Puerto Rico's World Baseball Classic run means everything to 'This tiny island'

To get a sense for the significance Puerto Ricans put on the World Baseball Classic, consider their team’s two graybeards – one actually has a bleached-blond beard – Carlos Beltran and Yadier Molina.

Both decorated veterans have put together careers worthy of Hall of Fame consideration, both played in at least 147 games last season – and both are participating in their fourth WBC.

They’re not the only highly credentialed players with such a distinction. Venezuela’s Miguel Cabrera and Mexico’s Adrian Gonzalez have also played in every edition of the tournament. But Puerto Rico has four players on their fourth tour of duty, believed to be more than any country, and it’s by far the smallest one.

That’s one of the biggest reasons succeeding in this tournament elicits such pride and emotion from Puerto Rican players and so many of the island’s 3½ million inhabitants.

International competitions bring out the sense of David vs. Goliath among the locals, who make frequent references to “this tiny little island’’ when referring to their homeland, which at approximately 3,500 square miles is about the size of Connecticut.

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So it was no surprise to see Molina, his growing curly mane dyed blond like most of his teammates in a show of solidarity, jumping up and down on his 34-year-old catcher’s legs like a little kid after Puerto Rico knocked off the Kingdom of the Netherlands 4-3 in 11 innings Monday night to advance to its second consecutive WBC final.

Nor was it shocking to find out Beltran shed tears of joy when Puerto Rico advanced to the championship round with its victory Saturday against the United States, or that All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor wept as well after Monday’s win.

It means that much to them.

“We’re bringing the whole country together,’’ Lindor said.

This is a good time for that, because the U.S. territory is enduring some serious hardships, with its economy in shambles.

The great recession, combined with the departure of American companies and financial mismanagement by the local government, left Puerto Rico with a debt of more than $70 billion, a 45% poverty rate and a major brain drain, as thousands of college graduates fled for the mainland.

None of those issues will be improved by the Puerto Rican team, which has won all seven of its games in the WBC, advancing to Wednesday’s final, or claiming the championship.

But the club’s success, its unabashed passion and obvious camaraderie are putting Puerto Rico in a positive light, and the players’ enormous pride in their native land can’t help but reflect on their fellow islanders. Even team members like Hector Santiago and Mike Aviles, who have Puerto Rican ancestry but were born and raised in the U.S., have spoken of how proud they feel to represent the island.

Lindor and second baseman Javier Baez moved from Puerto Rico to Florida around age 12, yet they couldn’t be more thrilled to wear the flag with the single star on their jersey. That’s a common theme among folks from the commonwealth, who are American citizens by birth but hold on tightly to their identity as Puerto Ricans.

Lindor, Baez and Carlos Correa, none older than 24, make up the nucleus of what could become a resurgence in Puerto Rican baseball after an extended lull. Correa and Lindor finished 1-2 in the AL rookie of the year voting in 2015, and Baez was one of the Chicago Cubs’ postseason heroes in their championship run last year.

Their achievements, along with those of the WBC team, figure to inspire legions of youngsters to pursue baseball despite the availability of more sporting options than in, say, the neighboring Dominican Republic, where the game rules supreme.

Major League Baseball has launched some initiatives to rekindle interest and provide enhanced opportunities for young Puerto Ricans to showcase their talent, and the impressive WBC performance can only help those efforts.

After he drove in the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly Monday, outfielder Eddie Rosario was asked in a TV interview what message he’d like to send back home.

“Puerto Rico, I love you,’’ he said in Spanish. “We are all united here.’’

United and proud, fiercely proud.

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