Miami, .- The former president of Dominican Republic Leonel Fernandez and the first Dominican to reach the Baseball Hall of Fame, Juan Marichal, opened Monday in Miami the eleventh edition of the charity golf tournament organized by the Global Democracy and Development Foundation (Funglode).
The member of the Hall of Fame of Cooperstown, in New York, made the coup of honor of this tournament, which in this edition has 115 participants.
The famous Dominican baseball player, of 81 years, keeps his good hand and, although his specialty was never golf, holed in the hole this blow, to the joy of those present.
The opening of the competition, whose profits will go to Funglode, an entity chaired by Fernandez, also had the presence of former Major League players José Rijo, Tony “Cabeza” Fernández and Mariano Duncan, as well as the former basketball player and former minister. of Dominican Sports Jay Payano.
During the inauguration, the former president (1996-2000, 2004-2008 and 2008-2012) said that on one occasion he traveled to San Francisco to visit the Giants stadium, where Marichal played a good part of his professional career and where There is a statue of the Dominican star.
To his surprise, when he contemplated the sculpture, he explained that a child asked for an autograph and he was surprised that a young American knew who the former Dominican president was.
However, when several more children approached after getting his signature he realized that he had been confused with Marichal, with whom he has a certain resemblance.
As part of the event, held at the Crandon Park golf course in Cayo Vizcaíno, there is an auction of autographed baseballs by players José Rijo, Rafael Funcal, Manny Machado and Pedro Martínez, as well as certified reproductions of the collection “The color of life”, by the Dominican painter Félix Suriel.
Funglode and its sister institution in the United States, the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD), are non-profit and non-profit entities that promote analysis and debate on public policies in areas such as the social, economic and democratic development of Latin America. (EFEUSA)
