Baseball in Puerto Rico
By the 1949-50 season, several new ballparks were built, each containing 6,000 or more seats. The largest new stadium was Ponce's Estadio Francisco Montaner with 9,718 seats. Montaner has the distinction of being the first stadium in Puerto Rico that installed an artificial surface field. The installation of lights, which allowed for night games, further boosted stadium attendances. The Stadium was named to honor Francisco "Paquito" Montaner, one of the greatest Puerto Rican pitchers of all times.
Puerto Rico national basketball team
This Olympic cycle did not go well for the team at the International level, although it did have great moments and it performed well at the local level. Having failed to qualify for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia with its 4th place at the 1999 Tournament of the Americas hosted in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 2001 the team was able to recover its CentroBasket title, with a triumph in Mexico. Later that year, the team repeated its 4th place at the 2001 FIBA Americas tournament in Argentina. In 2002, the team had a strong showing at the World Championship held in Indianapolis, USA. The team beat the top 3 European teams at the time; eventual champion Yugoslavia, Turkey and Spain. Puerto Rico, with a 5–1 record entering the quarterfinals, lost its chance to get into the medals round only by a dramatic 2-points loss to New Zealand, eventually placing 7th. It is worth mentioning that Carlos Arroyo debuted at this tournament. In 2003, the team also won gold at the CentroBasket tournament, held in Mexico, but was only able to achieve the bronze medal at the Tournament of the Americas and the Pan American Games. Reaching its 16th final at the CentroBasket tournament, Puerto Rico conquered the silver medal at the 2004 CentroBasket tournament, losing to the host Dominican Republic, 75–74, in the championship game. On August 15, 2004, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the Puerto Rico National Basketball Team became the second team in history to defeat the United States Olympic basketball team, recording only the third loss in an Olympic competition for the U.S. team, and the first since NBA players were allowed to compete. The 92–73 outcome of that game is, as of 2016, the most lopsided victory against the U.S. (collegiate or NBA players) in the history of Olympic basketball. The other team to defeat the U.S. had been the Soviet Union at the 1972 gold medal game (the outcome of which is still disputed) and the 1988 semifinals.