How The Latin Influence Is Remaking America's National Pastime

The big number in baseball this past winter was 252—as in 252 million, and in case you missed it, it�s the number of dollars Alex Rodriguez will make in the next decade, thanks to his new free-agent contract with the Texas Rangers. It might even be money well spent. A graceful, slick-fielding shortstop with a career .309 batting average and Hank Aaron-esque power—A-Rod has already slugged 189 career homers—Rodriguez might be the best position player in the game. And he�s only 25. Above and beyond that, Rodriguez is also a marketer�s dream: handsome, affable, and thanks to his Dominican Republic roots, bilingual to boot.

And that brings us to another number, not so widely reported but even more important: 197, which just happens to be the number of players on 2000 Opening Day rosters who were born outside the United States. That number is currently higher than it�s ever been, and will not go down when Opening Day rosters are released early this month.

Those foreign-born players are not from Germany or Finland; they are almost unanimously from Mexico, the Caribbean—Puerto Rico and especially the Dominican Republic—and Central and South America—Nicaragua and Venezuela. Many of these players—Pedro Martinez, Carlos Delgado, Manny Ramirez, Sammy Sosa—are among the very best in the game. You could make a terrific All-Star Team out of them (and a bit later, we�ll do just that). But when you add their influence to that of the players of Latin lineage who were born in the United States—Tino Martinez, Edgar Martinez, Moises Alou, Nomar Garciaparra, and, yes, New York City-born, Florida-raised Alex Rodriguez—you have a phenomenon: Latin players are remaking the National Pastime, and making it better than ever. <P>The history of <i>beisbol</i> in Latin America is just about as old as the history of baseball in El Norte. In 1898, the Spanish-American War may have introduced the game to Puerto Rico, but there were organized leagues in the Dominican Republic 20 years before that. Organized ball in Cuba dates from 1868, and throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, wherever American trade—and U.S. Marines—went, be it Mexico, Central America or Venezuela, <i>beisbol</i> invariably followed. In those same years, too, soccer—an English invention—followed the Union Jack throughout Latin America; coincidence or not, the best baseball-playing countries in Central and South America, Mexico excluded, are to this day some of the worst soccer-playing countries in the world, while Major League Baseball is still waiting for its first Argentine-born superstar. <P>Latin influence on the Major Leagues, however, was slow to evolve, with the first significant influx in Latin players not coming until Jackie Robinson broke the color bar in 1947. Just as the first African-American players (Robinson, Larry Doby, Monte Irvin, Ernie Banks, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron) were among the very best in the game, so were the pioneer Latins. <P>There is a stereotype of the Latin ballplayer: the good-field, no-hit shortstop, the Anti-Alex Rodriguez, if you will. If you�re a certain age (i.e., a Baby Boomer), you can easily conjure up Garrett Morris� <i>Saturday Night Live</i> character, Chico Esquella, and his one-liner: "Beisbol bin berry berry gud to me!" Morris, who created this bit in the mid-1970s, probably had a player like Chico Carrasquel—a supposedly good-field, no-hit AL shortstop of the 1950s—in mind, but if he did, he didn�t remember Chico very well. Carrasquel, who hailed from Caracas, broke in at age 22 and played 10 years with the White Sox, Indians, A�s and Orioles. He hit .258 for his career, but over .280 in his best seasons, when he was playing more than 140 games a year. In Chicago, he displaced one Hall of Famer, Luke Appling, from his starting job, and held it until replaced by another Hall of Famer, Luis Aparicio. <P>Among the other top Latin players of the �50s were Mexico�s Roberto "Bobby" Avila, who played second base for the Cleveland Indians, and in 1954 became the first Latin player to win a batting title; and the White Sox� Minnie Minoso, from Havana, who didn�t begin his Major League career until he was 28 and still finished with 1,963 career hits. <P>The 1960s were the heyday of Dominican-born right-handed pitcher Juan Marichal, a six-time 20-game winner; and Puerto Rican sluggers Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda. Cepeda was the