Dominican Baseball Players

A Breeding Ground for Superstars:
July 9, 2009 marks the day that the dominant Dominican baseball player, David Ortiz, hits the 300th homerun of his career. After a slow start to his season, “Big Papi” scored seven home runs in June, his lucky number three hundred a month latter. Ortiz’s dominance in his field has no doubt brought pride and joy in the faces of his countrymen in the U.S.A. as well as the Dominican Republic.
In this day and age Dominican baseball players are taking the sport by storm. The country has the second highest amount of players after the United States. Today the Dominican seems to be a breeding ground for the sport’s superstars. Reporter Peter Cary says the following in a recent internet post, “Sammy Sosa. Albert Pujols. Pedro Martinez. Juan Marichal. Felipe Alou. The names of the great players that the Dominican Republic has supplied to Major League Baseball just roll, with a trill, off the tongue.” Exactly how the Central American country accumulates such elite athletes is both saddening and heartwarming. The answer is simple, practice. In a country stricken by poverty, there is no TV. There are no material distractions. Children instead grow to love beisbol, playing two to three hours a day, during breaks and after dinner. The game played in the Dominican is one filled with fun and joy. Tension that arises from hard-headed coaches and parents pushing their players seems to be non-existent in the country. Because of this, Dominican players tend to be some of the more relaxed in the league. All countries take notice. The Dominican Republic teaches us that it is practice that makes perfect.