Friday, October 14, 2005
Latinos Take Center Stage in Playoffs
Quick, name the first person of color to play in the major leagues. I bet you guessed Jackie Robinson, but you'd be wrong. The first man of color to play in Major League Baseball was Louis Castro, a Colombian who played 42 games for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1902. As a matter of fact, 44 other Latin players played before 1947, the year of Robinson's debut.
Latinos have come a long way in the history of Major League Baseball and have contributed a substantial amount to the growth of the game. They have been able to overcome racism and ignorance among owners, scouts, fellow players, and fans. They've lived through the culture shock of being a displaced immigrant and fought through language barriers. They've endured the stereotypes of being hotheads, show-offs, flashy, dumb, and slow. They've also played through tiny contracts and even smaller signing bonuses while less talented American players got multimillion dollar deals.
Latinos are the largest minority group in the United States. In another example of sports reflecting society, Latinos are now the largest minority in Major League Baseball, as well. According to the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, Latinos made up 26% of major league rosters in 2004. African-Americans accounted for only 9%. Of that 26% of Latinos, half come from the Dominican Republic.
The hunger and motivation for the Latin baseball player is very similar to that of the African-American inner-city basketball player. Players from countries like the Dominican Republic live in a terrible cycle of poverty and are desperate to get out. In the Dominican Republic, for example, 80% of the population of eight million lives in poverty. Baseball presents a tiny ray of faint hope in the eyes of a vast majority of male youth in Latin countries like the Dominican.
In the early years, it was men like Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants that paved the way for today's Latin stars. Marichal remains the only Dominican ever elected to the Hall of Fame. Felipe, Matty, and Jesus Alou all broke into the big leagues with the Giants, as well, to have fantastic major league careers. Other Latin pioneers included White Sock Saturnino 'Minnie' Minoso, San Francisco and New York Giant Orlando Cepeda, Minnesota Twin Tony Oliva, and Pittsburgh Pirate great Roberto Clemente.
The road to the major leagues has never been easy for any player. But Latin players have faced more obstacles than the average player. Latin journalist Marcos Breton's book about Miguel Tejada's path to fame, Away Games, talks about the boatload signing technique of major league franchises. It was and is common practice for many major league franchises to use Latin players as cheap labor to fill out minor league rosters. Players would sign minimal contracts and would have virtually no longevity with any given team. Felipe Alou, for example, signed his first contract with the Giants in the 1950s for $200.
But over time and after seeing the successes of greats like the Alou's, Cepeda's, and Clemente's of the '50s and '60s, baseball franchises began setting up academies in the Caribbean to try to find and develop the next Latin star player. Many were set up in the Dominican Republic. In the 1980s, teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, and Blue Jays all set up academies to recruit islanders.
These academies would drill players, as young as 17-years-old, at the fundamentals of the game. The best players would be sent on to the minor leagues in America. The academies provided food, shelter, access to sanitary living, and English lessons to hopeful prospects.
The products of that investment were substantial. The Dodgers alone produced major leaguers like Mariano Duncan, Pedro Guerrero, Ramon and Pedro Martinez, Raul Mondesi, and Juan Guzman.
Fast-forward to today's game of baseball. After years of struggling to gain a foot-hold in major league baseball, Latino players are now revitalizing and energizing the game. Along with the growth in number of Latin players has come a substantial growth in the contracts of some of the Latin superstars.
Dominican shortstop and 2002 AL MVP winner Miguel Tejada began his career by signing a contract with the Athletics for $2,000. This season, in sharp contrast, Tejada made $11 million. Boston outfielder Manny Ramirez signed the second $200 million dollar contract in sports history. And Sammy Sosa has been taking in more than $10 million a year since 2000.
In the past decade, baseball and its fans have enjoyed the influx of an unprecedented number of great players coming from the Caribbean islands of the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, as well as South American countries like Venezuela and Colombia. If you want any proof, just take a look at this year's playoff rosters. The playoffs are where the best of baseball come to compete, and this year, it's filled with up-and-coming and established Latino superstars.
In the AL, the Chicago White Sox have two Cuban-born pitchers in El Duque and Jose Contreras. They were two of the biggest reasons for their sweep of Boston.
Boston had the two-headed Dominican monster of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, both of which are worthy of the MVP award this season.
