General view outside Citi Field on June 25, 2016 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images)
According to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes, “the Águilas Cibaeñas and the Tigres del Licey, of the Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana (LIDOM), have accepted the preliminary terms of an agreement to play an exhibition series at Citi Field in New York next November.”
Rojas tweeted the news on Saturday in Spanish.
No official announcement has yet been made on who will be the home or away team during the three-game exhibition series.
The winner of the three-game exhibition series will receive the “Titanes del Caribe” Trophy in either game two or game three at Citi Field in November.
The Aguilas Cibaeñas and the Tigres del Licey of the Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana will play three exhibition games at Citi Field from November 10-12 after the 2023 Major League Baseball season, Dionisio Soldevilla of Diario Libre, a news outlet based in the Dominican Republic, reported on July 28.
ESPNDeportes.com also stated the responses from both the owners from both organizations about the agreements for the three-game exhibition series.
“We are already on the same page. Last Thursday we sent a summary of the mandatory conditions for Licey, which also applies to Águilas, and the organizers approved all the important points,” stated by Ricardo Ravelo, President of Tigres del Licey.
“The only thing missing is to have a black-and-white contract,” said Víctor García Sued, president of Águilas Cibaeñas stated to ESPNDeportes.com
Two news media entities from the Dominican Republic, Hoy Dominicana and Diario Libre, reported last year that Yankee Stadium was being examined as a site to host a three-game series between Tigres del Licey and Aguilas Cibaenas.
Yankee Stadium is unavailable that weekend due to a football game between Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh on November 11, which will mark the 100th anniversary of the first college football game at the original Yankee Stadium.
“Having Águilas and Licey play in New York will be a great event for a community that fully identifies with their culture and tastes. It is an event that has guaranteed success in advance,” said Congressman Adriano Espaillat (D-New York 13) on ESPNDeportes.com. Espaillat was the first politician from the Dominican Republic to serve in the New York State Senate and first in the U.S. Congress.
Schedule changes will be made by LIDOM officials so the Tigres and Aguilas can play in New York that weekend. The Tigres were supposed to play the Estrellas Orientales on the road in San Pedro de Macoris on November 10, and the Aguilas were scheduled to face the Leones del Escogido in Santo Domingo.
On November 11, Aguilas was scheduled to play Gigantes del Cibao in San Francisco de Macoris, and the Tigres were scheduled to play against their inter-city rival, the Leones del Escogido, at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal.
On November 12, the Tigres were scheduled to be the home team against Leones del Escogido in Santo Domingo, while the Águilas were going to play Gigantes del Cibao at home in Santiago.
Those games will be rescheduled for a later date prior to the beginning of the league’s round robin playoff in late December.
The three-game series at Citi Field will be the first time that two Caribbean professional teams from the Dominican Republic have ever played a set of exhibition games during the regular seasons for the winter league in New York, as well as the first time playing at a neutral venue during the regular season. The only time during the winter leagues where two teams play in a neutral venue is during the Caribbean Series outside of the host country.