Monday, February 6, 2017
Weekly Post #5: The Lure of Baseball in the DR (due Feb 12)
Keeping our reading to the Caribbean, here's a complementary piece about baseball in the Dominican Republic. How are baseball and the dream of MLB alive and well in the DR? What about the exploitation that's only briefly mentioned? Maybe we shouldn't be surprised as that's been a component of baseball for a long, long time. What are your thoughts?
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The other week we examined how baseball was slowly becoming the less popular sport in Cuba, having soccer prove to be more appealing to younger generations. However, In the Dominican Republic, baseball is the embodiment and reflection of the culture. It didn’t take long for the author of the article to discover how influential baseball is in the Dominican Republic, having his niece simply look out the window and find a baseball field. The rich history that the DR has connected with the sport only developed as their society grew: “Baseball players in the Dominican Republic are like musicians — or, more recently, sprinters — in nearby Jamaica: so much talent for such a tiny island.” The small island you could say knows nothing but the game of baseball, producing 83 professional ball players out of the current 868 playing. Their culture revolves around baseball having social events and the economics of the country tied to the game. In fact, the country has so much invested in the game that it exploits many of its young athletes, creating a system where you either rise to the top and reach the majors or fall to the bottom and become a dropout. This structure is corrupt and enforces the exploitation of younger players, taking advantage of their desperation and naive personalities. It has been like this for decades and although it is ultimately wrong, I see no end to the the profiteering of Major League sports.
ReplyDeleteIt was easy for me to see many of the differences between baseball today in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. I think Cuba fell short in upholding interest and funding, something not entirely under their control, while the DR has made the dream a national one for young boys, fostering unlimited interest. I think the briefly mentioned exploitation is slimy, and I had no idea that the academy boys once attended would take a portion of their major league contract money. I think besides the motivation of money, the academies might feel like 30% is barely what the player owes them for their success, however getting a major league contract and them remembering that 30% must be sent to an old baseball academy in the DR must be frustrating. Or maybe it is satisfying to give back, either are possible. It is surprising to learn just how many major league players come from the DR, but at the same time I already knew that baseball is huge there and there is a huge amount of interest. I think the way the DR has maintained the love of baseball has been highly successful, not so much in Cuba, and this has yielded great results of many major league contracts. I think the MLB would be a different place without and Dominican players, and they are advancing the sport with their high level of skill.
ReplyDeleteThis article expresses just how significant Latin America has become as a strategic part of Major League Baseball. I am not sure how much of a major role exploitation plays into the major leagues. It is to my understanding that in the Dominican Republic, because baseball is so popular that so much of the younger generation play and practice baseball that kids are signed more often for less pay. If my understanding is correct, I will not say that the exploitation is a good thing at all, but I also believe that it is possible more kids have the opportunity to play and get paid for doing what they love. I don't see much of a problem in that. I might be wrong, or not understanding well enough, maybe even coming off as delusional but getting paid for what one loves even if it isn't as much as others is still something.
ReplyDeleteIn the Dominican Republic, baseball is everything. Even more so than America, the DR loves its baseball. Baseball has been around in the DR for a long time, beginning in the 1860's. Since then the game has only grown, and it is now by far the biggest sport in the DR. Much of the reason why the game is able to attract so many boys is because those they look up to are largely Dominican players in the MLB, causing those boys to try to live that dream as well. The DR has produced big players including Sammy Sosa and Albert Pujols, but the ways in which these players become great are not always the most morally sound. In baseball in addition to many other sports, the rise of training centers called academies is rampant. An increasing amount of stars come from academies and it is understandable why. Academies push children from a young age beyond their capacity, causing them to miss school and overwork themselves, but also lead to the development of skills. This is a difficult tradeoff to weight, but aside from those who are destined to be stars, academies are hardly worth the time or effort. But even for those destined to be stars academies are not the best idea. Players at academies often sign contracts promising those institutions a portion of their pay if they make a professional team. These amounts can be astronomical, up to 30%, and many of the kids being forced to give their money away did not realize what they were doing in the first place. Not to mention the fact that both the culture and competition of academies encourages and breeds steroid use that cannot only impact careers, but also personal health. In all academies seem like flawed institutions, and as the DR continues to pump out new stars something needs to be done to find a better system to train them.