Anaheim has two all-star Dominicans of their own in Vladamir Guerrero and Bartolo Colon. Colon is up for the Cy Young and Vlad is in the running for his second straight MVP award. The Angels also have a shutdown Venezuelan closer, Francisco 'K-Rod' Rodriguez, and a Colombian short stop in Orlando Cabrera. Two other Angels, 22-year-old starter Dominican Ervin Santana, and Puerto Rican catcher Bengie Molina were both heroes of the win over the Yankees.
The Yankees have the legendary Panamanian closer Mariano Rivera, who has to be a first ballot Hall-of-Famer. Third baseman choke-artist, err ... most overpaid player, err ... Alex Rodriguez was raised in Miami, but also has Dominican roots.
In the NL, the Cardinals have a dominant MVP candidate and Dominican Albert Pujols and another Dominican, the ultimate utility man, Abraham Nunez.
The Braves have another MVP candidate and a seven-time Gold Glove award-winner in Andruw Jones, who hails from the Caribbean island of Curacao. Atlanta also has a Dominican legend — the timeless Julio Franco. Franco won the batting title in 1991 and is still going strong at 47. The Braves also employ the services of Dominican shortstop, Rafael Furcal.
And Houston has the speedy Dominican outfielder Willy Tavarez, who most experts claim is the fastest man in baseball. He also may be the rookie of the year in the NL.
After years of neglect, baseball is finally recognizing the importance of the contributions of Latin players to its sport. This season. Major League Baseball is allowing fans to vote on a "Latino Legends" team. Fans can choose from 60 Latino players representing seven different countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean. The team of 12 will be announced during Game 4 of the World Series.
In honor of this event, I have compiled an all-star team of current Latino players for your enjoyment. Have fun with it and come up with your own.
C — Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez (Puerto Rico) — The man is a legend. He is one of the best defensive catchers in MLB history and has a storied history at the plate: .304 batting average with 264 HRs and 1050 RBIs in his career.
Honorable mention: Vic Martinez (Venezuela); Benji Molina (Puerto Rico)
DH — David "Big Papi" Ortiz (Dominican Republic) — One of the hottest hitters in the sport for three straight years. Since 2003, Ortiz has 119 homers and 388 RBIs.
1B — Albert Pujols (Dominican Republic) — The numbers from his first five years in the league put him among baseball's elite, with names like Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle.
2B — Alfonso Soriano (Dominican Republic) — Soriano is redefining the second base position, bringing power to a once weak hitting position. Has hit over 30 homers in three of the last four years and 100 RBIs in two of the last four.
Honorable mention: Jose Vidro (Puerto Rico); Luis Castillo (Dominican)
SS — Miguel Tejada (Dominican Republic) — Tejada was the MVP of the AL in 2002. Tejada has continued to post MVP-caliber numbers since then totaling 87 homers the last three years.
Honorable mention: Edgar Renteria (Colombia); Orlando Cabrera (Colombia)
3B — Adrian Beltre (Dominican Republic) — Forget this season, even though it wasn't as bad as most people think, .255 BA, 19 HR, 87 RBI. Last season, he proved what he could do, hitting .334 with 48 home runs and 121 RBI.
OF — Manny Ramirez (Dominican), Vladimir Guererro (Dominican), Andruw Jones (Curacao) — Let's put it this way ... how would you like to be a pitcher facing this outfield?
Honorable mention: Bobby Abreu (Venezuela); Carlos Beltran (Puerto Rico); Carlos Lee (Panama)
Starting Pitching — Pedro Martinez (Dominican), Bartolo Colon (Dominican), Livan Hernandez (Cuba), Carlos Zambrano (Venezuela), Esteban Loaiza (Mexico) — Three Cy Young awards among the group.
Closer — Mariano Rivera (Panama) — Possibly the greatest closer in the history of the game, without a doubt the greatest in postseason history. Has 379 career saves, and six 40+ save seasons.
Honorable mention: Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez (Venezuela); Armando Benitez (Dominican)
Future Stars — Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (Venezuela) — He could win Rookie of the Year in the AL this year. He had only four wins for a bad team, but he had 77 strikeouts in 83 innings.
Honorable mention: Reds outfielder Willy Mo Pena (Dominican); Marlins outfielder Miguel Cabrera (Venezuela)
A very good idea for a story. Would you also do one on minority managers? It would help address positive accomplishments that the t.v. announcers gloss over. For instance, is Ozzie Guillen the first minority and / or Latino manager in World Series history? Also, there is no 'u' in Colombia (the nation).