© 2024 WFAE
90.7 Charlotte 93.7 Southern Pines 90.3 Hickory 106.1 Laurinburg
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Charlotte Knights Become 'Caballeros' For A Weekend

The Knights are the Caballeros this weekend. Posing after the first ball was thrown out were Rocio Gonzalez of the Latin American Chamber of Commerce; catcher Rob Brantley;  Jim Huffman, who was there with the local Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation c
Charlotte Knights

  BB&T Ballpark had a different feel Friday night, as Latin music and Spanish language announcements played over the PA system. The Charlotte Knights became the Charlotte Caballeros for the weekend as the team tries to build a following in the Hispanic community. 

  Rocio Gonzalez of the Latin American Chamber of Commerce threw out the first pitch. 

“It is such an honor and a pleasure for the Latino community to hear that our Charlotte Knights are taking the name in Spanish, where we fully understand that the Knights means Los Caballeros,” she said.

The Puerto Rican Cultural Society was there. And the Caballeros are also raising money for Circle de Luz, a mentoring program for young Latinas.  

And there was baseball too. The Caballeros beat the Iron Pigs 8 to 3 in the opening game of a three-game series. They'll play again Saturday at 7:05p.m. and Sunday at 5:05 p.m.  

Charlotte is among five cities in a new campaignby Minor League Baseball aimed at courting Hispanic fans. 

RELATED LINKS

Aug. 18, 2017, CharlotteKnights.com, "Caballeros Beat the 'Pigs 8-3 Friday"-  The Caballeros hit 3 home runs. 

July 24, 2017, MiLB.com, "Charlotte Knights to Become Charlotte Caballeros During August Series"

David Boraks previously covered climate change and the environment for WFAE. See more at www.wfae.org/climate-news. He also has covered housing and homelessness, energy and the environment, transportation and business.