They Are Dancing in Streets : Reaction: Residents of Granada, Nicaragua, celebrate the success of their favorite baseball son.

Nancy Hefley, the organist at Dodger Stadium, has traditionally greeted Montreal pitcher Dennis Martinez with a chorus of a little-known song entitled “Managua, Nicaragua” before each of his starts. Problem is, Martinez is from Granada, a city about 30 miles south of Managua.

Thirty miles on a map, that is. In the eyes of many Nicaraguans, the cities are worlds apart, which is why Martinez complained to one of the Dodgers’ Spanish-language radio broadcasters. The result was Sunday’s first-inning serenade of “El Nandaimeno,” the story of a proud Granadino.

Less than three hours later, the central park in Martinez’s hometown was filled with proud Granadinos, who staged an impromptu fiesta to salute their native son’s perfect game against the Dodgers.

Only five Nicaraguans have ever reached the major leagues and Martinez is the only one still playing at that level. But baseball has long been the country’s national pastime, and each of Martinez’s starts leads the sports report in Nicaragua’s three daily newspapers. News of Sunday’s accomplishment spread quickly.

Edgar Rodriguez, a sportswriter at El Nuevo Diario, said each of the country’s radio stations broke into their normal programming to report the perfect game. That was cause for loud celebrating in the neighborhoods around his paper’s office.

“Everyone’s very happy,” he said. “It’s like a holiday. People are out in the street dancing.”

Edgar Tijerino, sports editor of the daily newspaper Barricada and host of a radio sports-talk show called “Doble Play,” likened the reaction to the one that followed Alex Arguello’s victory in a world title fight in 1974.

“Everyone is excited. Now everyone wants to hear from Dennis,” Tijerino said.

But the most excitement was undoubtedly in Granada, where Martinez’s mother and two sisters live. After each start, Martinez calls his family to talk about the game. After Sunday’s call, Martinez’s mother became the guest of honor in the city’s central park.

It’s unlikely the crowd heard a version of “El Nandaimeno” more heartfelt than the one Hefley played Sunday. Nevertheless, she couldn’t resist sneaking in an old favorite.

“After I played it about 55 times times, I had to play the Managua song again,” she said. “There’s only so many times you can play one song.”

Times staff writer Bill Plaschke contributed to this story.