The president of the republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, wore the jersey of the Giants, the San Francisco baseball team, on Tuesday and made the inaugural launch, in a night of tribute to Portugal.
The presence of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa as guest of honor of the San Francisco Giants was announced over the speakers of Oracle Park stadium this morning about half an hour before the game against the Colorado Rockies. Portugal.
“I don’t even want to think about the adventure of throwing a ball,” the head of state told reporters as he prepared to take to the field for the so-called “first throw”.
With his name, Marcelo, and the number 73, his age, on the back of the shirt, the President of the Republic threw the ball into the hands of Japan’s Taira Uematsu, one of the coaches of the Giants.
“It looked really good in photography,” said Portuguese Ambassador to the United States, Francisco Duarte Lopes, as Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa left the field after this symbolic moment.
For the eighth year in a row, the Giants dedicated one of their home games to the celebration of Portugal, in partnership with Portuguese organizations in California, the US state with the highest number of Portuguese emigrants and Portuguese descent: more than 300,000, according to official census data.
Tickets to the Giants-Rockies baseball game included a t-shirt commemorating the celebration. In Oracle Park, the Portuguese flag was hoisted next to the North American flag, and one of the night’s mascots was a huge rooster from Barcelos.
Before the game, the President of the Republic spoke briefly with Brandon Crawford, a Giants player of Madeiran descent, one of the most acclaimed at the stadium, and greeted some fans in the stands.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa thought it was “spectacular” to see the Portuguese flag hoisted “in the stadium of one of the biggest clubs in America and which has hundreds of thousands of fans” and also to make “Portuguese folkloric ranches dance and above all, club leaders who to be”.
Jorge Costa, vice president of Oracle Park, a native of Madeira who has worked in baseball for 34 years, received the head of state and entourage on this “very special” visit.
“This is all exciting for me. It’s a very special day for me, for my family and everyone who works here at the stadium and for the Portuguese community,” Jorge Costa told media.
During the match, the presence of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who did not stay until the end of the night to see the victory of the Giants, was again announced in the stadium and the President of the Republic rose to thank the applause, with his image highlighted on the giant screens.
The head of state traveled to California to contact communities of emigrants and Portuguese descendants, fulfilling a 2018 pledge, during a visit that began Saturday in San Diego and ends today in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Source: DN
