TONIGHT: It's the 1907 Partido de Campeones! Come watch the best hundred players in the Liga Nacional Puertorriqueña fight it out. Does 🔴 Betances take it this year? Or will it be 🔵 Hostos? fun begins at 7:05 PM EDT: twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

After the 6th inning: 🧭 Navegadores 2 🦜 Cotorras 0 Despite a lot of Naguabo sound and fury, other than 🇵🇷 Benji Valdez’s two-run single, the Naves are hanging on to a thin lead. Can they hold on? We’ve got a poetry reading in less than an inning! Hop in! www.twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

9/26 (tonight!): We couldn't get the all-lefty lineup we wanted, but the 🧭 Navegadores nonetheless welcome the reigning champion 🦜 Cotorras to town. Commercials! Poetry! Fun with LNP history! And more, courtesy of Louisa and @nsmckinnon.bsky.social! fun begins at 7:05 PM EDT twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

We’re allowed our little Olympic team and our flag-covered cars and our fried plantains, so long as we remember our place and express our gratitude when the Americans come to town to indulge their national adolescence.

If there is one thing that lights the revolutionary fire within me to burn hot and sky blue, it is that this fucking cesspool of a country has forced me and my people to scrape and bow and apologize and be *proud* of our “kindness,” which is really the servile character that’s been forced on us.

He had to swallow his pride in two languages, to carry the baseball reputation of an entire country on his back for a good portion of his career, and yet he held himself to a higher standard than every suburban white boy raised to be a top 100 prospect who pretends like no one ever believed in them.

Clemente got routinely slagged off as a hypochondriac, malingerer, layabout, time bomb, and everything else by a sports press that didn’t know how to deal with an Afro-PR player who was incredible on the field and had the audacity to be proud of it, and yet he learned to distinguish friend from foe.

This—from David Maraniss’ bio of Clemente—is why he’s the GOAT to me. Much of this book is devoted to talking about Clemente’s unique willingness to apologize, and I think about how now people let pro athletes off the hook in a way they don’t any other profession, while pretending they’re like us.

Alt text for the rest of that second page, from David Maraniss’ Clemente bio, which I finished yesterday after months of being unwilling to get to the sad part. Clemente gave everything he had to baseball, but unlike so many of his successors, he also gave everything to others. Including himself.

I think a lot about how Clemente had the most Puerto Rican death a ballplayer can have: so busy trying to do something no one else was doing that he didn’t stop to think that he was getting on a colossal death trap—because he cared more about Nicaraguan victims of an earthquake than his own life.

Didn’t know this article existed until today, but this is the exact quality that makes Roberto Clemente my GOAT. He not only sought to be the best damn baseball player of his era, and achieved that (argue with your nearest wall), but to be a positive influence on the world. sabr.org/journal/arti...

‪An entire life, on the diamond and off it, spent reminding us of one of the most immutable truths of the universe: When you want the job done right, you call the boricua. 🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷‬ Happy Roberto Clemente Day.

Hell, I’ll probably have taught that guy, too. All of which is to say—some things have undoubtedly gotten better, some things have perhaps gotten worse, but if #21 means anything to me, it’s that you can never stop thinking about how you, with your specific gifts, can make the world better.

And now we live in a world where Random White Guy #2705 will probably have more opportunities to state his (often-abhorrent) values on camera by the time he gets drafted in the sixth round than Roberto Clemente did for most of his career as, again, the greatest RF of his era. (Argue with a wall.)

But most of all what I think about is that Clemente could’ve been satisfied with being the greatest right fielder of his era, and perhaps of all time, and a transformative player for his Pirates, and instead saw that as a starting point to keep speaking out about the things he had to think about.

Bowie Kuhn, who wasn’t exactly known for his warm and fuzzy feelings towards Black players, said of him that “he had a touch of royalty,” which I think is what you say when you see a man you consider lesser respectfully asking for and embodying the dignity to which he is entitled for being a person.

