In his four-plus seasons since joining the Los Angeles Dodgers via trade, Kiké Hernandez’s playful personality has made him a fan-favorite off the field. On the field, his defense and positional versatility have kept him in the lineup even if he’s struggled at the plate.
Hernandez has also been an outspoken supporter of his home of Puerto Rico, as has his wife, fellow Puerto Rico native Mariana Vicente. The two organized a crowdsourcing campaign to help their home island after it was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
The campaign drew support from several of Hernandez’s teammates as well as the Dodgers organization itself, which later made a separate $2 million donation to the relief efforts.
Puerto Rico returned to the international headlines frequently over the past several days as scandal erupted around territorial governor Ricardo Rossello. After several former top officials were arrested by the FBI on corruption charges last week, almost 900 pages of an internet group chats between Rossello and other administration members leaked online.
Reports of the group chats indicate Rossello and others making demeaning and misogynistic remarks towards fellow politicians and celebrities. Outrage over the leaked messages has prompted massive protests and marches calling on the governor to resign, including some in Puerto Rico’s capital — and Hernandez’s birthplace –of San Juan.
Hernandez joined the ranks of other prominent Puerto Ricans such as artist Bad Bunny and Hamilton playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda in voicing his support for the protest on Wednesday tweeting a picture of himself draped in a Puerto Rican flag and a hashtag calling on Rossello to resign as governor of the U.S. territory:
🇵🇷 #RickyRenuncia pic.twitter.com/Ay8ZzCyXm6
— Enrique Hernández (@kikehndez) July 17, 2019
Vicente also tweeted her support for the protests on Wednesday:
Solidaria con Mi Pueblo 🇵🇷. Nada que nos reste, todo lo aporte a ser mejor país, mejor pueblo, mejores seres humanos. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/cYors1QCL8
— Mariana P. Vicente (@MarianaPVicente) July 17, 2019
Translated from Spanish, Hernandez’s message reads:
“It’s often said that politics and sports should never be in the same conversation. But today it is necessary. I would love to be in my beloved island marching as a team with the rest of the Puerto Rican people just as I do with my team in search of a championship. We have so much to offer, we have gone through difficult times but we always get up stronger than yesterday.”
Hernandez is one of several Puerto Rican natives among the current crop of MLB players. He played on the Puerto Rican national team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic alongside Carlos Correa, Javier Baez, Carlos Beltran and Yadier Molina, among other MLB stars.
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora has also joined calls for Rossello’s resignation on both his social media accounts and in statements to reporters. Cora is a native and outspoken supporter of Puerto Rico. Others to publicly oppose Rossello include Correa, Molina, and the now-retired Beltran.
