Next time, they’ll go up against each other on a Bronx baseball field. But this time, Congressman Jose Serrano was Hugo Chavez’ biggest fan, inviting the oft-maligned Venezuelan president to the Bronx to meet his constituents.

It all started when Serrano heard that Chavez would be in town for a United Nations conference in September. He called Chavez’ people to broach the idea of a Bronx day trip and Serrano said their response was, “This is incredible! We were just going to call you.” Chavez was interested in meeting with community people in the Bronx, perhaps because Serrano has been one of his few supporters in Washington. Chavez has been pilloried by the administration and other politicians for his socialist leanings and his alliance with Fidel Castro.

To save time, Serrano invited several community groups, including Mothers on the Move, Nos Quedamos and Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, to set up display tables at the Point, a community center in Hunts Point.

“Everybody set up a booth and we expected a typical head-of-state situation – shake a hand and leave,” Serrano said in a phone interview. “Three hours later he was still at the center. It was incredible!”

Chavez asked each group questions about their budget, staff size and mission. At the booth for the Mary Mitchell Center, a youth center in Crotona, Chavez instructed an aide to take down the group’s information so the Venezuelan embassy could make a donation, the Miami Herald reported.

Chavez made other speeches that day, before a packed house at the Latino Pastoral Action Center in the Bronx and at a church in Manhattan. His Bronx tour seems to have made an impression.

“Starting today, you known that I [have fallen] in love,” he said to the crowd in Manhattan. “I have fallen in love with the Bronx and New York.”

He added, “I even have a dream, as Dr. King said. Some day I want to take a swim in the Bronx River when we clean it, when we de-pollute it. And I have another dream, to play ball at Yankee Stadium.”

He also said he had “met the soul of the American people.”

U.S. policy toward Venezuela is driven by anti-Castro Cubans living in Florida, Serrano said. “Miami gets this country into so many confrontations with Latin America,” said Serrano, who brought Castro to the Bronx a decade ago.

Serrano said Chavez’ relationship with the borough will continue and a number of ideas for collaboration are being batted around.

Chavez, who once aspired to be a major leaguer, did tell Serrano that he had one disappointment on his trip: he wanted to play softball. That will have to wait for his next visit, though the two politicians played catch on stage after one of the speeches.

In the meantime, Serrano gave an appropriate gift of two framed and signed Yankee photos: one of Paul O’Neill, and one of Derek Jeter flying into the stands to snag a fly ball.

“This one reminds me of how you dove into the fight against poverty in your country,” Serrano told Chavez.