Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League to play shortened schedule
President of the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League, Hector Rivera Cruz, announced that the board of directors of the league has agreed unanimously on a shortened schedule for the upcoming 2017-2018 season.
Due to the severe damage caused by hurricane Mary, the league is forced to take this step.
Weeks after the island was hit by hurricane Mary, infrastructure is still a mess as help is taking off slowly.
In accordance with the emergency meeting convened on September 27, 2017, all representatives of the participating clubs agreed to the adapted schedule “with the best interests of the Professional Winter League and the effort to contribute to the early recovery of Puerto Rico.”
Instead of starting the tournament on November 15, it will start on Reyes Day (January 6, 2018). This move is necessary because of the condition of the stadiums, the search for sponsorship, and the preparations that need to be made, do not at this moment find favorable conditions and circumstances to comply with them.
With the season cut with a month and a half, players are allowed to play in other Caribbean Leagues as long as they return to their Puerto Rican clubs by January 1st.
The games of the championship group will be held with four franchises, participating in the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, the Isidoro “Cholo” Garcia de Mayagüez and as the third option the Estadio Solá Morales de Caguas. Games will be played on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and, Sunday. Due to the lack of electric power, the games will be played by daylight. The 21 regular season games are free for the fans as a gift of the League to the Town and to give the Puerto Rican families a chance of family reunion during the time of this terrible crisis. The President of the League was confident that “many children, youth, and people can attend these matches so they spend time with their family.
It may be clear it will be a tough season for the league. Therefore the President emphasized that any financial help to support the league is welcome. A written communication will be sent to MLB to see how they can contribute financially to this tournament.