Why so many baseball players are Dominican
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- čas přidán 10. 07. 2023
- And why so many players are among the best in Major League Baseball.
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Baseball has a long history in the United States, but it also has strong roots in the Caribbean and Latin America, particularly in the Dominican Republic. Cubans were the first to bring the game from the US to their country in the 19th century, and later, wealthy Cubans introduced it to the Dominican Republic. Over the following decades, the sport became deeply ingrained in Dominican culture, while in the United States, baseball evolved into a multi-million dollar industry.
Eventually, the United States began to seek out Cuban baseball talent. But when diplomatic relations between the two countries deteriorated, the Dominican Republic emerged as the primary focus of Major League Baseball's talent pipeline.
As Dominicans demonstrated their skill and success as baseball players, the MLB started establishing academies in the Dominican Republic, which were affiliated with MLB teams in the United States. This system facilitated the influx of numerous talented Dominican players into MLB teams. Currently, Dominicans dominate Major League Baseball in the United States, making up more than 10 percent of all players in the league. They significantly outnumber players from other foreign-born countries.
To gain a deeper understanding of how baseball spread throughout the Dominican Republic and why the island produces so many MLB players, watch the latest episode of Vox Atlas.
Sources:
Dominican Baseball: New Pride, Old Prejudice by Alan Klein
www.amazon.com/Dominican-Base...
Sugarball: The American Game, the Dominican Dream by Alan Klein
www.amazon.com/Sugarball-Amer...
Pitching Democracy: Baseball and Politics in the Dominican Republic by April Yoder
www.amazon.com/Pitching-Democ...
Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos and the Color Line by Adrian Burgos
www.amazon.com/Playing-Americ...
Further reading/watching:
MLB’s International Draft would Affect Dominican Republic
www.nytimes.com/2022/07/24/sp...
‘A failed system’: A corrupt process exploits Dominican baseball prospects. Is an international draft really the answer?
theathletic.com/3080470/2022/...
Inside Baseball’s Dominican Sweatshop System
www.typeinvestigations.org/in...
Baseball Is A Field Of Dreams - And Dashed Hopes - For Dominicans
www.npr.org/sections/goatsand...
MLB’s neo colonial practices in the Dominican Republic Academy system
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/...
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I grew up in the Dominican Republic and something particular about the country is that baseball is so far integrated into the culture that you just "grow into it". Playing baseball as a kid was just like eating and breathing to me. Something else that's particular is the fact that women like the sport as well. I've yet to find a date that doesn't watch baseball one way or another.
Don't forget about vitilla.
Wow... I'd love to have a girlfriend who was into Baseball... I can't imagine that...
I feel like it’s the same for Japan. Like baseball is huge in Japan
@@TheKNIGHTELFMOHAWK But in Japan there's other sports where they thrive in as well, and have a huge following. Soccer is huge there, sumo is huge there, volleyball is huge there. It feels like DRC only has baseball.
Dominicans born in the states are big on baseball too. My mother in law is Dominican and a RBI baseball coach in NJ. Most players are Dominican, and they even fly kids from DR to play with and against.
I went to DR back in 2014. As the plane landed, I looked out the window and saw nothing but baseball fields.😂
Literally
😂😂 I was thinking about that as well. Must be fun asf to have the stadium be available to everybody
Sounds like heaven
😂
I can confirm that🤣🤣
I'm Puerto Rican and have been lucky enough to go and play baseball in the DR and watch a winter ball game there too. The environment was electric! This was back in the day when Miguel Tejada had won AL MVP in Oakland, so we're talking almost 25 years ago. But the fans were amazing, so into the game, knew every player's name, the women were into it, I mean it was amazing I'd never seen anything like it. The closest thing I can compare it to is going to a soccer game in Brazil.
Facts
This is a real comment that add value to the conversation
Miguel tejada won the MVP in 2002. But you are right, l used to know the names of each player of each team.