A man who didn’t forget the rest of the world when he made it. If he had, he might still be with us today, instead of having his number retired across Nicaraguan baseball. A devoted father, husband, and a Marine, and all that won him was, as my father said, people complaining that he never smiled.

This is a man who fought off coaches and executives who wanted to call him “Bob.” (There’s trading cards with that name on it at the Hall of Fame.) A man from whom the simple act of asking a blessing from his parents on camera, in Spanish, on winning World Series MVP, was something akin to radical.

It’s nothing new, really. The Pirates of Clemente’s day actively sought out talented Black and Afro-Latino players, and those players would make them one of the most feared teams of the ‘60s and ‘70s, but you try telling white Pittsburghers that. Especially in the ‘50s, when Clemente broke through.

Because if you might have a little Taíno or a little Yoruba in your DNA, you can’t be racist now, right? This falls apart if you think about it for a second, but that’s the thing: it’s supposed to be a talisman against ever having to think. Well, Clemente didn’t get a chance to not think about it.

For most of my life there’s been a pretty nasty undercurrent in how white Puerto Ricans think of ourselves. Our way of not discussing, or even thinking, about racism is to take the history of violence perpetrated on Indigenous and African people and say “well, we’re a little bit of everything.”

Me being me, you know I’ll post about Clemente. “I am Puerto Rican. I am Black and I am between the walls. So anything that I do first, it would be reflected on me because I’m Black, and second, it would be reflected on me because I am Puerto Rican.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFEH5nxSoKc

After the 6th inning: 😈 Malditos 5 📳 Zumbadorcitos 0 A home run from 🇨🇦 Trevor Ransom and a couple Zumbas errors got things going in the Círculo Noveno. We’ve got a poetry reading in less than an inning! Hop in! www.twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

After the 2nd inning: 😈 Malditos 0 📳 Zumbadorcitos 0 You’re missing historical notes from the 19th century! Hop in! twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

9/5: After a one-week emergency hiatus, we take a little detour to the developmental leagues, where the top-heavy 😈 Malditos de Naguabo open their season facing the 📳 Zumbadorcitos de Vieques. Which team of young players will take the night? fun begins at 7:05 PM EDT: www.twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

9/5: After a one-week emergency hiatus, we take a little detour to the developmental leagues, where the top-heavy 😈 Malditos de Naguabo open their season facing the 📳 Zumbadorcitos de Vieques. Which team of young players will take the night? fun begins at 7:05 PM EDT: www.twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

8/22 (tonight!): Come one, come all, and find out how much @nsmckinnon.bsky.social actually knows about the league he’s run for six years. Will he outfox his own patrons or prove himself the dunce? 50 questions. 5 categories. 1 triviaxtravaganza! fun begins at 7:05 PM EDT: www.twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

8/22 (tomorrow!): Now for something different. You ever wonder how much Dro actually knows about the Liga Nacional Puertorriqueña? Well, tomorrow, Louisa and the LNP patrons team up to find out! 50 questions. 5 categories. 1 triviaxtravaganza! fun begins at 7:05 PM EDT: www.twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

NEW: Updates from the first ten days of the 1907 season, including: - the first no-hitter of the year; - a few legendary players retire; - Loony Balloony plunks a bunch of guys, because that's what he does. Follow us (it's free!) for more regular updates! ko-fi.com/post/1907041...

Going live now!

1907/04/01: Unsatisfied with promoting a new backup catcher, the 🧭 #NavegadoresNAG bring up their (and the LNP's) top prospect: middle infielder and all-around thunderbat 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Adam McKinnon, who just enjoyed a breakout season in the developmental leagues. Good luck to him in his first LNP season!

8/15 (tomorrow!): For just the 5th time in Liga Nacional Puertorriqueña history, Opening Day falls on April 1st. The 🧭 #NavegadoresNAG face the 🐟 #PicudosCEI, led off by none other than birthday boy 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Graham Underwood. fun begins at 6:05 PM EDT (note earlier start time!): twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

1907/04/01: LNP analysts were shocked by how breezily confident the 🧭 #NavegadoresNAG seemed after the departure of longtime starting catcher 🇦🇷 Spike Stonehand. Turns out that's because they already had a new backstop in the wings. Meet the newest member of La Brújula: 🇬🇷 Damianos Angelopoulos.