ReplyDeleteLike in the United States, baseball in the Dominican Republic is falsely viewed as a ticket to achieving the American dream. Since there have been players that grew up in the Dominican Republic and became successful and famous once they were drafted into the MLB, like David Ortiz and Sammy Sosa, baseball is very popular among youth. I found it extremely interesting, but not surprising, that each MLB team "operates its own Dominican academy," where they train young kids to be great ball players. It just goes to show how the MLB operates like a business. The kids in these academies dedicate their whole life to having an opportunity to achieve the American dream, yet they are completely powerless. The kids are simply at the dispense of the MLB teams, who decides which players are good enough to come play in the Major Leagues. But, even the chance of being signed in the Major Leagues is enough for these kids because, “baseball is the No. 1 sport here in the country by far... Kids here... will do anything to sign. They see it as a dream, [and] for a poor kid, seeing all those other players becoming rich and famous, working at what they love, they want it to be the same.” The false hope of the American Dream is what's keeping baseball alive in the Dominican Republic. However, the sad truth is that it is very unlikely for kids who are not enrolled in one of the MB academies to get signed because they have not spent their entire childhood training for the select opportunity. For this reason, baseball is the ticket for only a rare few to achieving their dream of playing baseball professionally.
ReplyDeleteIn a way, this article was very uplifting to me and made me smile while I was reading it. The DR's relationship with baseball is a very competitive and intense one, which in some ways is a good thing; it's allowing the game to just be the game, for the most part. However, as some people have pointed out, there are major issues within the DR's baseball institutions, namely manipulation of applicants and a similar PED situation, where the intense pressure drives people to seek solutions they perhaps shouldn't. I agree with Sam in that something needs to change to improve this situation, and I have full faith in the DR and its people that this will happen. One thing I think is notable is that it certainly seems like the DR is in less danger of a "takeover" from soccer due to it being culturally embedded in the DR.
ReplyDeleteIn America and other countries where people hold baseball dear to their hearts, baseball is a symbol of opportunity. Before professional baseball in America became as difficult to make as it is today, the sport was a dream for young American men and young adults in other countries. In Cuba, baseball held the same power. Young men would work tirelessly to find success and although baseball in Cuba is a dying past time, the influence of baseball has made a lasting impression on the community. While baseball may be losing hold in Cuba, its influence in the Dominican Republic is unwavering. People still see baseball as a symbol of hope and opportunity. This passion and fascination with the sport has been the driving factor that has kept baseball alive in the DR. It is no surprise that a sport that symbolizes success would remain important to the DR where baseball is rooted in the culture and is a beacon of the American Dream.
ReplyDeleteFor players in the DR, making it big in baseball is a tangible way to have a better life. They believe that if they put everything into baseball then they will be able to get the best out of it. The exploitation in the DR is the fact that people involved in baseball purely for money convince the players that they are guaranteed to make in the future. Executives are preying on the minds of young adults and teenagers as they try to get them to play and then pay them very small amounts of money. This hope that players will succeed is what is keeping the game alive in the DR. In Cuba, players are turning to soccer as an outlet because it seems to be more promising than baseball and while people play these sports for the thrill, they are also motivated by money and what will best help them to provide for their families. It's no surprise that baseball is a popular sport in the DR or that there is exploitation. It seems that the reason that it is succeeding so well in the DR is because there are outside sources, like MLB players from the DR and wealthy Americans throwing their money on teams. This ultimately drives players to play the game of baseball.
ReplyDeleteThe weather is an understated attribute of the functionality of a widely loved and played sport. Playing baseball in the Dominican Republic during the wintertime is part of the way that the dream of MLB has lived on and flourished. Also, as noted in the article, the baseball stars are far more widely known and looked up to by kids of all societal classes. They represent a level of success and power that is almost out of reach, but still attainable with hard work, as the American dream used to be. “'For a poor kid,' he continued, 'seeing all those other players becoming rich and famous, working at what they love, they want it to be the same. We both fell silent as I achieved my goal: watching baseball underneath a perfect Caribbean sky." Here the author notes both the clear admiration of the kids and what they strive to be like, as well as the weather that subconsciously or maybe blatantly attracts so many people to this sport in the DR. I wasn't aware that exploitation of youth had been a part of baseball for a long time... I think this is crooked and frustrating, but at the same time is probably what keeps the academies running and might instill some kind of value for education and community within the players. It still just feels wrong. I guess that's what exploitation is though, otherwise it would be called an enrichment program or something like that. I also think it's important to note that as baseball dies out in other countries (sorry Mary!) those who are interested will move on to the DR and likely only foster the love and growth of the sport there.
ReplyDeleteFrom an outsider's perspective, the Dominican Republic seems like an oasis for players to visit during the offseason and play baseball with a more casual demeanor. In the United States, it is easy to think that the MLB is the most talent-filled league in the World, and other countries only have amateur players. However, in the Dominican Republic, baseball is taken very seriously, with threatening security guards watching over the players. We learned while reading about the Negro Leagues of the players that visited the DR and played for Trujillo, who was also mentioned in the article. The weather is perfect for baseball in the winter, but it also gives an opportunity for the MLB to recruit players in their offseason. Many academies have been set up to find players and help them accomplish their dream of becoming a professional baseball player. However, many of these academies exploit the skill of young players to get large amounts of their contracts. The Dominican Republic is a great environment for baseball as it is loved throughout the country, but its aspiring players are taken advantage of, and similar to the Negro Leagues, some of the best players are taken from the DR leagues and therefore strip those leagues of some of the most exciting talent.
