By Alex Simon,Sports EditorJune 15, 2025 (SFGate.com)
On the same day as nationwide protests against President Donald Trump and as Los Angeles continues to see massive protests against sweeping immigration raids from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Dodgers attempted to stop a Spanish version of the U.S. national anthem from being sung before facing the Giants.
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According to a video posted on TikTok from singer Vanessa Hernandez, who goes by “Nezza” in her professional career, a Dodgers employee attempted to get Hernandez to not sing “El Pendon Estrellado” before Saturday’s game against San Francisco.
The song is the country’s official Spanish language version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In the 1940s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt commissioned the song as part of his Good Neighbor Policy and “El Pendon Estrellado” was officially declared the song in 1945.
But in spite of the Dodgers’ attempt to stop her, Hernandez sang “El Pendon Estrellado” anyway on Saturday while wearing a Dominican Republic shirt. She also posted a second TikTok video Saturday night explaining her decision, saying she was still “very shooken up and emotional” about the interaction.
“I didn’t think I’d be met with any sort of no,” Hernandez said. “Especially because we’re in L.A., and with everything happening. I’ve sang the national anthem many times in my life, but today, out of all days, I could not. I just felt like I needed to do it. Para mi gente.”
Hernandez said her parents are both immigrants, though they both have since become naturalized citizens. She said she “can’t imagine them being ripped away from me even at this age, let alone as a little kid.”
Hernandez ended the second video by saying, “Safe to say I’m never allowed in that stadium again.” According to The Athletic, Hernandez is “not expected” to be banned from Dodger Stadium and was not asked to leave the venue on Saturday night after the anthem.
The Dodgers declined to comment to The Athletic about Hernandez’s videos. The team has also not made any public statement about the protests since they began last Friday, which has included Trump sending 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to downtown Los Angeles to guard a 1-square-mile area that includes the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison where immigrants were held and protests erupted.
Most players on both the Giants and Dodgers have refrained from commenting on what is happening in Los Angeles. But L.A.-born Giants first baseman Dominic Smith has called the raids “traumatizing” and Dodgers utility player Kiké Hernandez said he’s “saddened and infuriated” by the raids in an Instagram post.
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June 15, 2025
SPORTS EDITOR
Alex Simon is the sports editor for SFGATE. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Alex has been in journalism for years as an editor, reporter and adjunct professor, most recently working at Bay Area News Group. He has degrees from Elon University and Arizona State University. When not at a sporting event, Alex enjoys playing sports and finding a good dive bar, and he loves In-N-Out Burger a bit too much for his own good.
