¡Fanáticos! Why Pantone 294 is more than bleeding Dodgers blue

By Desiree Angel

One of my earliest memories is watching baseball with my grandfather and little brother on the tube, so when I was finally old enough to register for Little League, I couldn’t hold back my excitement. My mom had taught me how to play baseball as soon as I could walk, and hearing her stories of playing stickball in New York City with the boys made me want to be just like her.

However, it was not common for a girl to play on an all-boys’ Little League team during the late ’80s and early ’90s, especially in my very masculine, predominantly Latino city of Cudahy, just southeast of downtown Los Angeles, so you can imagine how heartbroken and disappointed I was at being turned away, my hopes squashed by unwarranted biases.

My mother, born in the Bronx to Puerto Rican parents and a strong woman who was a single mother of two, took it upon herself to quickly sign up as a coach. She put together a team full of kids who were on the waitlist and whose parents had no issues with a girl playing on the team, or being coached by one.

My team, pure strangers at first, quickly became family, and we had one unified goal: to show up, kick butt and chew some bubble gum. Little did I know that this sense of unity and family would be something I would gravitate toward for years to come, including in my professional life.

I was 6 the first time I stepped up to bat. Fresh cleats, a crisp uniform and a slightly oversized helmet covered my long, braided ponytail. I wasn’t nervous, though — not even when the opposing coach chuckled at the sight of me and motioned for his team to move forward a few feet.

My mom had mentally prepared me for this. With my team rooting me on, I quickly showed that coach what playing with a girl was all about, smacking a double that went between shortstop and third. We came in first place that year and the next two, but after that day, I never looked at baseball quite the same again. It was no longer just a game to be won, but a way of life, teaching me lessons in adversity, the power of will and strength in numbers.

So why the Dodgers?

The first time I came home sporting Dodgers gear as a teenager, I could see the horror in my mother’s eyes. To this day, she’s still a die-hard Yankees fan. But despite the initial disappointment, we’ve had fun and endless banter over the years, making for an interesting household, especially now with a potential Dodgers-Yankees World Series matchup in the works.

Because I was born and raised in Los Angeles, being a Dodgers fan has always been a no-brainer for me. Since my teens, I’ve spent a lot of nights at the ballpark with friends enjoying Dodger Dogs, rooting for the home team and jokingly stating that my veins bleed blue, a shade that I would discover years later to be Pantone 294 — but I’ll get to that in just a moment.

My sense of connection to the team has always been deeper than my time spent at the stadium, though. I look at the Los Angeles Dodgers and I see the hope and inspiration they bring to the community and to myself. They were the home to players such as the Puerto Rican Luis Rodríguez Olmo and Jackie Robinson when they played in Brooklyn, and later became the home to Sandy Koufax and Fernando Valenzuela at a time when ethnic diversity was rarely seen in MLB; and I still have hope that they will open their doors to women as coaches and, possibly, one day as players of the team. I can dream a little, right?

Over the years, the Dodgers roster has grown to be a direct reflection of L.A.’s diversity in its entirety. Look at our team now, with players ranging from across the globe, such as Enrique “Kiké” Hernández (Puerto Rico), Julio Urías (Mexico), Yasiel Puig (Cuba), Kenley Jansen (Curacao), Hyun-Jin Ryu (South Korea) and Yu Darvish (Japan); as well as players from our very own backyard, such as Trayce Thompson (Orange County), Justin Turner (Long Beach), Adrián González (San Diego) and Chase Utley (Long Beach).

This team’s diversity has had a positive impact on the L.A. community. No matter our cultural or demographic differences, we all come together to support a team because we can now all identify with it. Our community’s youth can look forward to playing alongside the future Clayton Kershaws, Corey Seagers, and André Ethiers because the Dodgers franchise sees the importance of how unified diversity can make us stronger as a whole.

What do you do when the you feel so strongly about a team? You support them!

Who is Pantone 294?

In 2013, I went to see the Dodgers play in San Diego with a few friends who had booked our tickets and bus ride with a group called Pantone 294. It was my first time traveling to see the Dodgers play and, to be honest, the thought of going on a bus with people I didn’t know made me a little uncomfortable. But from the moment I showed up, I knew I had made the right choice.

The experience was totally different than I had ever expected. Showing up in enemy territory with a swarm of friends who hours before had been strangers was unbelievable. Rooting together and feeling the sense of community and unity amongst everyone was like nothing I had ever experienced. So, in 2015, it was a no-brainer when CEO and founder Álex Soto offered me a position with Pantone 294, running operations, marketing and public relations.

The initial question is always, “What is Pantone 294?” Pantone 294 is the official color code of Dodger blue. If you want to paint your house Dodger blue, you can go to your local home improvement store and ask for Pantone 294.

Personally, I always like to follow up with explanation of “who” Pantone 294 is. Pantone 294 is a group of Dodgers fans that travels to away stadiums in droves, usually between 800 and 2,100 people. The group was created in hopes of uniting Dodgers fans to support our boys in blue while they are on the road, so that they can have that feel-at-home advantage. Subsequently, in the process of doing so, we have essentially created family-like communities across the nation, where people feel a sense of pride and unity in representing the Dodgers in full force.

More than a ticket

Our motto is, “It’s more than a ticket, it’s an experience!” Because we put it all together for fans — from travel, lodging, game tickets and tourist attractions — we make sure people are having a great time in a safe and Dodgers-family oriented environment.

Working for Pantone 294 the last two years has been amazingly rewarding. While it is a full-time job and many hours are spent at the office putting together these trips, it doesn’t feel like work. It gives me pleasure to see people smile, and to come back time and again for our trips, knowing that they trust us to provide them with a great experience. I have made many memories, friendships and additions to my extended family.

I attend every stadium takeover, that’s what we call our out-of-town trips. No matter how long the duration of the trip is, we only do one game as a huge group for that particular series. Our number of trips have grown throughout the years. This year we did six away stadiums. Next year we have 12 trips planned. For our longer trips, we do tourist attractions — from national monuments to yacht parties on the Hudson.

I have seen first-hand what strong attendance can do to lift the players’ morale. The team’s appreciation for the fans showing their support makes it all worthwhile. The Dodgers finished the 2017 regular season 104-58 — tied for their second-highest win total in history and best since moving to Los Angeles, as well as the second-best road win total this season in MLB. Whether it has some effect or not on the overall morale of the team, I can only hope that seeing us there supporting them means something to them and shows them how special they are to us.

Baseball will always be a representation of the most significant parts of my life. From tackling adversity, creating memories with family and friends, being the reason for a new profession, and showing me what a strong support system can do not only for a team but for a community, baseball has and will always be part of the BIGGER picture.

Featured Image: Mark Phillips / La Vida Baseball