Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The upside to catching a game here: it can be a terrific cultural experience and it's dirt
cheap by American standards. Tickets are usually under $10 and a cold beer will only set
you back $3.
Cockfighting
If
béisbol
gets credit as the official sport,
peleas de gallos
(cockfighting) holds strong as
the passionate pastime of the people. It's certainly a thorny issue with those who harbor an-
imal rights sympathies, and for good reason. The 'sport' entails placing specially bred and
trained
gallos de pelea
(fighting cocks) in a pit to battle each other to the death. It can be
terrifying and difficult to watch, but interest goes back thousands of years to ancient Persia,
Greece and Rome.
Catcher Yadir Molina is considered among the best defensive catchers in Major League Baseball. In 2010 he became the first
player to win the illustrious Fielding Bible Award, for defensive play, with a perfect score of 100 points.
Cockfighting was outlawed when the US occupation of the island began in 1898. After
almost four decades underground, cockfighting was once again legalized on the island in
the 1930s and remains so to this day.
During the 20-minute, fight the cocks try to peck and slash each other to pieces with
sharpened natural spurs, or with steel or plastic spurs taped or tied to their feet, causing
feathers to fly and blood to splatter. The fight usually ends with one bird mortally wounded
or dead. Then the aficionados collect their winnings or plunk down more money - to get
even - on the next fight. Betting usually starts at $100 and goes well into the thousands.
SMALL COUNTRY, BIG PUNCH
Puerto Rico has spawned enough fighters to fill its own boxing Hall of Fame, includ-
ing the youngest world champion in boxing history and one of the sport's greatest-
ever knockout specialists.
The standard was set in the 1930s when wily bantamweight Sixto Escobar became
the first Puerto Rican to win a world championship belt, knocking out Mexican Baby
Casanova in Montreal in 1936. In his homeland, Escobar - from Barceloneta on the
north coast - became an overnight hero.
The 1970s introduced the two Wilfredos - Benitez and Gómez. Wilfredo Benitez,
nicknamed 'The Radar,' was a Puerto Rican childhood boxing sensation. Raised in
New York City, he became the youngest-ever world champion when he defeated Co-
