Tigers celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month
During the weekend of Sept. 18, the Detroit Tigers will join Major League Baseball in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Weekend. As part of the league-wide celebration, “Somos MLB,” there will be special events and content both on social and in park across baseball.
To kick off Hispanic Heritage Weekend in Detroit, the Tigers will host a Zoom call with former Fiesta Tigres honorees. Participants include Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez, Placido Polanco, Juan Berenguer and Tigers third-base coach Ramon Santiago. The club’s Hispanic Heritage page on Tigers.com will launch over the weekend and will feature all current and former Latino Tigers players, information about former Fiesta Tigres honorees and highlights of the club’s efforts in the local Hispanic community.
During the weekend at Comerica Park, there will be cutouts of former Latino Tigers players in the extended dugout. For each game during this weekend, the Tigers will have members of the local community present the lineups in Spanish, and the national anthem will be sung throughout the weekend by local Latin vocalists. There will be a special virtual First Pitch Saturday on Sept. 19 when the Tigers take on the Cleveland Indians, recognizing Ago Benavides, Chair of the Board for LA SED Resource Network. On Sept. 20, a local fan will be the "Play Ball" announcer for Sunday's game, in both English and Spanish.
Hispanic Heritage weekend will also have interactive activities for youth to get involved, including Kids Club activity sheets that will launch on Sept. 17. These activity sheets will include activities and facts about Hispanic Heritage Weekend. Sunday Kid’s Day on Sept. 20 will be dedicated to the contribution that Latino players and coaches have made to the game of baseball.
Make sure to keep an eye out on Tigers social media throughout the month. The Tigers will create a graphic highlighting the beginning of the celebration and recognizing the current Detroit Tigers' players countries of origin. Throwback Thursday throughout the month will feature a highlight videos of former Latino Tigers players. Join Santiago as he sits down with a current Tigers player and discusses baseball and much more. On Tigers Spanish social media accounts, fans can learn Spanish with PAWS and enjoy an exclusive playlist compiled by Tigers coaches and players.