Newspapers across the globe celebrate Rivera, Martínez
By Andy Martinez
A day after continually praising the Lord after becoming the first unanimous selection for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Mariano Rivera shared the cover of one of Panama’s newspapers with Pope Francis.
Edgar Martínez also featured prominently in the Puerto Rican newspapers after he and Rivera became the first two Latinos elected in the same Hall of Fame class by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
A collection of Wednesday’s newspapers shows the pride Panama and Puerto Rico have in Rivera and Martínez. Here’s how newspapers in Panama, Puerto Rico, New York and the Pacific Northwest reacted to the 2019 Hall of Fame class.
Panama
It’s not every day the Pope makes a visit to your country. And until Rivera on Tuesday nobody had been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame unanimously by the BBWAA. Crítica honored the moment with the headline “The Father … of Salvation”.
La Prensa devoted a special section to the “Immortal” Mariano Rivera.
El Siglo had a gatefold to honor the Pope’s visit to Panama for World Youth Day, but it used it’s traditional front page for Mo – the man “from another galaxy.”
Panamá América celebrated Rivera on both front and sports covers. “Unanimous” was the headline on the centerpiece treatment for Mo. On its sports front, they went with a simple headline of “Thank you for being Panamanian”.
Mi Diario also went with simplicity: “100% perfect”. The sports front in Mi Diario paid homage to the “Express of Puerto Caimito,” dubbing him the greatest closer of in the history of Major League Baseball.
Puerto Rico
“He did it!” proclaimed El Vocero. After 10 years on the ballot, the relief Martínez and Boricuas felt was expressed on the front page of the Puerto Rican daily.
More relief for Martínez was expressed on the front cover of Primera Hora. “Finally, Edgar” the headline proclaimed while also teasing a story with Edgar’s mother, who celebrated in his hometown of Maguayo en Dorado.
El Nuevo Día honored the fifth Puerto Rican to be elected into the Hall of Fame. “He’s reached Glory” read the front cover of the Puerto Rican daily.
New York
The New York Post paid tribute to Rivera on both its front page and sport front. A replica plaque of Rivera was the art on the sports front. The sports front used Rivera’s walk-up song, “Enter Sandman” by Metallica as its headline.
Another use of Rivera’s walkup song was the headline for The New York Daily News.
Rivera’s nickname “Mo” was highlighted in the word “Unanimous” on the Newsday sports cover.
It was front page treatment in The Metro for Rivera. Cooperstown, N.Y., will definitely have to make room for Mo. Will Cooperstown be big enough?
Pacific Northwest
Puerto Rican fans weren’t the only ones relieved with the election of Martínez. Fans in Seattle were just as relieved, as illustrated by the Seattle Times’ sports front.
It was a call that was a long time coming for Martínez and that’s the moment The Spokesman-Review chose to honor with its headline on its sports front.
The Columbian in Vancouver, Canada, celebrated Martínez on its sports front, showing just how beloved the Nuyorican is in the Pacific Northwest.