@@Marjorie321 that sounds about right to me, it was around that year or maybe the year after we saw him. I still remember he hit a double to the CF-RF gap that sounded like a firecracker when he made contact. Got lucky enough to see Vladimir Guerrero Sr. when he was still young with the Montreal Expos too. That guy could hit anything, never seen anything like it either before or since
🇵🇷👍
Kind of shocking you didn’t talk about the biggest issue with the academy system. It’s treated as a replacement for school, not just higher education like in the US but grade school too. The only reason the system works is because DR is so poor that it’s better to get an education in baseball than anything academic. That’s the real tragedy of the situation.
EDIT: “so poor” includes a lot of the US too guys. It’s the same relationship that DR has with baseball as Mississippi & Alabama have with football. The baseball academy system is a damnation of the state of education across North & Central America, not an opportunity to express the superiority of the US. If anything the state of American sports shows just how bad life & opportunity really is stateside.
Interesting 🤔
vox act like they really know it all and leave out crucial stuff classic
I mean every country except for the US and Canada treat there sports like that. Soccer/football, eu basketball and cricket is the same
Americans.
D.R. so poor?
Don't even look to Haiti, the country Next to D.R...
I love that my latino people get the respect and acknowledge they deserve. I’m Mexican and we also love baseball in our country. But it is true that Cubans,and Dominicans are on another level when it comes to baseball.
No hablamos latín y no somo del Lacio Italia, así que no somos latinos y no necesitamos la aprobación estadounidense para ser alguien.
@@AlejandroDaniel531???hablas español que es una lengua romance así que eres latino.
@@vj7994 El nombre Latin o Latino en el nuevo mundo de America fue dado por el frances Napoleon y Michel Chavelier que llego a America del sur y se encontro con los europeos yl se sentia que estaba en europa, el fue el primero de llamar la parte del Caribe, Centro y Sur, Latino America. Aunque el espanol esta conciderado un lenguaje romance no significa que el que habla espanol es considerado Latino, para nada, somos hispanos de habla espanol y de de varias razas. El verdadero latino existe solo en ADN en Italia y mayorment el Romano de Roma.
@@mannyrodriguez5453no importa nosotros hablamos un idioma de romance. Un idioma derivado por el latín de los romanos
Julio Rodriguez is arguably the most important player to join the Seattle Mariners since Ichiro did from Japan, 23 years ago. Julio has a position of power and respect as one of the most exciting young stars in baseball -I hope he'll join in the effort for fair treatment and pay to his Dominican brothers.
He definitely will. I mean he bought his hometowns first ambulances
Julio!!! should’ve made this cut, cmon! Superstar. GO M’s
a big reason why there is so many DR players is because how cheap they can pay them.. fair pay = less DR players, sorry to say
@@tke7749 nah, these owners bring in millions in revenue with every game that's played. they can DEFINITELY afford to pay the Dominican players fairly. fair pay = less yacht parties for the owners. that's it. they're just greedy.
@@matttomo15obody said the owners “can’t” pay them, though. Everything is competitive, so if they can invest cheaper for a greater return, that’ll always be the case whether we like it or not. It’s easy to exploit humans in dire situations.(like offering them anything that sounds life changing to the desperate)
This is amazing! As a Dominican kid who grew up playing baseball in the DR I appreciate you guys doing this. To put it simply our parents care more about us doing well on the baseball field than at school. It’s part of our culture and probably one of the first thing you do as a kid after learning how to stand on your feet.
It's like basketball and football in America depending on where you live for Black Americans.
This came out at a perfect time because the home run derby last night was Cuban players vs Dominican players. A Dominican won, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 🇩🇴
Plátano power 💪🏼
Correction: Dominican Vs Mexican player, ✅
@@uliseshernandez3163Randy was born in Cuba. He escaped to Mexico and became a citizen because he enjoyed it there and they treated him well, but he’s Cuban. Born in Cuba
He is a Mexican national treasure
Hey did you guys know Mexico was in the final four on the baseball world championship beating out other countries like the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico
I grew up in DR, and raise in the Heights, my brother was born in DR and play minor league for the Marlins, all I want is for him to earn what he deserve for all the hard work and training they do to be the best at the sport
For a lot of Dominican families, its a way out of poverty & a way to support their extended family & communities. You're born into it and the love for the game runs in the family for decades. The way players train from the moment they can walk is amazing...which produces these amazing athletes into the pros.