last player—until Alex Rodriguez—to be ahead of Hank Aaron�s home-run pace at age 25; Clemente finished with 3,000 hits and probably possessed the best outfield throwing arm ever (an ex-teammate, Freddie Patek, recalls Clemente throwing a batter out at the plate from the warning track, more than 350 feet away, in old Forbes Field). Clemente died, tragically, in a plane crash, while delivering aid to victims of a Nicaraguan earthquake in 1972. <P>By the 1970s, Latin America was providing more than its fair share of the stars: Mark Belanger, Aurelio Rodriguez, the Alou brothers (Felipe, Matty and Jesus), Tony "Doggie" Perez, Manny Sanguillen, Bert Campaneris, Tony Oliva and Rod Carew (who hit .388 in 1977—and .343 for the decade!). <P>Still, by our unofficial count, there were just 19 Latin-born regular players in the Major Leagues in 1971; 20 years later, that number had more than quadrupled. Latin-born players were again among the league leaders that year—Dominican Julio Franco won the AL batting title; and Puerto Rico�s Danny Tartabull led the AL in slugging (.593), while two Cuban-born players, Rafael Palmeiro and Jose Canseco, shared the AL home-run title. But there was something else going on. For the first time, many of the back-ups in The Show were of Latin origin, too. <P>In the years before free agency and escalating contracts, there was a tacit understanding in baseball that you just didn�t have marginal players of color, whether American-born blacks or Latinos. By the �90s, that thinking was long gone. Because at the same time, Latin countries—especially the Dominican Republic—began seriously organizing their youth leagues. Today, there are more than 3,000 Little League teams in the 32 Latin and Caribbean nations, as well as dozens of more formal baseball "academies" like the one former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Jose Rijo runs in San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic. <P>The kids flock to <i>beisbol</i> both for the love of the competition—Latins have always enjoyed showing up los Yanquis at their own game—but also for the money. For almost everyone in these countries, grinding poverty is the way of life, and baseball is often the only ticket out. How else to explain why the Dominican Republic—a country half the size of South Carolina—sends more players to the Major Leagues than any of the 50 states? Educational levels in the Dominican Republic are deplorably low, but how much schooling do you need to understand the significance of Sammy Sosa�s $5 million San Cristobal mansion, Pedro Martinez�s $75 million contract with the Red Sox, or the deal Alex Rodriguez is getting? <P>The prospects are being groomed, and Major League Baseball has come trolling for them. Foreign players, including Puerto Ricans, are not subject to the draft, and may be signed as soon as they turn 16 (which hasn�t stopped underage players from signing, too). With more young players learning English in their homelands, and coming through organized systems, Major League Baseball is getting something owners dream of: first-class young talent at bargain prices. <P>Now that we are inarguably in the new Millennium, we can see how it�s shaping up on the diamond. Almost a third of today�s Major Leaguers are Latin-born or Americans of Latin descent. And, equally inarguably, they bring a new offensive dimension to the game: They hit for average and they hit with power. Last year in the American League, five teams hit better than .280; just 10 years ago, only the league leading Twins hit .280. Five AL teams in 2000 hit at least 216 home runs; no team in baseball hit nearly that number in 1991. Based on the 2000 season, you could have quite an All-Star team, made up of guys born in Latin America: <UL> <LI><b>Catcher:</b> Ivan Rodriguez (Puerto Rico). Limited to just 363 at-bats by a thumb injury, he still clubbed 27 homers, drove in 83 and batted .347. The 1999 AL MVP.</LI> <LI><b>First Base:</b> Carlos Delgado (Puerto Rico). This Blue Jay led the AL in doubles (57) and total bases (378) while hitting 41 homers, knocking in 137 and hitting .347.</LI> <LI><b>Second Base:</b> Jose Vidro (Puerto Rico). The Expos� switch-hitter had 200 hits and a .330 average and finished second in the NL in assists. <LI><b>Third Base:</b> Tony Batista (Dominican Republic). Delgado�s Toronto teammate rang up 41 homers and 114 runs batted in (RBI).