NEW YORK – When the winter leagues of the two islands send their All-Stars to Citi Field, home of Major League Baseball’s New York Mets on Nov. 15, that fall evening at the ballpark in New York will feel more like a night in Santo Domingo or San Juan.
The game, the eighth meeting between All-Stars from two of winter baseball’s biggest leagues, will be a celebration of baseball, the game that originated in New York and later spread to the Caribbean, and the cultures of the two islands that have embraced the game and given it a unique flavor.
“Caribbean baseball is very different. The atmosphere is different, the celebration is different. And that’s what we want to bring to New York: for fans from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rican fans, who can’t be in our countries for Christmas, even if they can’t visit the island for many years, to not only enjoy Caribbean baseball, but also to meet this growing group of players,” said former Major Leaguer Yamil Benitez, who is now the president of the Asociación de Peloteros de Puerto Rico, the union representing players in the Liga Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente, the island’s winter league.
This will not be the first foray for winter baseball teams from the Caribbean to come to Citi Field — LIDOM’s Tigres del Licey and Aguilas Cibaenas played a three-game exhibition series at Citi Field in 2023, and returned for a single game in 2024. But this will be the first time a team from Puerto Rico’s winter league has come to New York, and the first time the two leagues have played an All-Star Game against each other outside the Caribbean.
“This is the eighth [All-Star Game between the two leagues]”, Benitez said. “This didn’t start yesterday; it began in 2003 in Hiram Bithorn [Stadium in San Juan]. It has been played three times in Puerto Rico, and four times in the Dominican Republic, in Santo Domingo, and Santiago, there in Cibao.”
Benitez noted that Carlos Delgado and Wilfredo Cordero would manage the LBPRC All-Stars, with Carlos Beltran, Andy González, and Jose Rosado serving as coaches.
For the LIDOM All-Stars, former New York Met Carlos Gómez will be the manager, after serving as manager of the Dominican team two years ago in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Gómez choose his staff, Almonte said, noting that Pedro Martínez and Luis Castillo will be among those invited, along with former Mets Julio Franco and Bartolo Colón.
The November All-Star Game will be played in honor of Robinson Cano, the San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic native who starred in New York for both the Yankees and the Mets.
“At least on the Dominican side, it will be a recognition of Robinson Cano, both in life and as an active player, and it will be his last game wearing a Dominican Republic jersey,” said Erick Almonte, a former New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers infielder who now leads Federación Nacional de Peloteros Profesionales de la República Dominicana, the union representing players in LIDOM. “Robinson Cano will be the second baseman for that team, as long as he’s healthy. The other 24 players will be chosen… by the press and the fans as the season begins.”
A return to New York by Cano is sure to bring back memories, both for him and for fans.
When the game was announced, “So many memories came through my mind, and thinking about what I’m going to say when that day comes and how it’s going to be, how many people are going to show up,” Cano said prior to game four of the Serie del Rey at Estadio Panamericano in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he was playing with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico. “All those things coming through my head, and thanks to LIDOM — to do it especially in New York, where I started my career, I’m blessed and honored and can’t wait for that day to get here.”
Cano had his 4,000th professional hit last weekend in game three of the Serie del Rey, the championship series of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, where he won his second championship in as many years with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico. He will play this winter in LIDOM for the Estrellas Orientales in his hometown of San Pedro de Macoris, with whom he has appeared in 115 games over nine winter seasons. He’s also played in each of the last five Caribbean Series, joining the Dominican Republic’s representative as a reinforcement and helping the LIDOM champions win three titles, in 2021, 2023, and 2025.
For both leagues, holding the All-Star Game is an opportunity to engage with the expatriate population of both islands, but also to introduce fans who may never have experienced Latin baseball to its flavor, including the music and food that make Caribbean baseball a unique experience.
“I want people in New York, non-Latin people, to experience what Cal Ripken, Reggie Jackson, all those guys, what they saw when those guys played in the Caribbean,” Benitez said. “Caribbean baseball is different. You don’t have to wait for nobody to say ‘clap.’ … It’s kind of crazy, with the fans. It’s close to what you see in the World Baseball Classic, especially in Miami.”
Photo: New York Mets co-owner Alex Cohen poses with Erick Almonte, middle left, and Yamil Benitez at a press conference in advance of November’s LIDOM/LBPRC All-Star Game. (Photo: Leif Skodnick/World Baseball Network)
