Dodgers News: Gonzalez Continues #PonleAcento Campaign
Baseball has a history of Americanizing Latino names, but accents may soon be a common sight on the field. Earlier this month, Adrian Gonzalez added the accent mark to his name on the back of his jersey as part of the #PonleAcento (#PutAnAccent) campaign, and has been urging other Latino players to do the same. Gonzalez has stated that out of 16 years playing baseball, the only thing missing from the game was the accent on his jersey.
After being dared by his teammate, Enrique Hernandez added the accent as well. He took to Twitter to debut his jersey and share his excitement for the new look.
Que bonito se ve Hernández con el acento! Ya lo tengo @adrian_eltitan, ahora invito a todo… https://t.co/r1WskIrcVa pic.twitter.com/kxtgwVwAe8
— Enrique Hernández (@kikehndez) May 10, 2016
But the campaign hasn’t stopped there. The first-baseman posted a picture yesterday with weekend rival Yoenis Cespedes of the New York Mets. Cespedes honored his Cuban heritage by adding the accent on his jersey, bringing the two players together before the game.
An accent on a jersey is a small symbol for something much more. Not only does it help fans pronounce names correctly, but it also serves homage to a player’s heritage. Although around 30 percent of MLB players are from Latin America, MLB only recently agreed to the addition of the accent on the uniform to support the Latin American culture.
