Take Me Out to the ‘Old’ Ball Game
Beisbol in Mexico City and the Game's Pre-Historic Lineage
By CHARLIE VASCELLARO
MEXICO CITY
The biggest difference between Mexican and American baseball is the noise. The sheer volume of noise being generated by the packed house of approximately 20,000 fans was the first thing I noticed as I entered Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú, (home of Mexico City’s Diablos Rojos).
The loud rattling sound of the wooden matracas (ratchet noisemakers) is one of the defining characteristics among a multitude of sensory elements involved with Mexican major league baseball games. A celebratory atmosphere permeated the proceedings in ways that fans of Major League Baseball in the United States might associate with post-season playoffs and World Series games.
I didn’t have a matraca during the first of the two games between the Diablos Rojos and Pericos de Puebla that I attended on a Tuesday night. But after watching, and, notably hearing the fans around me using them throughout the game, I knew I had to get one. I purchased one from a vendor outside of the ballpark on my way into the next day’s game.
An example of just how different the Mexican baseball and U.S. fan experiences can be was immediately evident when I brought my matraca to a Baltimore Orioles game back home at Oriole Park. Upon the completion of the pre-game “Star-Spangled Banner,” I gave the noisemaker a good, long whirl in support of the home team. No sooner had I sat down for the first pitch of the game when an usher approached and confiscated my new favorite toy (I got it back after the game). Before the usher went off to lock up my contraband, I showed her a video clip from the game in Mexico City on my phone and said, “It’s sure more fun to watch a game in Mexico.”
