Roberto Alomar being interviewed by Latino Sports at Shea. (Photo Piñero)

Mayaguez, PR: Today is a holiday in Puerto Rico; it is Three Kings Days, the Puerto Rican equivalent of Christmas in the states. Besides the cultural reasons for celebrating Three Kings, the fact is that it is much easier for young children here to believe in three kings bringing them gifts than a Santa Claus that would require snow to drive his reindeer.

This Three Kings Day is going to be a very special day for not just the children of Puerto Rico, but for the entire island since today two Puerto Ricans, Roberto Alomar and Edgar Martinez will be considered for induction into the prestigious baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

Thus today, Three Kings Day is a great day for Puerto Rican, Latino baseball lovers and fans of both, Edgar Martinez and Roberto Clemente to feel proud that both are being considered and that at least one will have a good opportunity to enter the hall of baseball immortals.  In baseball terms and stats that is a .500%, not bad odds at all. Therefore, Boricuas here and in the states will be paying close attention to see the results of the ballots that were submitted by the members of the National Baseball Writers Association of America (BWAA) today in New York City.

Roberto Alomar is the stronger of the two to get inducted since anyone that had seen him play, or has followed the game can easily attest that Alomar is probably one of the best second basemen of all time. It was not only that he had an impressive record during his 17 year baseball career with 12 All Star appearances, 10 Gold Gloves, .300 Batting Average, 2,724 hits and 474 stolen bases. He was also the Most Valuable Player of the American League Playoffs Series in 1992. Though he never officially won an MVP award, there were at least two seasons that he should have, in 1992 with the Blue Jays and in 199? with the Cleveland Indians. However, he did win the prestigious Latino Most Valuable Player award in 199?. When he received the award in New York City he said, “I want to thank Latino Sports for this award because this is the only MVP award that I have won.”

The other candidate, Edgar Martinez is being considered because it is hard to ignore the awesome numbers that he accumulated as the pivotal designated hitter for the Seattle Mariners during the majority of his 18-year career. His two batting titles beginning with his first one as a designated hitter in 1990 and his .312 Batting Average, 309 Homeruns, 1,261can not be ignored. If you consider his .418 On Base Percentage as well as his incredible .515 Slugging Percentage you can understand why this “designated hitter” has to be considered. However, the fact that he is the first designated hitter to be considered might also be the reason that he will not be selected; this is a new area for the mainly conservative BWAA writers to consider.

Whatever happens later today, the fact is that Roberto Alomar’s home town of Salinas, Puerto Rico, as well as Edgar Martinez’ Dorado, Puerto Rico will be waiting today to celebrate their Three Kings gift.

One thing is certain Puerto Rico needs something to help distract the population from the financial crisis that it finds itself in, This issue of the HOF for Roberto Alomar and Edgar Martinez can be a temporary relief, no matter what happens.