Latino Baseball Hall of Fame honors Roberto Clemente in opening dinner at Minitas Beach

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On Thursday the 7th of 2013, shortly after the welcome cocktail of the 4th inductions into the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame (and unofficial launch party for new magazine, INMORTALES), the celebrations for the latino baseball stars and other special guests continued at Minitas Beach with a dinner held in honor of great Puerto Rican baseball star, Roberto Clemente.  Roberto Clemente, considered by many to be the greatest latino baseball player of all time, tragically died in a plane crash in 1972 – on route to Nicaragua to distribute aid following a earthquake. Remembered as much for his humanity, humility and compassion for others as for his great talent, Roberto Clemente was on this occasion represented by his son, Luis Clemente who was without a doubt flattered and very proud to have his father honored in this way. Many of the superstar baseball players arrived directly from the welcome cocktail held at the “fan cave” at the Marina Casa de Campo, amongst them; Felipe Rojas Alou, Tony Olivo, Teddy Higuera, Rennie Stennet, Antonio Armas, Octavio Rojas, Victor Davalillo and Teresa Alou (representing her late husband Mateo “Matty” Alou), as well as Sharon Robinson, the daughter of Jackie Robinson, an American baseball player who became the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era, when he broke the “color line” in debuting for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

Tony “Cabeza” Fernandez

Meanwhile making their debut at the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame events were famous players; Tony “Cabeza” Fernandez, Bernie Williams, Mariano Duncan, as well as Jeff Idelson, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, in Casa de Campo for the first time and Rafael Avila, co-founder of the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame. Following dinner and a few drinks, Roberto Weill, founder and president of the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame and a big baseball fanatic introduced a documentary about the life and achievements of Roberto Clemente – which at 40 minutes long I feared would be a little too long, but was actually so well put together and so interesting that it kept the audience captivated the entire time – I actually felt enriched having watched it. The following collection of photos were taken during the welcome dinner of the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame on Thursday the 7th of February 2013:  

Honoring the INMORTALES at the 4th Inductions into the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame! 

From Thursday the 7th to Saturday the 9th of February 2013, Casa de Campo was honored by the presence of some of the greatest stars of Latino Baseball – in Casa de Campo for the Grand Induction Ceremony celebrated on Saturday evening at the Altos de Chavón amphitheater

The Latino Baseball Hall of Fame, founded by Roberto Weill, Alfy Fanjul and Rafael Avila in 2009 aims to celebrate the achievements of Hispanic and Caribbean Major League Baseball players – who now account for nearly 50% of all players in the Major Leagues. Each year 2 players from each country; the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, Panama and Mexico are elected to be inducted into the Latino Hall of Fame in the Grand Induction Ceremony, whilst the class of the previous year are immortalized in La Romana as they unveil their statues in the Paseo de los Inmortales. Click here for photos and coverage of the entire event!