Great job, great video. As a Dominican, and as a fan of the sport, thanks for showcasing our country. There is much more to talk about, but this video is part of the spark of those conversations.
"This is the Major Leagues Rafi, we are all from the Dominican Republic."
😂 A man of culture I see.
Just watch out for the celebration slapassss
😂😂😂😂😂
Baseball is a lifestyle in DR, believe or not I'm half Japanese and half Dominican that's all we did as kids.
Bro, if you have that mixture and you aren't into Baseball, I'm pretty sure the fabric of time itself would rip.
Well I played for about 2 years when I was a kid and got bored of it, last time I watched baseball was in 2013 when the Red Sox won@@AquamarineHahi
So happy that Epy Guerrero got his due. He signed so many great Dominican Blue Jays players. The Jays had 3 starting Dominican players in 1985, and set a record for having 6 starting Dominican players in 2013. Tony Fernandez, one of the greatest shortstops of all time, was signed by Epy Guerrero.
Thank you Vox for this beautiful and well-documented video, as a Dominican American living in the USA, I played baseball as a young kid, I feel very proud of what Dominicans bring to the table to the MLB business.
American born however I played against cuban, Venezuelan, Puerto rican, and Dominican over my 20+ years of playing baseball. I must say those boys know how to play. They truly made Me become a great player.
As a Dominican, I say the MLB and American People Always Welcome in DR :) ; Baseball is our passion
Some of them don’t like us so don’t bother inviting
I loved this perspective on how the sport made it's way to Cuba and the Dominican Republic but it was worth mentioning that the indigenous people of the Caribbean, Tainos, had a sport that was similar to baseball 'Batu', 'Batey', 'Batos'. Although, it was not the same it had a similar structure.
It was not similar at all. The only comparison you can make is that it’s a sport that uses a ball. That’s it. Nothing else was like the sport of baseball
Not to mention many say that Batéy was just a simplified version of the Mayan game pok ta pok
Should put football in Dominican Republic
@@JERSEYBOYPLAY2HARDnah they’re not big enough baseball rules
In spanish we usually call baseball “El Rey de los Deportes”, “The King of Sports”.
The legend says spanish once asked cubans why didn’t the like fútbol, if it was “The sport of the king”, to what the cubans answered “Mi hermano, fútbol might be the sport of the king, but baseball is The King of Sports”. Or so the legend says…
No one call baseball the king of sports, liar
@@neyou6940 Are you mexican? I don't think so. Here it is commonly referred as it. So until you come to Mexico, shut up.
Proud Dominican over here!
As a Dominican baseball fan who knew all these Information, this video is an excellent recopilation, it can even be shown in schools if someone adds subtitles
When I moved to this country and started going to school, I remember being surprised that there were so many different sports that were offered. In DR, I only ever did baseball and running and the running was mostly for the baseball lol. I started playing baseball for as long as I remember before moving to the US. Till this day, I can still throw a mean curve ball
That was a great video! I'd be curious to know also how the sport made it to Japan and became so big.
Read "You gotta have wa" by Robert Whiting
It's a easy explaination. Baseball was introduced to Japan in 1872 by American english professor named Horace Wilson at Kaisel Academy. This was during meiji period where the Japan government appointed American foreigners to help modernization. America's baseball culture got spread to Japan and became popular.
Even in South Korea, baseball is as popular as soccer there drawing thousands and thousands of fans.
The 30 for 30 podcast of the the ESPN show has a great episode on how Japanese players finally got a shot in the MLB after decades of being shackled by the gatekeeping contracts of the Japanese league.
The interesting part is you'd expect the episode to highlight Ichiro, but the main character of their story is Hideo Nomo
Now I am curious as well why it wasn't the case in the Philippines. Here, basketball and boxing became way more popular than baseball starting in the 1970s.
I would like to see them explain and talk about the history of baseball for the other mayor Latino Country's in baseball like Puerto Rico and Venezuela
No
Luego
Venezuela would be interesting
I liked the neo-colonial comparison of Dominican players to natural resources waiting to be extracted and manufactured. Truly brilliant.