ReplyDeleteIt’s not hard to see why baseball is such a part of the culture of the Dominican Republic, with a history of players who have successfully achieved the American Dream as players in the American major leagues. That dream is still alive and well in the DR – baseball hasn’t been replaced by another sport like in Cuba – and is really helped along by the academies. It’s not really surprising that there would be exploitation, because there is a chance for people to use others to make money. However, the boys do want to play baseball and they do want to try and make it to the majors in the US, so it’s not as bad as it could be. Still, with this system, the chance for a boy, who was not trained in an academy and has not been playing his entire life, to make it to the US majors is extremely small, and the system benefits those who have the ability to attend one of the academies, and does not truly give the opportunity to achieve the American Dream to everyone.
ReplyDeleteThe same vision of baseball being a way to achieve the rags to riches American Dream exists in the Caribbean in a way it may no longer exist in the US. The anecdote of Pedro Martinez sitting under a mango tree and making it big is an example of this spirit; youth are inspired by the players they watch, making baseball part of their image of a method of success. The large-scale presence of academies and youth to attend the academies seems to prove that youth believe baseball is one of the best ways to better themselves. However, the briefly mentioned corruption talked about taints these academies. Corruption has always targeted the relatively defenseless and in this instance baseball is no different. Youth (likely with little experience of money/law) in the Caribbean have their talents taken advantage of and enticed into potentially immoral actions such as taking steroids by a relatively unregulated training system. More rigorous regulation has to be a reality in the Caribbean to prevent the dreams of the youth from turning into yet another example of exploitation.
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ReplyDeleteBaseball would not be the same without the Dominican Republic. Baseball relies on the Dominican Republic for their players because they are so good. As seen from the success of Albert Pujols and other player from the DR, it is clear that this country is responsible for some of Baseball’s biggest successes. Looking at the DR from the outside, many would see baseball’s success in getting so many players to the MLB as a positive for the sport and the player. It allows from a large influx of money to these players families and these players get an opportunity to become famous in the U.S. and live the American Dream. That being said, I do believe that the MLB takes advantage of the DR way too much. As stated in the article, many of these leagues in the DR are basically farm leagues for MLB players, and often, due to the lack of english that is spoken, it can lead to a lot of corruption because of how easy it is to take advantage of these players. I am not surprised that this has happened, because these MLB teams saw a way to get good players and make money, but I would hope that they would want the best for the players first before the organization. Overall, I think that Baseball has been beneficial for the DR and it has lead to many positive things, but there are still some issues that need to be ironed out, because a lack of translation can lead to problems that are negative for the players that could have been easily solved.
ReplyDeleteWhen a small and poor country has many of its young men go off to play in the MLB and earn millions of dollars the impact it will have is unquestionable. In the US the American Dream can be achieved through many different avenues, but in places like the DR baseball is one of the only ways to achieve fame, glory and wealth. Especially combined with the fact that so many DR players have successfully gone on to the Major leagues the culture surrounding baseball in the country is unsurprising. The exploitation of the young DR baseball players is also unsurprising and while I do think it is wrong I'm not sure many of the players that have made it to the Major Leagues could have done it without these baseball academies. It would be a different story if these academies were entirely scams, but if they are able to send so many of their players to America then their effectiveness is proven (at least for the one described in the article). For now, they are a necessary evil until the country's standard of living goes up.
ReplyDeleteBaseball is alive and well in the Dominican Republic. As opposed to other countries, such as Cuba, in Latin America baseball is not losing its popularity and is continuing its legacy in the DR. The reason behind this continuous growth and stream of players comes down to one thing, money. Not as in money from the Dominican Republic, but money from the MLB and other US sources. Money is continuously poured into baseball programs in the Dominican Republic and this stream of cash flow has created popularity for baseball for years to come. Because of this influx of money these young kids get access and insight to what success in baseball looks like. Additionally they see the success that current players from the DR are having and can’t help, but want that to be them. Again, as it tends to be in baseball history, exploitation is present in the baseball academies in the DR as the kids don’t realize that they can be swindled up to 30% of their future MLB contract, to me a ridiculous number. In summary, baseball is alive and well in the DR because of the money that has been put into it, but this isn’t all good as young kids are still being exploited out of their rightful money.
ReplyDeleteWhat strikes me most about the story this article tells is how much talent there is in such a small place. As I read through the article, all I could think about what a kid with that much motivation could do in Marin, where he would have the mixture of unlimited motivation and unlimited resources (=unlimited potential!). I think it's good that the MLB takes in players from the Dominican Republic for this reason. Not only does it promote justice (because historically, the United States has a lot to do with the poverty of the DR), but also gives millions of children an outlet, or something they can have a passion for.
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