A Baseball Trip to Mexico City. But First, a Pilgrimage.

The second Isidro Piña hopped out of the taxi, he made a beeline for the lady promoting candles on the sidewalk. He requested how a lot they price — 25 Mexican pesos every, or $1.50 — and whipped out his pockets. He needed three: one for himself and one for every of the buddies who had accompanied him to the Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe.

“I get goosebumps whenever I’m here,” Piña mentioned in Spanish because the group walked by way of the primary church.

In some methods, Piña, Mario Morales and Daniel Nuñez blended into the group. They wore plain garments — denims, T-shirts and sneakers — and knelt alongside a whole lot. But they have been a tad larger than most. All three are skilled baseball gamers for the Olmecas de Tabasco, a crew within the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol, or the Mexican Baseball League, that had come to the capital to play the Diablos Rojos del México.

Instead of lounging across the crew resort or going procuring the morning earlier than a current evening recreation, they adopted an unofficial custom amongst skilled baseball gamers on this predominantly Catholic nation: a pilgrimage to some of the visited spiritual websites on the planet — an estimated 20 million folks come yearly — residence to the determine often called the Queen of Mexico and Empress of the Americas.

After Brazil, no nation has extra Catholics than Mexico. The colourful iconography of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe is ubiquitous all through the nation: at taxi stands, hospitals, parks, eating places, houses and even in folks’s wallets. Dec. 12 — which commemorates when Catholics imagine Mary, the mom of Jesus, appeared to an Indigenous man named Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in 1531 — is handled like a nationwide vacation. And Mexicans of all walks of life, even skilled baseball gamers, attempt to go to the shrine as typically as they’ll.

So every time a crew within the Mexican League is on the town to play the Diablos Rojos, they make a visit on their very own. When the Bravos de León have been in Mexico City a month in the past, a bunch consisting of the crew’s proprietor, his household, the final supervisor and eight gamers went the morning earlier than a recreation. Every week later, the Olmecas did the identical.

“Here in Mexico, it’s all about the Virgin of Guadalupe,” mentioned Piña, 34, including later, “It’s like going to visit your mother.”

The Olmecas’ current effort was spearheaded by Piña, a veteran catcher on a crew that had the third-best file within the league this 12 months and commenced its postseason on Tuesday. He first visited the basilica as an 18-year-old in 2007, his first 12 months with the Sultanes de Monterrey, after his older teammates organized the outing. He has returned nearly yearly since. And in 2010, whereas Piña’s spouse was pregnant with their first daughter and he prayed that all the things prove nicely, he made a promise whereas on the basilica that every time he was in Mexico City he would go to.

“Whenever I enter here, I feel a peace and tranquillity that makes me let go of everything,” he mentioned. “That’s why I like coming.”

Over the years, Piña has introduced teammates from different nations, together with the Dominican Republic and the United States. But the vast majority of those that come are Mexican as a result of, he mentioned, they, too, grew up understanding the spiritual and cultural significance of Guadalupe.

So weeks earlier than the Olmecas flew to Mexico City for the three-game collection with the Diablos Rojos, Piña was recruiting teammates for the basilica journey. They deliberate for the group to be bigger than it ended up being, however one participant was traded to a different crew and one other was sick. Morales and Nuñez, who’re each Mexican, mentioned sure immediately.

“My first time was with my family when I was about 10 years old,” mentioned Morales, 29, a pitcher who was born in California and famous how his religion and devotion to Mary have been handed down by his mom, who’s from close to Guadalajara. “It was lovely and I’ve always had the idea of returning.”

Nuñez, 20, a pitcher from Yucatán, in southeastern Mexico, first visited the Guadalupe grounds together with his mom when he was 12 whereas he was a part of a nationwide crew coaching in Mexico City, however he by no means went inside the primary church. So as Nuñez walked by way of it just lately, his eyes grew huge. After the three gamers admired the unique picture of the Lady of Guadalupe hanging excessive above the altar and snapped pictures on their cellphones, Nuñez famous the importance to him.

“It’s an indescribable sensation,” he mentioned. “I want to bring my family next year.”

Religion performs a big function within the sports activities tradition all through Latin America.

Across the Mexican League, a number of groups have small shrines at their stadiums. The Diablos Rojos have an alcove constructed into the wall en route from the house clubhouse to the dugout that’s crammed with photos of the Virgin of Guadalupe, statues of different saints, crosses and candles. Players sometimes convey flowers and a few mentioned they kneel there to wish earlier than video games. Even at Estadio Azteca, the Mexico City soccer stadium that’s among the many most iconic on the planet, there may be a Guadalupe altar within the tunnel resulting in the sphere.

Atlas, the Mexican soccer membership, gained a title final 12 months and took its trophy to the cathedral in Guadalajara for a service. Before this season, the Olmecas had a priest give mass on the sphere at their new stadium. Some groups pray collectively earlier than video games. In León, the Bravos have a locker of their clubhouse reserved for Jesus, with a No. 33 jersey bearing his title.

“In Latin America,” Diablos Manager Víctor Bojórquez mentioned, “people are big believers.”

Morales mentioned his religion and visiting the basilica helped calm him throughout the ups and downs of the season. He prayed to keep away from future accidents, having undergone shoulder surgical procedure in 2021. Nuñez mentioned he has a non secular routine earlier than video games: prayer and remembering his grandfather, a former baseball participant who, on his deathbed, made his grandson promise that he would develop into knowledgeable participant sooner or later.

“I made it,” Nuñez mentioned, “so every time I pitch, I write his name on the mound.”

Outside of the primary basilica, the gamers did what many others have been additionally doing: They lit their candles, closed their eyes to ask for a particular intention and positioned them within the repository. Then they walked to the grounds’ different chapels, together with the 300-year-old unique basilica, with Piña serving as a tour information as they went.

As they simply climbed the steps to the Capilla del Cerrito on the Tepeyac Hill, the place Mary is believed to have first appeared to Juan Diego, the gamers joked that they may deal with the pressure of Mexico City’s 7,400-foot altitude due to their occupation. Around them, Mexican households, overseas vacationers and even folks with suitcases trudged upward, too.

Standing on the prime, the gamers requested a bystander to snap their photograph they usually took within the view of the sprawling metropolis under.

“Can you imagine how full this would be on Dec. 12?” Piña requested.

Before heading again, the gamers stopped by the numerous markets surrounding the Guadalupe grounds. Piña purchased a number of spiritual trinkets, together with a two-foot statue. Nuñez scored six Guadalupe themed key chains for his household. Morales purchased a magnet so as to add to his mom’s assortment of his travels. And due to the new, sunny climate, they purchased drinks — horchata and fruit juices — for the 43-minute trip again by way of the usually heavy Mexico City visitors to the crew resort.

Their taxi arrived simply earlier than 2 p.m. The bus for the stadium would depart in two hours. A recreation awaited at 7 p.m.