The United States Postal Service held a special pictorial postmark ceremony earlier this week at the Casa de la Música in Cayey, Puerto Rico, honoring the legacy of basketball icon José Rafael "Piculín" Ortiz Rijos. Cayey Mayor Rolando Ortiz Velázquez commended the organizers, citizens and athletes who attended alongside USPS representatives. The player’s mother, Doña Elba Rijos, thanked attendees on Tuesday for continuing to remember her son, recalling how as a boy he would leave home with a baseball bat and return without it after stopping to play in the neighborhood.
Historian and professor Dr. Aida Mendoza noted that the Cayey philatelic group, founded in 2023, previously marked the town’s 250th anniversary and the 60th anniversary of the Tuna de Cayey musical ensemble. Rep. Gretchen Hau Irizarry spoke about Ortiz’s career in the Superior National Basketball league, with the Puerto Rican national team in the Olympics, and in the NBA.
USPS’s Ramón Rivera Ferrer recalled assisting the athlete at a Guaynabo post office. The postmark design, created by artist Javier Vélez, includes the name "Cayey," the date October 23, 2026, ZIP code 00736, the number 4 that Ortiz wore, and his portrait. It will be used for 30 days at the Cayey post office.