Nicaraguan Heritage on a Kachi Glove

Nicaragua is one of the few Central American countries where baseball, not soccer, is the national sport — and one of its sons threw the first perfect game by a Latin American pitcher in MLB history.

The country in baseball

Baseball arrived in Nicaragua in the late nineteenth century and has held the position of national sport since. The country runs a domestic professional league, the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Nacional (LBPN), and has been a consistent presence at the Pan American Games and the World Baseball Classic qualifiers. Nicaragua's national stadium in Managua — the Estadio Nacional Dennis Martínez, renamed in his honor in 1998 and rebuilt as a 30,000-capacity facility in 2017 — is one of the few national stadiums in the world named after an active-era MLB pitcher rather than a politician or general. Pitching has been Nicaragua's primary export to the majors, and youth baseball remains a meaningfully larger draw than soccer in most of the country.

A moment that defined the country in MLB

July 28, 1991, Dodger Stadium. Dennis Martínez, pitching for the Montreal Expos, retired all 27 Los Angeles Dodgers he faced — the thirteenth perfect game in modern MLB history at the time, and the first ever thrown by a Latin American–born pitcher. Martínez, from Granada, Nicaragua, had also been the first Nicaraguan ever to reach the majors when he debuted with the Orioles in 1976. The perfect game was thrown in front of a Dodger Stadium crowd that included a substantial Latin American contingent and remains the singular reference point for Nicaraguan baseball.

Notable players

• Dennis Martínez — four-time MLB All-Star and the first Latin American–born pitcher to throw a perfect game in MLB history (against the Dodgers, July 28, 1991, while with the Montreal Expos). 245 career wins, the most ever by a Latin American–born pitcher at the time of his retirement.
• Vicente Padilla — long-tenured MLB starter and reliever, All-Star with the Phillies in 2002, 14 MLB seasons.
• Marvin Benard — longtime San Francisco Giants outfielder across nine MLB seasons.
• Everth Cabrera — All-Star shortstop, 2012 NL stolen base leader.
• Erasmo Ramírez — multi-team MLB right-handed pitcher across more than a decade of service time.
• JC Ramírez — multi-team MLB right-handed pitcher; longtime Angels rotation arm.

The Kachi flag option

The Nicaraguan flag goes on the wrist strap or pinky of your custom glove at no additional cost, in matched colors, with placement at your direction. Nicaragua's footprint in the major leagues is smaller than its Caribbean neighbors, and that's part of why the option matters: it gives a player from a country whose national stadium is literally named after an MLB pitcher a way to put their flag on the gear they actually use. Pick the country at the configurator and the embroidery is included with the rest of the build.