I like the way they ignored african genetics
@@Blackdoomdeath666 what do you mean?
@@Blackdoomdeath666what are you talking about
@@Blackdoomdeath666Japan is way better than us Dominicans at baseball? Do they have African genes?
@@itzkrepo4103he can’t even explain what he meant. What a moronic statement
Thank you for connecting the dots of this incredibly interesting history! Great video!
29 American teams + 1 Canadian
Genial, two things I love, baseball and my culture :)
Some historical inaccuracies in this video. The ambassador of the United States, James Mark Sullivan (1873 - 1935), was the one that brought baseball to the Dominican Republic. The first game was played in Monte Cristi. Also, there's no way Cuban plantation owners relocated to DR because slavery was already outlawed there and the only few places that slavery still existed to name a few at the time (1860) was in the United States, Cuba, Puerto Rico, or Brazil.
Shoutout to Vox for the piece. Luis Aloma was my abuelo. An absolute baller on and off the field
Is so refreshing and so nice to watch your work guys, that even an unexpected topic can become super enjoyable.
I'M DOMINICAN BUT I LIVE IN USA AND MY DREAM IS THAT MY SON WILL BE A BASEBALL PLAYER 🥰🥰WE LOVE BASEBALL (EN Dr we say jugar pelota 😂)
From the late 1800 hundreds when Cubams brought baseball to the Dominican republic to early 2000, baseball used to be a truly passionate sport for Dominicans, Growing in the 90s even men with wife a kids working 6 days a week, Monday to Saturday 10 to 12 hours a day, Used to play baseball on Sunday. Playing like They were trying win a world series'ring. Now is more like a business.
We went to Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 for a mission trip and WOW they love baseball like Argentina 🇦🇷 loves soccer ⚽️…. Kids play baseball there all day everyday they have a passion for the sport. Kids play in all conditions there. Now I see why they are so good they love❤baseball
Pretty sweet. Wow I watched this within 24 hours of being released. This episode was so important at such a crucial time. I love the class perspective that was woven in. I'm a Padres fan and a Chicano and pay attention to issues concerning race and class. I love seeing the Dominican players and the city loves them too. I think Machado is Dominican too. I thought it was interesting when I see ARod, Soto, Big Papi and Guerrero all talking Spanish on the national stage during the All Star game. Thanks Vox!!!
Of course, Machado is Dominican, ex Yankees fan here and San Diego fans right now. Lol
You forgot Mauricio Dubon (Honduras) and Martin Maldonado (Puerto Rico) in the latino breakdown graphic of the Houston Astros.
are you surprised? vox knows nothing about sports which is why i click on their sports videos to see what they butcher like how they have the charlotte knights (white sox AAA) linked to the rangers, like just the first 30 seconds of the video was tell tale for "we are just quoting wikipedia"
You are right, but the topic is why there so many DR players in mlb not Latin player as a whole…
@@estilhernandez2705 if they higlight urquidy and altuve, then they should highlight them too, they also forgot yainer diaz
Japan to baseball is like Brazil to football and Dominican Republic to baseball is like France to football. High end quality talent playing in the big leagues!
😂Without a doubt, the Dominican Republic is the Brazil of baseball, Japan could be Germany. The magic and joy of Dominican baseball, with all due respect, is above that of Japan.
@@noliturs no the japanese baseball are like brazilian football. most wbc and world cup wins with high quality talents. the domincan republic are like france because they to have endless high quality talents all over baseball just like japan but the only difference is that japan has won more than the dom rep. as for the german's baseball quivalent, i'd say umm puerto rico? 🤷♂ usa is england, south korea is mexico and the rests are whatever....
@@1990Thunderboltthe Japanese have never faced the Dominicans and the closest they got to that was losing to Puerto Rico in the semi final and PR advanced to face DR in the final. If the Japanese go head to head with the DR they would lose
The second half of the century, Puerto Rico was the country that really picked up in terms of sending players to the majors. Dominican players have absolutely exploded since the 1990s however.
Roberto Clemente
Get over it lloricua.
As a baseball fan now I get it!!
