After a successful debut in 2018, Minor League Baseball announced the return of “Es Divertido Ser Un Fan” (“It’s Fun to Be a Fan”) initiative during this season. The effort is to better embrace the cultures and values of U.S. Hispanic/Latino fans in the community.
During select home games, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ top affiliate will be known as Cielo Azul de Oklahoma City. “Es Divertido Ser Un Fan” has more than doubled in size across the Minors for the 2019 season, with 72 teams set to participate.
This season, ¡Celebración Cielo Azul! will take place during the following series: June 20-23 vs. Memphis Música (Memphis Redbirds) and July 19-21 vs. Flying Chanclas de San Antonio (San Antonio Missions).
In addition to unique jerseys and caps, the gameday environment will again encapsulate other elements of Hispanic/Latino culture at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, including music, live performances by folkloric dancers, concourse decorations, special menu items, a Spanish-speaking public address announcer, bilingual customer service staff and bilingual game programs.
“The first year of ¡Celebración Cielo Azul! was successful in large part due to the input of key members of the local Hispanic/Latino community,” Oklahoma City Dodgers president and general manager Michael Byrnes said.
“We were challenged by Minor League Baseball last year to not only participate, but to participate with a high level of investment. Now we look forward to the challenge of improving upon our initial efforts.”
As a result of a successful first edition of ¡Celebración Cielo Azul!, the OKC Dodgers were named one of five finalists for the 2018 “Copa de la Diversión” (“Fun Cup”) by Minor League Baseball.
The name Cielo Azul – translates to “Blue Sky” – was derived from three key factors: Incorporating the color blue as part of the Dodgers organization, the vibrancy of Oklahoma’s blue skies, and the breadth of the diversity of Hispanic/Latino culture that resides under those skies and as a tribute to Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela, who looked up at the sky during his windup.
