A decade after they last faced off on the island, the Mets and Marlins are headed back to Puerto Rico in 2020.
Major League Baseball announced Monday that the NL East rivals will play April 28-30 at San Juan's Hiram Bithorn Stadium. The Marlins will be the home team for the series.
#OurColores were selected to play in the 2020 Puerto Rico Series.
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) August 12, 2019
¡Nos vemos pronto, mi gente! 🇵🇷 pic.twitter.com/35xtH8KiAr
“It is an honor for the Marlins to represent Major League Baseball in this special series against the Mets,” Marlins CEO Derek Jeter said in a release. “Miami serves as the gateway to the Caribbean and Latin America, and we are grateful for the chance to showcase the new Miami Marlins organization to our neighbors in Puerto Rico. We are looking forward to the opportunity of celebrating Puerto Rico’s rich baseball heritage and passion for the game and continue our mission to grow the game of baseball in our community while fostering the shared love for our national pastime.”
While MLB teams were regular visitors to San Juan in 2003 and 2004, when the Expos played 43 "home" games there, there has been only one series on the island since the 2010 Mets-Marlins set: two games between the Indians and Twins in 2018.
Though visits have been infrequent, the atmosphere at Hiram Bithorn Stadium is always raucous and the attendance figures project to nearly double the typical Marlins home game. MLB games in San Juan have averaged about 19,000 fans, while the Marlins are drawing 10,114 per game this season.
The San Juan series will just one of a number of non-traditional sites on the 2020 MLB schedule. The Cubs and Cardinals will face off in London next year, and MLB announced last week that the White Sox and Yankees will play a game near the "Field of Dreams" site in Dyersville, Iowa. The Red Sox and Orioles also will meet in the fourth annual Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.