They arrive in Mexico City to play baseball. But first, they pilgrimage
Religion has a very visible role in Latin American sports. And some players who play in the Mexican capital have a tradition: visiting the Virgin of Guadalupe.
As soon as Isidro Piña got out of the taxi, he headed towards the woman who was selling candles on the sidewalk. He asked how much they cost—25 Mexican pesos each, or $1.50—and took out his wallet. He wanted three: one for himself and one for each of the friends who had accompanied him to what is officially called the Basilica of Santa María de Guadalupe.
As they made their way through the main nave, Piña told the group, “I get goosebumps when I’m here,” describing the feeling of goosebumps.
In a way, Piña, Mario Morales and Daniel Núñez blended into the crowd. They wore simple clothing — jeans, T-shirts and sneakers — and knelt with hundreds of worshipers. But they were a little bigger than most. The three are professional baseball players from the Olmecas de Tabasco, a team from the Mexican Baseball League, which had come to the capital to play against the Diablos Rojos del México.
Rather than hang out at the team hotel or go shopping the morning before a recent night game, they followed an unofficial tradition among professional baseball players in this predominantly Catholic country: a pilgrimage to one of the most visited religious sites in the world, approximately 20 million people come annually, home to the figure known as the Queen of Mexico and Empress of America.
After Brazil, no country has more Catholics than Mexico. The colorful iconography of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe is ubiquitous throughout the country: in taxi ranks, hospitals, parks, restaurants, homes, and even in people’s wallets. December 12, which commemorates when Catholics believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, appeared to an indigenous man named Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in 1531, is considered almost a national holiday. And Mexicans of all walks of life, including professional baseball players, try to visit the sanctuary as often as possible.
So whenever a Mexican League team is in town to play the Diablos Rojos, they take a trip of their own. When the Braves de León were in Mexico City a month ago, a group made up of the team owner, his family, the general manager and eight players went the morning before a game. A week later, the Olmecs did the same.
“Here in Mexico it is totally the Virgin of Guadalupe,” Piña, 34, said, later adding: “It’s like going to visit your mom.”
The Olmecas’ recent effort was spearheaded by Piña, a veteran receiver on a team that had the third-best record in the league this year and began its postseason run Tuesday. Piña visited the basilica for the first time when he was 18 years old in 2007, his first year with the Sultans of Monterrey, after his older teammates organized his departure. He has returned almost every year since then. And in 2010, while his wife was pregnant with her first child and he prayed that everything would turn out well, he made a promise in the basilica that whenever he was in Mexico City he would visit her.
“When I walk in here, I feel a peace and a tranquility, like it makes me let go of everything,” he said. “That’s why I like to come.”
Over the years, Piña has brought teammates from other countries, including players from the Dominican Republic and the United States. But most of those who come are Mexican because, he said, they too grew up understanding the religious and cultural importance of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
“In Latin America, people are very believers,” said Víctor Bojórquez, manager of the Red Devils.
So, weeks before the Olmecas flew to Mexico City for a three-game series with the Diablos Rojos, Piña was recruiting teammates for the visit to the basilica. They planned for the group to be bigger than it ended up being, but one player was traded to another team and another was sick. Morales and Núñez, both Mexican, instantly said yes.
“My first time was with my family when I was about 10 years old,” said Morales, 29, a California-born pitcher who noted how his faith and devotion to the Virgin was passed down to him by his mother, who is from a near Guadalajara. “It was something very nice and I have always had that idea of returning.”
Núñez, 20, a pitcher from Yucatán, in southeastern Mexico, first visited the Virgin of Guadalupe domain with his mother when he was 12 years old, while he was part of a training session for the national team in Mexico City, but he never entered the main church. So when Nunez toured her recently, her eyes stayed wide. After the three players admired the original image of the Lady of Guadalupe hanging above the altar and took photos with their cell phones, Núñez realized the meaning for him.
“It’s an indescribable feeling,” he said. “I want to bring my family next year.”
Religion has a larger role in Latin American sports culture.
Several teams in the Mexican League have little altars in their stadiums. The Red Devils have a niche in the wall that leads from the dressing rooms to the dugout , which is upholstered with images of the Virgin of Guadalupe, statuettes of saints, crosses, and candles. There is also an altar to the Virgin of Guadalupe in the tunnel that leads to the field of the Estadio Azteca, a soccer stadium in Mexico City that is one of the most iconic in the world.
In 2010, while his wife was pregnant with their first child, Piña vowed to visit the basilica every time he was in Mexico City.
“Here in Mexico it is totally the Virgin of Guadalupe,” Piña said.
Atlas, a Mexican soccer club, won a championship last year and took their trophy to the Guadalajara cathedral for a mass. Before this season, the Olmecas had a priest say mass on the field of their new stadium. Some teams pray together before games. In Leon’s locker room, the Braves have reserved a locker for Jesus, along with a jersey bearing his name and the number 33.
“In Latin America,” said Víctor Bojórquez, manager of the Red Devils, “people are very believers.”
Morales said his faith and the visit to the basilica helped calm him through the ups and downs of the season. After he underwent shoulder surgery in 2021, he prayed to avoid future injuries. Núñez said he has a spiritual ritual before games: praying and remembering his grandfather, a former baseball player who, on his deathbed, made him promise that one day he would become a professional player.
“I fulfilled it,” said Núñez, who before starting to pitch in a game writes “his name on the hill.”
Outside the main nave, the players did what many other parishioners did: they lit their candles, closed their eyes to ask for something special, and deposited them in the receptacle. Then they went to the other chapels in the compound, including the original basilica, which is 300 years old. Piña served as guide.
Easing up the steps to the Capilla del Cerrito in Tepeyac, where the Virgin is believed to have first appeared to Juan Diego, the players joked that their profession allowed them to handle the load of the heights of Mexico City. . Around him, foreign tourists, Mexican families and even people loaded with suitcases were struggling to get on.
There are many market stalls in the immediate vicinity of the basilica.
Standing at the top, the athletes asked a passerby to take their photo and admired the view of the metropolis below.
“Can you imagine how crowded it would be on December 12?” Piña asked.
Before returning, the baseball players stopped at the many markets that surround the vicinity of the basilica. Piña bought some religious items, including a two-foot statue. Núñez took six keychains with Guadalupan motifs for his family. Morales purchased a magnet for his mother’s collection, which grows with his travels. And because of the hot, sunny weather, they bought drinks — horchata and fruit juices — for the 43-minute drive that would take them through Mexico City’s heavy traffic to the team hotel.
Their taxi arrived just before 2 pm The bus that would take them to the stadium would leave in two hours. The 7 pm game awaited them.
The players, like many other people, lit their candles, closed their eyes to make a special request, and then put them down.
