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Alomar eyes Puerto Rico for Tournament 12
- Updated: September 20, 2016
TORONTO — For four years, Tournament 12 has been a showcase bringing together the top high school baseball talent that Canada has to offer, and as the Blue Jays-hosted event continues to grow, commissioner Roberto Alomar — for whom the event is named — could take it in another direction entirely.
The Hall of Fame second baseman’s desired route would be to head back to his native Puerto Rico, another place where a number of young players could benefit from exposure that the Blue Jays Baseball Academy’s tournament at Rogers Centre has provided in the country he played in for five years.
“I would love to take it to Puerto Rico,” the 12-time All-Star said. “I know how important this is for the kids and for baseball, and hopefully next year I can bring it to Puerto Rico. If not, I would like to bring a team from Puerto Rico to come and play in this tournament. That would be great.”
Getting his first glimpse at the showcase on Thursday, Alomar’s friend and fellow Puerto Rican Carlos Delgado made his way to the fourth annual event to take in a couple of days on the field and see what it had to offer.
“This is a great opportunity,” Delgado said. “Sometimes kids don’t get the exposure they need, and bringing them to Toronto and having all the scouts in the stands, it’s great. And the competition itself, playing against the best amateur players in the country, it would be a great experience.
“It’s a nice treat for the kids to come out and play here at Rogers Centre, and with some of the alumni. Robbie’s done a fantastic job to give these kids an opportunity.”
Though Delgado felt that words could barely express the level of impact that a similar tournament could have in the country where he was born, he tried to put it into perspective.
“It would be really huge if this could …
