The death of Carlitos Balá, 97 years old, means the loss of the most famous fan of a century-old institution like Chacarita Juniors, to which he was romantically linked for belonging to the same neighborhood of origin.
Carlitos Balá was not a typical soccer fan, one of those who maintain the ritual of going to the field over time, but he was a tireless ambassador of the tricolor entity.
In his public appearances he always made mention, with pride, of his identification with the Undertaker, the one he forged as a child when the institution still had its court in the neighborhood.
Precisely in 1925, the year in which the creator of the Chupetometer was born, the club began the construction of its first stadium in the block delimited by Humboldt, Murillo, Padilla and Darwin streets, next to the land of its greatest rival, Atlanta.
During its first years, after the foundation of May 1, 1906, Chacarita had used a space located on Avenida Lacroze and Álvarez Thomas as a field.
When Balá was about to turn 20 and fantasized about unleashing his artistic genius while working on bus line 39, Chacarita moved his stadium to the Buenos Aires party of San Martín, evicted due to late payment of monthly rent.
The uprooting did not alter the affective bond with Balá, always ready to give the club notoriety either in the joy of the Metropolitano ’69 title – the only one in its history – or in the sadness of his oscillating walk through different categories of Argentine soccer.
It was only in April 2017 that the first institutional act between the club and the popular humorist took place. The Legislature of Buenos Aires prepared a recognition for him and the funeral leadership joined the initiative with the gift of a tricolor shirt.
However, the greatest tribute came the following year at the initiative of a member who promoted Balá’s first visit to the new San Martín stadium so that the CD would give him his honorary card.
In the same celebration, a mural painted by the artist Jorge Pagliano was inaugurated on the wall of Matheu Street, through which the main stalls of the court are accessed. There you can see Carlitos with the funeral t-shirt along with one of his most famous phrases: “What does salt taste like?”.
“Chacarita is my neighborhood and my club, that is to say, it is my life. My origins are there, as are my childhood, my adolescence and my youth. Thanks to those who made this wonderful mural and thanks to the people of the club. I am very excited because they made me remember what Chacarita means to me”, he was moved that November 28, an unforgettable date for an iconic radio and TV artist who marked generations.
