Major League Baseball approached Daddy Yankee about the position, he knew he had the perfect song for the event.

“Chispa [which translates to spark in English] is what the game is about,” Daddy Yankee said. “I showed it to Major League Baseball, and they told me they loved it and it’s the energy we need for the tournament.”

“Esa canción es fuego,” he followed up in Spanish.

Daddy Yankee was joined by Hall of Famer David Ortiz, who represented the Dominican Republic in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in ‘06. Ortiz and Daddy Yankee engaged in friendly banter. Ortiz said if the Puerto Rican team beats the Dominicans on Wednesday, the Hall of Famer has to buy Daddy Yankee mofongo, a famous Puerto Rican dish.

But if the Dominicans take down the Puerto Ricans in the much-anticipated game, Daddy Yankee has to buy Ortiz a plate of mangú, a Dominican dish.

“This is one of the best events MLB has ever put together,” Ortiz said in Spanish. “It’s just a different feeling than a regular-season game. The next few days will be an avalanche of people from Latin America that will fill this stadium to enjoy this. I’ve spent a lot of time in the D.R. over the last two months, and all they talk about is the World Baseball Classic.”

With Daddy Yankee’s music behind it, this is expected to be the best tournament yet. It’ll carry a little extra “Chispa.”