The Reds hosted the 2023 season’s first “Amigos de los Rojos” group at Great American Ball Park for Wednesday afternoon’s game.
Each year since 2011, Reds players have stepped up to the plate and helped fund the “Amigos de los Rojos” program, which allows local children to attend a game, all expenses paid. Many of the children have never been to a Major League Baseball game and wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to see the Reds in person. This player-funded program helps deliver groups of kids a fun experience while exposing them to America’s pastime.
“We work with a handful of Hispanic community centers, partners, and multilingual schools in the area to bring groups down for the program,” Diversity & Community Relations Coordinator Adriana Pons said. “The schools look forward to this every year, since many of their students have never been to a baseball game before. Even with complimentary tickets, a lot of families can’t afford to come to a game with the cost of transportation, parking and food at the ballpark. This program helps alleviate all costs associated with coming to Great American Ball Park so they can enjoy a game with their families and friends.”
Players sponsoring “Amigos” in 2023 are pitchers Luis Cessa, Fernando Cruz, Alexis Díaz, Vladimir Gutierrez, Reiver Sanmartin and Tony Santillan. Their contributions help provide game tickets, bus transportation and food vouchers for the ballpark and “Los Rojos” hats for all the kids. At Wednesday’s game, the “Amigos” group smiled and waved while wearing their new hats as they were featured on the ballpark’s videoboard during the News of the Game segment in the first inning.
“It feels great to give back. It’s 100 percent why I’m here on this stage, is to give back,” Cruz said. “God gave us this talent, this gift of playing baseball, so we have a responsibility to help. I went through a lot in my career, I know everybody here has. And we all needed some help along the way to get to where we are today, so now it’s all about giving back to the community. It feels better to give than to receive anything.”
This season, “Amigos de los Rojos” has groups scheduled to attend a ballgame on five different dates. The first was on April 19, with the others set for May, June, July and September. Each group consists of about 50 participants, while September’s outing, which is centered around Hispanic Heritage Month and the Reds’ annual Fiesta Rojos celebration, will include about 200 guests.