Anyway they are so talented
Cuba too😅
@@redacted5035 I know I know🤣
I meant everyone
Loved this episode! Is it possible to know more about the history of baseball in other Latin American countries like Colombia or Venezuela?
A dominant country indeed
What a beautifully made video. Thank you for sharing this information and the history of it.
It’s called dedication and commitment ✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿
We are proud of our players, baseball is the most popular sport in the country. Gracias a esos jugadores por poner nuestra bandera en alto 🇩🇴🇩🇴💪💪
"OWED A LOT OF MONEY TO EUROPE" HMM WONDER HOW THAT HAPPENED
Whities be whiting everywhere they go
Im BANKing on you getting a response to this inquiry
Loans weren’t paid back
Because baseball is our favorite sport. We played for the love of the game.
beautiful to see this, thank you.
One thing I spotted that they forgot to include on the Astro’s team picture is mentioning one específico player… Mauricio dubon which he’s Honduran and idk how vox missed it!
Well he’s not Dominican so he’s irrelevant to this video
As a Japanese, I can say that baseball is part of life in Japan too. When the Japanese national team won the WBC, the whole of Japan went into a big fever. I think Ichiro and Otani are famous in America. However, many players who have reached the major league level want to play in the Japanese league. This is because the Japanese league is the highest peak for the Japanese people, and the passion and support of the fans is greater in Japan than in the United States.
True
JAPAN IS NOT COOL OR HIP PLACE
The DR is too poor and small to have a league as enticing as the US or Japan.
I agree that Japanese baseball fans take baseball way more seriously and way more enthusiastic about it. They’re better and bigger fans than Americans are
@@rickc.9664we got a League for years its call lidom
Loved this episode!
Thanks, Vox. This was a great video!
It’s just that we’re always on top 🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴
Because we are very talented 🇩🇴 and thanks to the major leagues for giving my Dominicans and open door to shine!
Indeed african genetics
@@Blackdoomdeath666 👍🇩🇴
Great great episode!! Good job!!!
such a great explainer!!
US army also brought baseball with them with they occupied DR in the early 1900s. Dominicans took to baseball and it eventually became an opportunity to get out of poverty. I’ve known and am related to a few Dominican baseball players. One made it, the rest only got as far as the minor leagues. The way basketball and football are popular in poor areas in the US, that’s baseball in DR. Basketball is the 2nd popular sport.
There’s two good movies about the journey Dominican players have to make to get to the US. One is called Sugar and the other is a documentary called Pelotero.
The Cubans brought it; did you even watch the video? Our oldest professional baseball team (Licey) was founded years before the Americans invaded.
@@ulisesjorge Did you? She also mentions the US occupation.
@@toneriggz yes but you missed the point, the Cubans brought it way before.
@@diddypablo2006 I didn’t miss any point. Hence why I used the word “also”. You missed “also”.
@@toneriggz They didn't; how can they bring something that was already here? Because that's what you're implying with your comment, which doesn't make sense at all.
Another well researched and beautiful video by rajaa & the Vox team!
Great video, keep it up!!
República Dominicana es un paraíso hermoso, vi un libro de fotografías en Amazon sobre este país lleno de preciosas fotos!
Probably for the same reason many MLB players come from California and Florida. They have good weather 12 months a year
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Very interesting video. It would have been nice to hear directly from experts on the topic who are actually Dominican.
Agreed; some historical inaccuracies in this video. The ambassador of the United States, James Mark Sullivan (1873 - 1935), was the one that brought baseball to the Dominican Republic. The first game was played in Monte Cristi. Also, there's no way Cuban plantation owners relocated to DR because slavery was already outlawed there and the only few places that slavery still existed to name a few at the time (1860) was in the United States, Cuba, Puerto Rico, or Brazil.
What a great video! Thank you
I love this video and point it out the passion we have for baseball in DR 🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴 and a shout out to lose tigueres de licey 🐯🐯💙💙
It makes me happy to see Dominicans in the spotlight for a bit😊
Now do one on Japan please!
Because they’re amazing!!
This was awesome
Fantastic! Please more sports on Vox Atlas!
