Marcelo wears the Giants jersey and makes his inaugural launch in a night of tribute to Portugal

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 for the San Francisco Giants was announced over the loudspeakers of the Oracle Park stadium about half an hour before the start of the game against the Colorado Rockies, on Tuesday night in California, this Wednesday. early morning fair in Portugal.

“I don’t even want to think about the adventure of throwing a ball”the head of state told journalists, as he prepared to take the field for the so-called “first pitch”.

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 Japanese Taira Uematsu, one of the Giants’ coaches.

“Looked great in photography”commented the Portuguese ambassador to the United States, Francisco Duarte Lopes, when 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, which is the US state with the highest number of Portuguese emigrants and Portuguese descent: more than 300,000 according to data from official censuses.

Tickets for the baseball game between the Giants and Rockies included a ‘t-shirt’ depicting this celebration. In Oracle Park, the Portuguese flag was hoisted alongside the North American one, and one of the mascots of the night was a huge Rooster from Barcelos.

Before the game, the President of the Republic spoke briefly with Brandon Crawford, a Giants player with Madeiran origins, one of the most applauded in the stadium, and greeted some fans in the stands.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considered it “spectacular” to see the Portuguese flag raised “in the stadium of one of the biggest clubs in America and which has hundreds of thousands of fans” and also to have “Portuguese folkloric ranches dancing and, above all, club leaders who are Portuguese”.

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”declared Jorge Costa to the media.

During the game, the presence of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who did not stay until the end of the night to see the Giants’ victory, was again announced in the stadium and the President of the Republic stood up to thank the applause, with his image highlighted on the giant screens.

The head of state traveled to California to contact emigrant and Portuguese-descendant communities, fulfilling a 2018 promise, in a visit that began on Saturday in San Diego and ends this Wednesday in the San Francisco Bay Area.