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For many boricuas, there were more important things to do on this July 25th than baseball.

After all, only a few days before, the government of the Republic of Puerto Rico, in the person of Prime Minister José De Diego, had proclaimed July 25th to henceforth be known as Día de la Constitución, celebrating the pseudo-sacred document that had given the Republic surprisingly firm footing years after La Repulsión. Solemnities were planned in every municipality of the island, especially in those towns that had too recently staged tragic scenes of patriotic sacrifice.

For some serious-minded citizens, it seemed appropriate that such a weighty text be accorded a due measure of dignity and ceremony.

Even they must have nonetheless enjoyed knowing that there would be not only a full suite of baseball games that afternoon, but thanks to the ✳️ Jinetes and 🐸 Coquís playing a doubleheader, they’d have the first day with forty games in two months.

Be Afraid

There are exactly three teams that went into July with division banners all but sewn, strong rosters for a deep playoff run, and relatively survivable injury situations . . . and responded by loading for bear.

🫏 Mulos de Aguas Buenas

At 57-38, second in Betances in scoring, and five times the run differential of their current runner-up, the Ñocos were by no means in danger of losing their playoff tickets. Clearly, then, giving up decent prospects for bat-first catcher 🇵🇷 Gilberto García and speedy 1B/LF 🇵🇷 Orlando Martín is an attempt to create the kind of unstoppable offense that lengthens their stay in the torneo.¹ A slightly more conservative front office might have suggested moving 🇵🇷 Monbo Cortés back to the rotation, or putting those prospects towards prying loose some more stable pitching, but perhaps those were not possibilities in 1909.

🎖️ Capitanes de Mayagüez

For the Rojizules, who pulled off 1908’s feel-good run all the way to the Campeonato Nacional before getting steamrolled by Naguabo, improvement was a question of targeting. At 55-40, with a depleted prospect system and a batting logjam, Mayagüez made two important moves.

• First, they dropped significant capital on pitcher 🇵🇷 Jesús Monge, who has hovered around above-average performance long enough to be a shot in the arm for a labile Capitanes rotation.

• Second, El Gobierno took a flyer on currently injured slugger 🇺🇸 Grant “Home Run” Johnson, who has a couple weeks left before he can begin rehabilitation. Johnson is far removed from being the first player in LNP history to hit four home runs in a single game, but Mayagüez coachers have shown a real flair for unlocking higher gears in hitters.

👥 Amigos de Guánica

Just three days ago, the Tinticielos were in the catbird seat of Liga Hostos. Despite losing on the day, they boasted the best record (67-24) and run differential (+161) in their league, with a real chance to win their third pennant in four years. Then 🇵🇷 Héctor Delgado went down with shoulder inflammation for six weeks, and as if in mourning, the Amigos promptly lost two one-run games to a team with almost exactly the opposite record. A less resilient municipality might have fallen prey to the common baseball fan’s plague of short-term thinking, but Guánica had reasons to summon up the blood.

• The Amigos remain Hostos’ least generous team: they allow the fewest runs, punch out the most batters, and barely give up walks or home runs.

• Guánica’s well-stocked bullpen features the lethal 🇵🇷 Cid Maldonado and 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Denzel Hicks.

• Their extremely multinational infield might be the best hitting foursome in the LNP, thanks to third baseman 🇵🇷 Martín, keystoner 🇩🇰 Larsen, and welcomer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Jones. Meanwhile, 🇲🇽 Casado is at least an effective defender at shortstop.

• Thanks to a couple beneficial trades, they’ve reinstalled the legendary 🇮🇪 Rian Higgins as their primary catcher, freeing up the DH spot for the first time in years.

• Lastly, and most consequentially, La Sociedad was willing to ship off premium capital to the 🕷️ Guabaleros, headlined by #1 prospect and pitcher-of-the-future 🇸🇪 Neo Berndsson, to acquire left fielder 🇮🇪/🇨🇺 Turlough Ureña. For Guánica, this was an undisputed victory: Ureña is 31, badly in need of a change of scenery, and adds the kind of outfield punch they’ve been unable to secure through their own signings. Comerío, on the other hand, is desperate to return to some kind of relevance, and could be credibly accused of rushing the 21-year-old Berndsson into their major-league bullpen in an attempt to kickstart his development.

If we were fans of any other team in either league—and we are, for the most part—we’d be very, very scared of the fact that these three teams are finally gearing up for the postseason.

Daddy Stretched His Long Legs

As notoriously hospitable as the 1900s were to absolutely execrable labor practices, even contemporary baseball writers condemned the all-too-common practice of releasing players who had just returned from injury.

That criticism was somewhat tempered by how often the returning players were, in a word, inessential. Even the ⚓ Guardacostas were barely stung in the press when they cut 🇵🇷 Eduino Niño, since a first baseman so committed to hitting the ball poorly was the truest possible waste of a roster spot.

Unfortunately for team directors who had reason to fear the wrath of increasingly devoted fans, sometimes the released players were among the few stable performers on bad clubs.

Among this latter category, what the ✳️ Jinetes did on July 10th would provide a ready-made reference for years to come.

In releasing 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Harry “Daddy Long Legs”² Jones, one of the most accomplished hitters of the 1900s (Nobilísimo³ in 1903, Ilustrísimo⁴ in 1904, a three-time Campeón⁵) the Verdiblancos made themselves an appreciably worse team without any reward. Jones is an extremely popular player and on-base machine, even as his fielding has taken a Chicxulubian path in the last two years. Whichever team sufficiently woos him will have acquired a real weapon for the second half of the campaign, especially if Jones is willing to move to the cold corner or even spend time as a designated hitter.⁶

That the Jinetes did this as part of a sudden selling frenzy, trading 🇵🇷 Orlando Martín to the 🫏 Mulos and 🇵🇷 Mauro Noriega to the 🎣 Pescadores, did not endear them to . . . well, anyone on the island. After all, they’re only a year removed from a division banner, and only four years removed from winning a pennant.

Our Next Broadcast

Speaking of long-term rehabilitation, Isidro “Dro” Montalvo Espinosa, our broadcast coordinator and general autophonophile, has been out for the better part of two months due to various mental and physical difficulties.

Nonetheless, Dro has made it emphatically clear that he intends to stream a game today, Friday, June 12th, 2026, come hell or high water.

His exact words:

“I don’t care if I’m in a [bleep]ing iron lung, we’re doing a game.”
- Isidro Montalvo Espinosa, two days ago

Even if Dro finds himself in need of respiratory assistance, that may be because of the game, which promises to be quite exciting.

It’s a matchup between Dro’s favorite team, the wildcard 👑 Reyes, and the reigning Sky Pennant winners and first-place 🎖️ Capitanes, both of which are sending their aces to the mound.

While the Capitanes are bringing a very complete offense with a variety of approaches—everything from speedsters like 🇯🇲 Jepson and 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Wood to run drivers like 🇺🇸 Shrdlu and 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Lynch, the Reyes prefer to just let fear of 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Conor Guest destroy every opposing pitcher’s self-confidence.

If that’s not enough for you, in honor of finally getting to call a game for his own team, Dro will be reading Poet Laureate Luis Lloréns Torres’ “El Valle de Collores.”

Tonight, the festivities begin at 7:05 PM ET.

Come watch!