Justino ‘Gato Brujo’ Salinas, Chorrerano ‘Fortress’

For each team to have its own fiefdom and to be more than its home, this is what the renovated Justino “Gato Brujo” Salinas Stadium must become, for Panama Oeste.

He “witch cat”it must be a fortress “cowboys”“At home you have to have an advantage, you have to play much better, you know the field, you play a provincial game,” says the former player and legend of Panama Oeste, Eric Espino, who scored 509 hits in major league baseball.

Eric Espino, with 32 and Luis Muñoz with 14, They showed their pride that the first two numbers retired from West and which were caught on the walls of the “Cat Witch” garden.

“Excited, I didn’t know how much people appreciated me,” says Espino, who studied at Pedro Pablo Sánchez School, sabout retiring his number and was the founder of the team Panama Oeste 1975. when it split with Panama.

Espino hopes the retired numbers are respected, he remembers cases of provinces retiring the numbers and then other players using them

Western Panama He won three youth titles (1986, 1996 and 2023).

He does not have a title in the senior category, although he played in the final against Herrera in 1980 and lost it, he remembers. Espino.

Formerly known as Matuna Stadium, then 3 de Noviembre and now Justino “Gato Brujo” Salinas, Espino adds that this is due to emigration, before the Panama Oeste team played in their fiefdom and it seemed as if they were away.

Now, “cowboys” They have the support of West fans, Espino says.

For his part, Luis Muñoz also indicated that the retirement of his number in the West is “a reason for pride” and in one way or another is part of the recognition, he feels happy for this fact, as does his family.

Muñoz believes that there is talent in the West, which brought us the title in the senior category due to the incompatibility of several factors.

As for the fans, the situation has “turned around”, they support the team, this is an important factor, but ultimately it does not affect the result of the match.

Munoz claims that ““witch cat” being a fortress is something “relative”, it does not guarantee the title, besides, among other things, talent and technical leadership.