</LI> <LI><b>Shortstop:</b> Omar Vizquel (Venezuela). a .287 batting average, with 66 RBI and 22 steals for the Indians. In an age of slick-fielding shortstops, Omar is still the slickest. </LI> <LI><b>Left Field:</b> Vladimir Guerrero (Dominican Republic). A .345 hitter with 44 home runs and 123 RBI for Montreal in �00 and, he has an arm like a cannon (12 assists).</LI> <LI><b>Center Field:</b> Andruw Jones (Curacao). Atlanta�s star had a .303 average on 199 base hits, 104 RBI and 122 runs scored. </LI> <LI><b>Right Field:</b> Sammy Sosa (Dominican Republic). The Cubs� star "slumped" in �00, hitting only 50 home runs (to lead baseball) after two straight seasons of 60-plus, but made up for it with 138 RBI and a .320 average. </LI> </UL> <P>You can add a Latin-born back up at each position: catcher Jorge Posada; infielders Rafael Palmeiro, Edgardo Alfonzo, Edgar Renteria and Luis Castillo; outfielders Richard Hidalgo, Magglio Ordonez and Bernie Williams—and the drop-off would not be catastrophic. That outfield trio combined to drive in 369 runs last season. <P>Of course, we�ll need a pitching staff, but luckily, the best pitcher in baseball was born in the Dominican Republic. Boston�s Pedro Martinez has put together consecutive AL Cy Young seasons Sandy Koufax could be proud of—and done it pitching his home games in Fenway Park! Pedro�s 1.74 ERA last season was more than three runs lower than the league average. The last pitcher to post a number like that routinely was Philly�s Lefty Grove in the �30s. Including the NL award he won with Montreal in 1997, Pedro has three Cy Young Awards. Every eligible pitcher with three Cy Young Awards is in the Hall of Fame. <P>Pedro, though, is just our ace. Add him to a staff that also includes San Francisco�s Livan Hernandez, Montreal�s Javier Vasquez, Cleveland�s Bartolo Colon and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez of the Yankees, and you get a rotation that combined to go 73-47 in 2000. Pencil in the Giants� Felix Rodriguez and the Mets� Armando Benitez as your set-up men, and Mariano Rivera (who has saved more World Series games than anyone in history) as your closer, hand that team over to our manager, Montreal�s Felipe Alou—and guess which country whose initials are DR he was born in—and we promise you they clinch the pennant on August 6. <P>Down the road, of course, several of these guys are going to have their plaques in Cooperstown. Luis Aparicio, Rod Carew, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal and Tony Perez are already in the Hall of Fame. David Concepcion and Luis Tiant are currently on the ballot. Nicaragua�s "El Presidente," Dennis Martinez (who won more games than Marichal), becomes eligible in 2004 (along with Joe Carter, Dennis Eckersley and Paul Molitor—ouch!). <P>Pedro Martinez�s arm won�t hold out forever. Look for him in the Class of 2011. <P>But don�t expect Alex Rodriguez until 2016 or so. The way we have it figured, after his Rangers contract expires, he�s going to need four or five seasons in that brand-new home-run heaven they�ve built for the Las Vegas Banditos to finally eclipse McGwire�s record. <P>Art Durbano is a contributing editor to <i><b><font color="Green">Satellite DIRECT.</font></b></i> <P><FONT FACE="GENEVA, HELVETICA, ARIAL" SIZE="-2"> </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD WIDTH=470 VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT=10 COLSPAN=2></TD></TR> <TR><TD WIDTH=470 VALIGN=TOP ALIGN=CENTER COLSPAN=2><FONT FACE="GENEVA, HELVETICA, ARIAL" SIZE="-2"> <A HREF="/">Back</A> | <A HREF="dirf2.cfm"> Next</A> | <A HREF="dishnews.cfm">Dishing It Out</A> | <A HREF="../dirfaqs/">DIRECTV® Dish FAQS</A> | <A HREF="../hotlinks/">Hot Links</A> <BR><A HREF="https://commerce.cdsfulfillment.com/SAT/custserv.cgi">Customer Service</A> | <a href="https://commerce.cdsfulfillment.com/SAT/subscriptions.cgi">Subscribe</a> | <A HREF="../contact/">Contact Us</A> | <A HREF="../links/">Programming</A> | <A HREF="/">Home</A></FONT></TD></TR></TABLE> </TD></TR> <TR><TD WIDTH=129 HEIGHT=26></TD> <TD WIDTH=471><HR SIZE=1 COLOR="#000000"> <FONT FACE="GENEVA, HELVETICA, ARIAL" SIZE="-2">© 2001 CommTek Communications Corporation - All Rights Reserved.</FONT> <BR><FONT FACE="GENEVA, HELVETICA, ARIAL" SIZE="-2"><A HREF="copy.cfm">Copyright and legal disclaimer</A> <BR>DIRECTV is a registered trademark of DIRECTV, Inc., a unit of Hughes Electronics.</FONT> <BR><FONT FACE="GENEVA, HELVETICA, ARIAL" SIZE="-2">Website Development: <A HREF="http://www.tomnelson.com/">Tom Nelson Illustration & Design</A></FONT></TD></TR></TABLE> </BODY> </HTML>