The LIDOM one-game Citi Field showdown will be a celebration of baseball 

For a day, baseball will be just a game.

For a day, MLB free agency will be put on the shelf.

For a day, we can all be kids again.

Yes, the eyes of the baseball world, both international and domestic, will be drawn to Citi Field as the second stateside matchup between the Tigres del Licey and the Águilas Cibaeñas will take place and can be viewed on MLB Network.

Yes, two teams with a rich, contested history will show down, each hoping to gain pivotal ground in the LIDOM season. Yes, the result of the game will matter.

But for one game, on Sunday, Nov. 10th, music will blare, fans will celebrate and a highly-contested, wildly competitive game will be celebrated. There will be a winner, but the game won’t be about the score. It will be about joy.

The game between the two winningest teams in LIDOM history will leave all viewers feeling undefeated. A postgame concert will just be the cherry on top. The pregame concert that instrument-carrying fans will be jubilant too.

The Tigres have won 24 championships, including each of the last two, while Águilas Cibaeñas captured their 22nd title in 2021.

The teams are historic and the venue is ready.

There will be big-league talent aplenty. Remember Juan Lagares Mets fans? He’ll be there roaming the outfield again. Jonathan Villar played in Queens for a year. Francisco Mejia is a former top MiLB prospect. Cesar Valdez has pitched everywhere.

What’s better than the defending champions trying to avenge the three-game sweep they suffered the last time they played in the States? What’s better than a game that David Ortiz himself organized?

The stands will rattle, and horns will blare. This is how you grow the game. This is how you make forever fans.

“Man, it was amazing,” Ronnie Williams, who started a game between the two teams last year said. “I’ve played in Korea and everywhere else, but the environment is just different. It was exciting, and the first time I could hear the fans was when I was on the mound. It’s always fun to play in front of a lot of people, and to do well is awesome, so it was exciting to get that experience.”

And now that experience is coming again, as fans were unbelievable last time the games took place — even with a three-game series — one can imagine how they will show out for the single-game showdown.

“I studied in Santiago in the Dominican Republic in college, and I used to go to the games,” one Aguilas fan said to longislandadvocate last year. “It was one of the greatest parts of me studying abroad there. This is a great idea because we loved watching the World Baseball Classic, and I’ve gone to games in the Dominican Republic, so I know there’s a different feeling and different energy, so I figured why not come and watch it on the biggest stage.”

What’s better than a single-game showdown deciding the second champion of the Titanes del Caribe Series — the game being billed as “La Revancha” or “The Rematch?” What’s better than a celebration of baseball?

For a day, the Juan Soto signing can wait.

For a day, joy will reign eternal.