If you’re digging that shirt Craig’s wearing and want to donate $5 to @translifeline.org, have we got news for you: All proceeds from the sale of our #Pride designs go to them. Have a look! lnpgaceta.threadless.com/designs/pa-t...

New broadcast! As the 🧭 #NavegadoresNAG take revenge on the 🕊️ #PalomasCID, hear Dro and Louisa: - react to the LNP's first-ever stadium built in a grain elevator; - discuss B&W photographic history; - come up with a baseball Phantom of the Opera; - and more! Watch! www.youtube.com/watch?v=906A...

If you're an LNP supporter, you could be deciding who gets the final 🧭 Navegadores roster spot for 1907! Four pitchers and two batters, all six of different nationalities, are competing to earn your vote! Details (if you're already a supporter): ko-fi.com/polls/190704...

👋🏼

After the 6th inning: 🧭 1 🕊️ 0 The Naves have brought in their starters, while Cidra desperately cycles through pinch hitters. Who’s going to blink first? Come watch: twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

After the 3rd inning: 🧭 1 🕊️ 0 Rob Feaster’s solo jack has been the sole offensive highlight of the game—for either team! @kib.bsky.social Can Stack hold the Sabaneros? Will the Naves complete their revenge? Come watch: twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

If you ever wonder how much research we do for the old-timey commercials we read during these games, the Gaceteres are up to: - three dissertations from Spain, - two newspapers from Cuba and Barcelona, - and a book currently making its way to our local library.

8/8 (tomorrow!): Our 🧭 Navegadores de Naguabo were bounced from the 1906 torneo in the first round—much earlier than they're used to leaving. Now, in the spring of 1907, they face the 🕊️ Palomas de Cidra for the first time since then. They want blood. fun begins at 7:05 PM EDT: twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

German baseball was a mistake.

Q: "Why do you like Spring Training baseball so much?" A:

The Liga Veraniega de Principiantes, the LNP's first developmental league, has existed for three years. Of its three champions so far, two—Cabo Rojo and San Germán—are in the same division. atl-01.statsplus.net/lnp/reports/...

And honestly, if you didn't know that our patrones get to do that . . . where have you been? You get a lot more than that for your $3+/month, really, but we find most people like following their player the most. Check the details out at: ko-fi.com/lnpgaceta/ti...

All right, starting today, the Liga Nacional Puertorriqueña has a new policy: You know how our patrones get to create a player that we add to the LNP? It's part of their membership. If you're 🇵🇷 Boricua, DM us and we'll send you the create-a-player form for free. En confianza.

Now out: As longtime 🧭 #NavegadoresNAG fans know, with one exception, thirty's the tragic number for a career in sapphire. Before the 1907 season, we say goodbye to @sousepaw.bsky.social's boy Spike, as well as two other Naguabo stalwarts. We salute their service here. 🫡 ko-fi.com/post/1907011...

All right, starting today, the Liga Nacional Puertorriqueña has a new policy: You know how our patrones get to create a player that we add to the LNP? It's part of their membership. If you're 🇵🇷 Boricua, DM us and we'll send you the create-a-player form for free. En confianza.

After the 6th inning: 🇲🇽 2 🇵🇷 2 The Borinqueños managed their two runs on an error and a wild pitch. That is . . . bluntly, not going to be enough. Come watch! twitch.tv/lnpgaceta

After the 3rd inning: 🇲🇽 1 🇵🇷 0 That’s right: 🌄 Ted Balloon has made his way through the Borinqueños lineup without giving up a run, and striking out five. Will the sudden wall of fog stop the Puerto Rico offense for good? Come watch! twitch.tv/lnpgaceta