Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts and Fernando Tatis Jr. are currently the faces of MLB around the world. But in the UK, there is one name that stands out among these great figures: Venezuelan Anthony Santander.
The Baltimore Orioles player is a huge sensation among Brits, though that admiration has grown inexplicably, according to Matt Casebolt, community manager for the Instagram account British Baltimore Orioles Fans.
It’s become kind of an adopted English language, in a very strange way. “It’s one of those things that came out of nowhere, but now it’s synonymous with the British fan base,” Casebolt told MLB.
The beginning of British admiration
Although he remembers the day his love for Venezuela was born, he insists he did nothing out of the ordinary.
On August 4, 2019, in a game between Baltimore and the Toronto Blue Jays, as the Orioles were having a tough season with 108 losses, Santader started in left field.
At that event, part of Oriole Park was occupied by more than 4,000 Boy Scouts, who were in Baltimore for a convention at West Virginia Stadium.
That day, the Creoles won 3-1, with a run and a walk. But in the fourth inning, Santader caught two straight balls and began to receive applause from the visitors.
“That’s when I started listening to the fans,” the player recalls. “I have no idea why, it just happened.”
The connection with the Venezuelan was so strong that Dominican Teoscar Hernandez ended up booing after picking up a call from Santander.
Read also: Anthony Santander: Baltimore’s undisputed best player
In this sense, the Venezuelan affirmed that it was a great day for him after receiving all the applause, although without explanation, and in the fifth inning he thanked the scouts for the gesture of throwing the ball to the “fan club” that ended up bursting into applause.
“They responded with so much energy and I tried to reciprocate. It was a great experience, it happened suddenly and unexpectedly. It’s something I will always remember,” said the Creole, who hopes to meet those fans again.
After that day, Santander remains in touch with fans in the United Kingdom, a community that Major League Baseball wants to expand to, and was even the first European country to host a regular season game in 2019.
It is worth noting that in 2020, the Margarita native began to improve his offensive production with 32 RBIs in 37 games, and 11 home runs to leave a .261 average.
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