CLEVELAND — It is hard to find something Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor takes more pride in or is more passionate about than the love he has for his home country of Puerto Rico.
When given the opportunity during the annual MLB Players’ Weekend celebration against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field last week, Lindor paid homage to Puerto Rico on his cleats, batting gloves and even the barrel of his baseball bat.
Be it national symbols, a nod to those from Puerto Rico who came before him in Major League Baseball or the simple words, “I love you,” Lindor went all out in representing his home country, just as he does when he takes the field for the Indians or the national team in the World Baseball Classic, as he did in 2017.
“It’s 100 percent Puerto Rico,” Lindor told Fox Sports Ohio. “I love Puerto Rico. Everything I do is for them. Right now, I’ve got it on the batting gloves as well. Everything’s Puerto Rico. I have it on my bat. It’s 100 percent Puerto Rico. I love my island.”
The most visible sign of Lindor’s love for Puerto Rico were printed on his cleats.
I’ve got, ‘I love you, Puerto Rico’ on the front, and I’ve got a couple different things that shows it,” Lindor said. “I have Roberto Clemente. I have the National Flag.
“On this one, I have a parrot. I have the coqui, which is the national animal of Puerto Rico, and then, I have the Indian sun.”
RELATED: Cleveland Indians RHP Carlos Carrasco allows two hits, one run in Triple-A rehab appearance
Lindor always has taken pride in his homeland, especially when the Indians and Minnesota Twins played a two-game series at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan in April of 2018, just months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island country of 3.1 million people.
Playing in front of friends and family, Lindor belted a 3-2 pitch from Twins starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi over the wall in right field for a two-run home run, which gave the Indians a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning of Game 1 of the Puerto Rico Series last April.
Following the home run, fans called for Lindor to do a curtain call, and the native of Caguas, Puerto Rico, obliged.
In addition to pride in Puerto Rico, Lindor wanted everyone to know how blessed he feels to be playing baseball at the highest level, which is why his nameplate featured the moniker “Mr. Smile.”
“I added the emojis to it with ‘Mr. Smile,’” Lindor said. “I’ve always got a smile, 100 percent, let the world know that I’m a happy person to be playing this game. I’m blessed to be playing it.”
