CT Hispanic Watch: The CT Phillies (Caribbean)
Karel García (#41) shakes hands with CT Phillies main manager Carlos Garcia (far right) as he is announced in the finals of the Los Amigos Softball League in October 2023.|Credit: Reynaldo Cruz Diaz
EN Meet the Connecticut Phillies, who have won the Los Amigos Softball League three straight years. The Phillies, who feature Latino players with different origins in their roster, beat the Dodgers in two games of a best-of-three final play off played in Dunkin’ Park on October 8, 2023, thus securing the trifecta. The league is played every Sunday when it is running, and it brings together a community that gathers at Colt Park and moves to the Hartford Yard Goats’ venue for the finals.
SP Conozcan a los Connecticut Phillies, quienes han ganado la Liga de Softbol de Los Amigos tres años seguidos. Los Phillies, que presentan jugadores latinos de orígenes diversos en su roster, vencieron a los Dodgers en dos juegos de un play off final al mejor de tres, jugado en el Dunkin’ Park el 8 de octubre de 2023, asegurando así la trifecta. La liga se juega los domingos cuando sesiona, y une a una comunidad que se agrupa en Colt Park y se mueve a la sede de los Hartford Yard Goats para las finales.
I first met the Connecticut Phillies in 2019 when I visited Connecticut for a week. My friend Karel García, a one-time champion of Cuban baseball with the team of Holguín, was playing for them. When I settled in the state in 2022, Karel invited me to the opening day, where I met the rest of the team. The majority of the team has Latino background, mostly Caribbean, with Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic taking the leading role.
They were receiving their championship rings, as they had won the Los Amigos Softball League in 2022. I befriended most of them, and they treated me like one of their own. For the 2022 finals and the 2023 finals, I was on the field at Dunkin’ Park to photograph the games. They won in both instances, thus securing their three-peat.
More than a team, the Phillies are a family, and as they approach their attempt to a fourth straight title, that family continues to go strong.
