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Some of the best players in the history of Major League Baseball have sharpened their skills in Puerto Rico's longstanding winter league.

BY KEVIN BAXTER

It's where Roberto Clemente got his start and where Hank Aaron and Willie Mays got better. It's where Pudge Rodriguez learned to catch, Carlos Delgado learned to hit, and a young infielder named Cal Ripken Jr. learned the importance of showing up to work every day.

For seven decades, the Puerto Rican winter league gave baseball fans the opportunity to see the game's biggest stars while they were still ascending. And now, aft er taking a year off to reorganize-the first break in its history-the league is back with six teams playing a 42-game regular season all across the island.

"It's a traditional league with 70 years of history," says Lou Melendez, vice president of international baseball relations for Major League Baseball and, perhaps more importantly, a Puerto Rican. "You're talking about an important part of the Caribbean."

Attendance, however, had been declining for years, and the league was in desperate need of new energy and new ideas.

Aft er taking a year off , Melendez expects to see an infusion of both when the season opens early this month, beginning the trek to the January playoffs, which will determine the league's representative in the four-nation Caribbean Series.

The Santurce Crabbers, one of the island's most storied franchises-but one that has undergone a number of changes since serving as Clemente's first professional team-will once again anchor the league in San Juan. The team hopes to play again in historic Hiram Bithorn Stadium, a short ride from the beachfront hotels of Isla Verde, Condado and Old San Juan.

Two other teams are located within an hour's drive of the capital, one in Carolina-the birthplace of the great Clemente and home to Roberto Clemente Sports City-and the other in Arecibo. But the league stretches from Mayagüez in the west to Ponce in the south to Caguas in Puerto Rico's fertile and lush midsection.

Taking in a game in any park is a bargain, with ticket prices averaging less than $10. They're best purchased at the stadium on game day, where long lines are uncommon and seat selection is better. It's best to check the schedules in one of the city's vibrant daily newspapers before heading to the ballpark.

There's at least one game in the San Juan area most nights. Plus, starting in December, Puerto Rican teams will host visiting clubs from the star-studded Dominican winter league for the first time ever in a series of cross-Caribbean interleague weekend match-ups.

As has always been the case with the Puerto Rican league, each team's 25-man roster will be dotted with budding local stars and US minor leaguers on the cusp of breaking through to the Majors. In fact, many MLB teams send their top prospects to the island in the winter because there's no need for passports, players are paid in dollars, and there's less of a language barrier as compared to the Dominican Republic, Venezuela or Mexico.

So, while you might not recognize the names now, you'll be hearing some of them soon enough in the majors. Besides, baseball beneath the palm trees sure beats football in the snow any day-no matter who's playing.

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