Mexico wants the world to know that it has a rich history with baseball.

To that end the National Baseball Hall of Fame was inaugurated yesterday in Fundidora Park in Monterrey, Nuevo León, to showcase the achievements of professional baseball players who have made national history.

The 400-million-peso investment (US $20 million) includes batting and pitching cages, areas for family games, a miniature stadium, a dedicated library with historic documents, temporary and permanent exhibits, a conference room, a movie theater and a store.

Located on the southwest corner of the park, the complex takes up an area of 7,200 square meters.

Among those present at the opening were baseball fan and President López Obrador and Alfredo Harp Helú, businessman and owner of the Diablos Rojos team.

Several national and international baseball legends were also in attendance, including Fernando Valenzuela, Mike Brito, Felipe “Clipper” Montemayor and Francisco González Sánchez, manager of current Mexican Baseball League champions Los Sultanes de Monterrey, among others.

Harp, one of the project’s principal investors, told reporters that the hall of fame was significant because “Baseball, as well as being a sport, is history, statistics, and above all, art.”

In his address, the president expressed his gratitude for businessmen like Harp.

“Fortunately, in Mexico we have investors with social consciousness. They are very important for the development of projects like this one.”

The head of state confessed to being an ardent baseball fan himself and added that Congress had approved funding to encourage the sport. He promised that federal money would be invested in the creation of baseball schools and academies throughout the country.

Source: Multimedios (sp), Milenio (sp)