By Danielle Capalbo

Alberto Vasallo III strode toward the bleachers of Fenway Park last Friday, arriving hours before the Red Sox and the Yankees would play. But he was there to make community connections, more than to watch the game.

Several times, the local journalist and publisher stopped to shake the hand of a passer-by. He glowed and was pleased, to give a hug or to talk for a minute. In Spanish, he struck up a conversation with a mustached man in an apron. They acted like old friends. The man, said Vasallo, cooks for the baseball players. He is also an artist.

Vasallos keeps his eyes open for talented Latinos to showcase. “I’m trying to help him out,” Vasallo said of the man. They exchanged goodbyes and Vasallo proceeded.

It was nearly 6 p.m. The game would start at 7 p.m. But Vasallo said he probably wouldn’t stay – he came to Fenway to mingle a bit with some Red Sox players, with whom he reaches to the Latino community with, and, to distribute copies of the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. Early next year, Vasallo will be in charge of the newspaper.

Spanish for “The World,” El Mundo is the largest Latino newspaper in New England, Vasallo said. Vasallo’s father, Alberto Vasallo, Jr., founded El Mundo 35 years ago. Unlike other publications, El Mundo spoke the language of Boston’s growing Hispanic community and it told their stories. Vasallo III said El Mundo proudly upholds the commitment after nearly three decades.

“The prime goal of El Mundo is to absolutely chronicle the ups and downs, the highlights as well as the lowlights, concerns and issues of the Latino community, from beginning to end,” he said.

Five years ago, the responsibilities of editor started to shift, gradually, from father to son. More than two decades after his boyhood start at the paper, Vasallo III will take the name and responsibility of editor.

“It’s been an ongoing process,”he said. “As we speak, my father’s not really involved day-to-day.” The passing of the torch, he said, will be mostly symbolic.

Vasallo spoke Friday over the blare of a traditional ballpark organ and the sounds of fans arriving. They wore red and white, the names and numbers of Boston icons stretched like banners across the backs of their T-shirts: Ramirez, 24; Varitek, 33. Vasallo is no stranger to this park, and neither is his community.

“It started with my father’s relationship with Luis Tiant,” he said. Legendary Tiant made an impression on the 8-year-old Vasallo, who was, then, wide-eyed. “They were very good, close friends,” he said. “So … I got to know Luis. He was my first interview ever and he was, at that time, a big Red Sox star.”

Vasallo shares the Fenway experience exuberantly with his loyal readers. To celebrate El Mundo’s 35th birthday, he organized the “Festival Latino at Fenway,” which he said he wants to hold each year.

And three times a year, Vasallo honors Latino middle school students at Fenway with a larger-than-life ceremony, part of the Latino Youth Recognition Day program he founded 12 years ago.

“That’s the thing I’m most proud of, by far, head and shoulders,” Vasallo beamed. At the ceremonies, he reads aloud the names of each of the students in front of thousands of onlookers. It’s an experience, he said, they never forget.

Vasallo is part of the framework of Boston’s Latino community, and the Cuban-American, a graduate of Boston College, sees a bright future for El Mundo.

His first task: expand distribution.

“It’s one of those papers that we found has a high level of acceptance,” he said. “It’s just getting it out to more people.”

One idea is the colorful El Mundo van. “Visible, fun,” he said. “A kind of moving billboard that is always filled with newspapers.”

More hands would help, too. Giselle Sterling is a junior at University of Massachusetts at Lowell and an El Mundo intern. On Friday, she accompanied Vasallo to the game. When asked what her internship entails, she politely laughed. “What don’t I do?”

Vassallo III is interested in gaining more interns, through Northeastern’s co-op program, interns who may later become permanent employees, he said.

Vice President of Northeastern’s Latin American Student Organization Victor L. Morales said an internship at a Spanish paper would be invaluable experience for a Spanish-speaking journalist and a chance to flex their bilingual muscles.

“People like being able to combine what they know to make [a product] unique,” he said. “Language is a part of that.”

And the bilingual stance of El Mundo strengthens both publication and community, said the senior English major.

“Publications like El Mundo are at the front of being able to communicate to those that many [papers] miss because of language barriers,” he said.

As the sun set over the Green Monster, Alberto smiled.

“There is nothing like El Mundo to keep me connected to the Latino community,” he said. “Nothing even comes close.”