Fernando Rodney is making noise with his plantain or plátano at the World Baseball Classic. Dominicans and plantains have been linked to each other the way peanut butter is associated with jelly or cereal with milk. I don't mean this in any ignorant way. It is one of the more popular food items in the Dominican Republic and Dominicans, like Rodney, aren't afraid to show their pride.
The Dominicans use the fruit to prepare one of the more popular dishes in the country: the mangu. If fried, you're eating tostones. I am unaware if they sell mangu in Dominican ballparks, but mangu is to Dominicans what hamburgers or hot dogs are to Americans.
Add some superstition (cue in Stevie Wonder) to this delectable fruit and, suddenly, the Internet is engulfed with hashtags #platanopower. Rodney took it a step further by making a regular plantain his lucky plátano or "El Plátano de la Suerte," which the closer takes to the games and cameras focus on throughout the World Baseball Classic.
Rodney isn't the only one who sports plátanos as part of his attire. Check out this guy who brought a whole stack of plantains with him to the action.
To the Dominicans, this is just as significant as playing their tamboras and guiras at the game, which are impossible to ignore throughout the games whether you're present at the ballpark, in the dugout or at home. Personally, I want to buy a tambora now and work on these traditional golpes de tambor.
This rhythm might seem familiar to many out there. Fast forward to 1:22 and see how the late Catarey, one of the masters of the Dominican tambora works different rhythms native of the country and a part of one of their more popular musical genres, merengue.
The rhythms of the Dominican country are taking over this World Baseball Classic. The team is on a roll and Rodney is bringing Dominican culture to the entire world.
On Monday, before getting into the game against the Netherlands and recording another save at the 2013 WBC tournament, the closer, who turned 36 on this day, had his plantain along his waist. When it was his turn to warm up, he handed over his jacket and delicately passed over the plantain knowing he couldn't enter a mound with it on his property.
Here is Rodney with the plantain in pregame introductions.
It's one big joke, but Rodney and the Dominicans are playing loose baseball and antics are serving the team well as they are playing free of pressures. Rodney has six saves and Team Dominican Republic is 7-0 in the tournament.
Tuesday night, they face Puerto Rico at the championship and the Dominicans can be the first team to complete the tournament with a perfect record.
Expect them to continue their loose ways of playing. Expect the offense to be present along with the pointing and distant high fives as well as Rodney and his lucky plantain that is becoming their opponents' Kryptonite.
