ORLANDO, Fla. — The Dominican Republic will host the Detroit Tigers for a pair of exhibition games on March 3 and 4 ahead of the World Baseball Classic.
The games will be played at Santo Domingo’s Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday. They are dedicated to the memory of the victims of the April 8 roof collapse at Santo Domingo’s Jet Set nightclub.
Former big league pitcher Octavio Dotel and the sister of former big leaguer Nelson Cruz were among the more than 200 people who died.
Cruz, the Dominican Republic’s general manager, and Albert Pujols, the team’s manager, attended a news conference with Manfred to make the announcement at the winter meetings. The idea began with a discussion last offseason between Cruz and New York Yankees special assistant Omar Minaya, the former general manager of the New York Mets and Montreal Expos.
As part of the event, MLB and the promoter UEPA will donate to the Dominican Red Cross.
The Dominican Republic opens the WBC on March 6 against Nicaragua, part of a group that also includes Israel, the Netherlands, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
While spring training games have been played in the Dominican Republic, it has not hosted regular-season action.
