Santo Domingo, DR.
During the game played by the Águilas Cibaeñas and the Tigres del Licey on Wednesday at the Cibao Stadium, in Santiago de los Caballeros, dozens of fans chose to turn on the lights on their cell phones to distract the blue team’s pitcher.
The event occurred when the game was in the bottom of the eighth episode. The pitcher of the Team Azul, Josh Lueke, faced Yairo Muñoz, with a runner on first base and no outs.
Given this, dozens of the Eagles fans turned on the flash of their smartphones to distract Lueke, conduct that was described by many as “unsportsmanlike.”
The action caused the game to be stoppedwhile the blue team dominated the board with four runs over two of the Eagles.
The match was resumed minutes after the fans turned off the cell phone lights.
Finally, the match ended in favor of the Tigres, who beat the Eagles four runs to three.
This behavior has caused reactions from fans and sports personalities, branding this behavior of the fans as “unconscious”, “disrespectful” and “unsportsmanlike”.
It is recalled that types of behaviors are not new in the fans of the Cibaeño team, since in the 2016-2017 final between the aforementioned teams, there was a moment similar to that of Wednesday, since followers of the yellow conglomerate also turned on the flashlights of their phones .
Another case was in 2021, during the mini play-in between Águilas Cibaeñas and Leones del Escogido, when they used the same method to blur the pitcher of the scarlet team.
It seems like a joke, a fashion, but it is not, it is already a practice that has been presented several times in the stadium of the @aguilascibaenas and that reprehensible, embarrassing and unsportsmanlike action must be analyzed and stopped by @LIDOMRD #EsonoEdeporte @TigresdelLicey pic.twitter.com/0eEzpjbzGF
— Dionisio Santana (@dionisioss) January 5, 2023
great rivalries
Las Águilas Cibaeñas and Tigres del Licey are considered the leading teams of the Professional Baseball League in the Dominican Republic (Lidom), tied with 22 championships, these are characterized by starring in one of the biggest rivalries in national sports.
Many times, the rivalry leaves the field of play. An example of this was when the captain of the blue team, emilio boniface He expressed last December, in the radio space Opening the Game, that “the Águilas Cibaeñas are the leaders in distraction in the league”, a phrase that soon became a topic of conversation.