Caguas Criollos "La Yegüita" (The Little Mare) at Parque Yldefonso Solá Morales

The stadium's girders, and alternating sections of seats, are in green and orange. Fake owls scare away pigeons before they figure it out.

Fans count 15 league championships, including the years when Caguas played jointly with the city of Guayama on the south coast (marked above with an asterisk). The staunchest fans insist that the league's first two years (1938 and 1939), won by a team playing only in Guayama, should be counted. The south end of Caguas is in the Turabo River valley, so references to the Turabo, or to La Yegüita, mean the Criollos.

The Sports Club behind home plate

Morales Park is a sports lounge with a baseball stadium attached. General admission is the least expensive in the league, but an alternative is to go up the enclosed catwalk to the sports lounge and buy appetizers and drinks for normal prices. Such casual fans receive the treatment that other parks only give to luxury boxes. The sports lounge is open independently of the ball club with live entertainment and a dress code, but also available on game nights with casual dress. The lounge was called Bardo's in 1999 and Sports Club in 2000.

Terraces of seats face the grandstand through Plexiglas, with counter space and electric outlets. The choice boxes are for officials and press, but you can look over their shoulders and watch the game through their booth. Other boxes are reserved by sponsors, but at the longest desk, only 2 seats are reserved by steady customers. At seats further back from the live action, customers can watch cable TV; sometimes the game is on. There is also a side room with one-armed bandits.

Looking over the shoulders of the Ponce radio team from inside the Sports Club as they report a Caguas walk-off home run

The upper parking lot is reserved for VIPs. A larger lower parking lot is patrolled. When this lot fills up, they commandeer city streets with saw horses, with a $2 fee to park in the street.

A former owner of the Criollos sold the team to run for mayor, but he and his opponent both favored building a new municipal stadium, with inadequate parking cited as the biggest drawback. Mayor Marín plans a new stadium on the road southeast toward the neighboring town of San Lorenzo. But separately, he has asked the state government to transfer title of Solá Morales to the city.

Directions

Take expressway 52 ten miles south from San Juan (the expressway is known as 18 in San Juan). The toll at Caguas is $0.50.

• If you exit at Route 1, follow this commercial boulevard a mile until a complicated intersection; there, veer right onto the inner ring road, 33.

• You can also take Exits 18 or 19 and shoot over to 33 as shown.

• If you take Exit 20, then follow it to Route 1, turn left, and the stadium will be on your right. Or cross Route 1 to circle around the stadium. Turning left at the next light will get you to the lower parking lot.

• If you're not in a hurry, you could follow Route 1 all the way. In the center of town, the road is slow and congested, but it is a trip backward in time, and the central park is pretty. The streets are one-way, so follow the signs if you choose this route on the way back.

• Keep an eye on the stadium lights to orient yourself.