The one on France’s soccer stars in the banlieus and Gazprom on soccer shirts we’re both very good 🎉
Vox talking about important real world topics!
Loved it!
Thanks for the great video
Please make a video why in Japan and South Korea baseball is so big too
"This is the MLB, we are all from the Dominican Republic"
Great work !
answers a lot of questions for me. thanks for that
Great job guys in covering sports in this way?
Dominicana y Liceísta hasta la tambora, que viva el Béisbol Dominicano y que viva la República Dominicana 🇩🇴
🐅🐅🐅🐅🐯
🦅
I am very familiar with the baseball industry in DR and this video is 100% accurate.
Great video!
To things in proper perspective, Dominican Republic has 18K square miles and West Virginia has 24K square miles. So DR is only 3/4 as big as WV but produces 11% of all major leaguers.
Yes now cause black people quit playing
They didn't start to really get Latin players intill most black people quit playing
You have to consider that the DR has 11 million people and West Virginia doesn’t reach 2 million people
@@Shel230 Most of them have african genetics 😁
@@Blackdoomdeath666 is that information relevant in this conversation?
Great Video!
Thank you for you work I liked so much your video
🇨🇺🫱🏻🫲🏽🇩🇴 we have to say thank you to our Cubans brothers for the game of baseball ⚾️
Brotherhood to the end
2:53: ⚾ Baseball became a national entity in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, rooted in the working class.
5:24: 🇨🇺 The video discusses the impact of US-Cuba relations on Major League Baseball and the shift to recruiting talent from the Dominican Republic.
8:26: ⚾ Major League Baseball turned its attention to the Dominican Republic in the late 1950s, signing talented players and expanding quickly.
10:32: 💰 The MLB profits from signing Dominican players for cheaper contracts while making millions off of them.
Recap by Tammy AI
My usual comment: Atlas is the best thing Vox produces. Looks like you've taken over from Sam and you're doing a fantastic job
One inconspicuous detail not named in this video is the year round good weather we have in the Caribbean, which allow us to play year round, usually 2-3 games per day on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays, and basically everyday during Summer time when school is off. In my opinion, one of the biggest advantages.
My kid ain’t going to school he gonna practice baseball his whole life like these guys
Shout out to all of the Dominicans
De Lo Mio
This reminds me of the the key and Peele skit ..🤣🤣🤣
Link
I can't believe it. I have been thinking about this over last 2 weeks, and now you make a new video about it. How can it be true?)
As a country baseball means the world to us is more than just a sport .
De lo Mio …. 💪🏻🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴
Rly awesome video - thank you!
one minor, semantical quibble: if you're including the "the" article, I think you say 'the Major Leagues' as opposed to 'the MLB' (which is like saying 'the Major League Baseball').
The pain that fills my soul when someone calls it "the MLB" 💔💔💔💔💔💔
Came here to say that. No one says “the MLB,” and it’s jarring every time she says that.
@@MatthewDCampbell the minor league and i dont think she understands signing international players for large sums of money is a concept
Good job rajaa. Good luck.
Proud to be 🇩🇴❤️🔥
The picture at 6:23 is not from the 1916-1924 occupation
Great video.
Cause we them boys 🇩🇴
Loved this episode! The history of baseball, MLB and Latin America with some geopolitics and race mixed in. Great work Vox.
Living in the greater NYC area, I have many Dominican friends. All of them are baseball fans. But I almost s*** myself when I met one that was really into soccer to the point that he follows all of the FIFA divisions and the World Cup.
Believe it or not soccer also has a growing fan base in the DR. But baseball is more like a religion in the country.
Its interesting because in my families native country of Uruguay, its soccer that is seen as a religion. The biggest reason because it is as we say “el deporte del pueblo” (the sport of the village). Its the one sport where you can live with absolutely nothing and all you need is a ball and marker for goal posts. I remember Pelé saying in one interview that he learned to play kicking around a coconut.
I'm Dominican and I follow most major soccer leagues around the world. It's sort of rare but becoming increasingly less rare. Oddly enough, soccer in DR is more of a middle to rich class sport used as a way to differentiate old-money people from the baseball loving plebs.