Rays’ Dominican trip to face Red Sox ‘exceeded every expectation’

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — For Rays centerfielder Jose Siri, it was the flag, a handheld version of his native country’s colors that he waved as he ran onto the field, stirring the attention of the fans and the hearts of some teammates.

For bench coach Rodney Linares, who has represented the Dominican Republic at the highest level of international competition, it was the wave of emotions, much stronger than he expected after seeing big-league teams play on native soil.

For manager Kevin Cash, it was the smiles on his players’ faces, a product of the combination of the exciting environment and a “special” experience that surpassed what had been discussed.

And for infielder Junior Caminero, the 20-year-old promising Dominican prospect and future star, it was everything.

“Unforgettable,” he said. “Probably one of the best days I’ve had in my life.”

Whatever the Rays hoped to take out of their three-day trip to the Dominican capital to play two exhibition games against the Red Sox as part of Major League Baseball’s World Tour, they came home with more.

“It’s pretty special to be out here, and it’s a big-league team in the homeland, watching the kids, listening to the people,” Linares said. “The guys had a lot of fun.

“It exceeded every expectation that I had.”

Cash, who played in the Dominican winter league in the early 2000s, said after Sunday’s game the weekend was a reminder “of what baseball means to this country.”

Veteran starter Aaron Civale called it an “awesome” atmosphere with “good energy.”

Infielder Curtis Mead, a native Australian and first-time visitor, was more colorful in describing the experience.

“Definitely an eye-opener,” he said. “Pretty crazy. But super, super special. And I’m glad I experienced that.”

For several Rays, especially the younger ones, it was special just to see David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez, two of the five Dominicans in the Hall of Fame, who threw out ceremonial first pitches Saturday.

“Those guys were in awe,” Cash said.

Some veterans as well.

“They’re great people,” said infielder/outfielder Amed Rosario, a 28-year-old entering his eighth big-league season, who caught Martinez’s toss. “They’re heroes to all of us, not just the young guys, but guys like me as well.”

Siri, who caught Ortiz’s pitch, was also impressed.

“It’s very exciting. Especially guys like that that are legends in this game. Hall of Famers,” he said, via team interpreter Manny Navarro. “It was a very special moment for me. I was glad I was able to do it, and there was a lot of fun to do it.”

Caminero had met both previously, talking baseball and life.

Having made his big-league debut in September, and expected to join the Rays to stay sometime this season, he had a brief, and encouraging, chat Saturday with Ortiz.

“He gave me a hug and he just told me, like, ‘You got it. You’ve got to just keep on playing that way. If I’m talking to you, that means that you’re somebody,’” Caminero relayed.

Siri, the Rays’ current biggest-name player from the Dominican, got Sunday off after an exhausting Saturday that started with a morning appearance at a youth clinic. He stayed busy, mobbed in the dugout before the game by local media — then grabbing team photographer Will Vragovic’s camera for a few minutes of role reversal — and spending much of the game interacting with family and friends in the stands.

His highlight was his run on to the field at the start of Saturday’s game, and the reaction he got from the fans, after team communications director Elvis Martinez gave him a small version of the Dominican flag to wave.

Caminero enjoyed it as well.

“Representing our country of the Dominican Republic, holding the flag up high, it was very special to see,” he said.

Making their weekend more special, Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch asked for their caps to put on display in Cooperstown.

Though both games were several thousand fans short of a sellout in roughly 14,500-seat Estadio Quisqueya, both Linares and Cash said the electric atmosphere — including fans banging drums and blowing horns — was good for the Rays to play in.

“When (Boston) scored the first run (Saturday), I was like, it’s going to be fun. People started to get into it,” Linares said.

“When that action started happening, you can feel it. I don’t know, 11,000-12,000 people, it felt like it was 25,000 that were out there.”

Cash said everything about the weekend — besides losing both games and outfielder Jonny DeLuca to a broken right hand— was a good experience.

“Awesome,” he said. “I mean, tremendous To be able to get that type of excitement and electricity that we got in the crowd, you normally don’t create that type of buzz in a spring training game.

“I know I appreciated it. Our players appreciated it. It’ll be interesting to see what we get back to Port Charlotte. I don’t know how we’re going to be able to simulate that type of environment.”

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