Baseball  In  Context  Sports  Ethics  Portfolio  

By:  Kevin  Page                            

     

Introduction    

It  seems  incredible  that  just  6  weeks  ago  we  were  all  strangers  and  this  country  seemed  about  as  foreign  as  Mars.  Now,  as  I  sit  here  wearing  pants  in  95-­‐degree  weather  with  a  finished  plate  of  chicharrón  on  the  table  beside  me,  I’m  feeling  quite  Dominican.  I  came  to  this  program  with  one  expectation.  I  wanted  an  answer  to  my  question  of  how  a  small  island  in  the  Caribbean  like  the  Dominican  Republic  can  produce  such  phenomenal  baseball  talent  at  such  an  exorbitant  rate.  Without  a  doubt,  I  got  an  answer  to  my  question.  What  I  wasn’t  expecting  was  the  countless  other  things  that  came  as  a  result  of  my  experience  here.  I  gained  life  skills  as  we  learned  to  travel  independently,  language  skills  out  of  necessity,  baseball  knowledge  from  class  studies  and  excursions,  and  critical  thinking  skills  from  a  combination  of  all  categories  above.  What  I  find  truly  fascinating  is  the  fact  that  these  takeaways  were  only  made  possible  through  the  full  experience  of  a  study  abroad  trip.  It  was  the  combination  of  readings,  lectures,  in  class  discussions,  out  of  class  informal  conversations,  excursions,  and  personal  exploration  that  allowed  me  to  completely  redefine  the  way  I  plan  to  approach  my  future  learning  endeavors.         Prior  to  arriving  in  the  Dominican  Republic  our  program’s  central  question  was  “To  what  extent  has  Major  League  Baseball  colonized  Dominican  baseball?”  To  preface,  my  background  knowledge  of  the  Dominican  Republic  was  limited  to  my  knowledge  of  Major  League  Baseball.  Which  is  to  say  that  I  knew  the  Dominican  Republic  produced  more  baseball  players  per  capita  than  any  country  in  the  world  and  that’s  about  it.  I  knew  essentially  nothing  about  the  history,  culture,  or  economy  of  the  Dominican  Republic.  In  our  quest  to  find  answers  to  this  central  question,  I  made  discoveries  regarding  all  of  these  subjects  and  I  expanded  my  knowledge  in  a  manner  that  far  exceeds  the  specified  baseball  lens  that  I  expected  to  study.       To  provide  an  answer  to  the  program’s  central  question,  I  believe  that  Major  League  Baseball  has  colonized  Dominican  baseball  to  an  extent  that  Dominican  baseball  has  essentially  become  an  extension  of  MLB’s  developmental  programs.  I  came  to  this  conclusion  through  a  combination  of  our  readings,  site  visits/movie  screenings  and  most  importantly  my  internship  with  Major  League  Baseball.  

 The  readings  that  really  solidified  my  position  were  the  Charlie  Drysdale  article  entitled  “Baseball  Academies  in  the  Dominican  Republic:  From  Sweatshops  to  Big  Business”,  the  Allen  Klein  report  titled  “Baseball  as  Underdevelopment:  The  Political  Economy  of  Sport  in  the  Dominican  Republic”  and  Bill  Brubaker’s  article  titled  “Hey  Kid,  Wanna  Be  a  Star?”  These  were  just  a  few  of  many  assigned  readings  throughout  our  6-­‐week  course.  However,  these  articles  were  instrumental  in  helping  me  formulate  my  understanding  of  Major  League  Baseball’s  influence  within  

the  Dominican  Republic,  which  in  turn  helped  me  develop  my  conclusion  regarding  the  extent  to  which  MLB  has  colonized  the  Dominican  Republics  version  of  baseball.    

There  were  two  specific  site  visits  and  two  movie  screenings  that  were  crucial  in  solidified  my  position.  The  first  site  visit  was  our  trip  to  Rudy  Ramirez’  little  league  academy,  although  I  believe  that  I  took  more  from  the  brief  look  at  the  independent  trainer  or  Buscone  and  his  prospects.  The  second  site  visit  came  weeks  later  when  we  traveled  to  Santiago  to  visit  Estadio  Cibao  and  the  Aguilas  Dominican  Winter  League  team  where  we  got  the  opportunity  to  converse  with  multiple  former  and  presidents  of  the  Aguilas  club.  In  addition  to  the  site  visits,  the  movie  screenings  were  vital  in  providing  fodder  for  my  argument  because  they  outlined  the  Dominican  pipeline  to  the  Major  Leagues.  The  documentaries  “Rumbo  a  Las  Grandes  Ligas”  and  “Pelotero”  are  great  examples  of  Major  League  Baseball’s  influence  within  the  Dominican  Republic  and  specifically  the  Dominican  understanding  of  organized  baseball.    

The  biggest  contributor  to  my  conclusion  was  my  experience  as  an  intern  for  Major  League  Baseball.  I  had  the  unique  opportunity  to  visit  more  than  10  Major  League  Dominican  Academies  to  teach  cultural  workshops  and  evaluate  educational  practices  within  individual  teams.  These  visits  were  extremely  valuable  because  I  got  a  chance  to  compare  and  contrast  different  organizations  investment  and  reliance  upon  Dominican  talent.  My  involvement  in  the  academy  classrooms  was  extremely  important  in  terms  providing  insight  into  Major  League  investment  and  reliance  upon  Dominican  talent.  However,  I  believe  the  most  influential  factor  in  deriving  my  conclusions  regarding  Major  League  colonization  of  the  Dominican  Republic  was  my  interaction  with  newly  signed  Dominican  prospects.  I  was  able  to  talk  with  young  Dominican  players  who  are  fresh  in  the  system  and  beginning  their  journey  through  the  Dominican  pipeline.  Gaining  their  perspective  and  understanding  the  way  they  perceive  Major  League  Baseball  was  unique  to  my  experience  and  it  has  been  vital  in  shaping  my  opinions.    

Now  that  I  have  provided  an  introduction  to  my  Baseball  in  Context  final  portfolio  I  will  briefly  outline  my  plans  for  the  remainder  of  the  project.  I  plan  to  organize  this  portfolio  by  dividing  future  posts  into  specified  categories  and  placing  them  chronologically.  Initially,  I  will  provide  a  chronological  order  of  my  weekly  essays,  which  each  covered  a  prompt  that  focused  on  the  readings  and  central  topic  of  the  specified  week.  Following  my  essays  I  will  introduce  reflective  accounts  of  multiple  site  visits  accompanied  by  a  few  pieces  to  help  tie  my  experiences  to  my  conclusions.  Following  the  site  visit  posts  I  will  offer  a  brief  synopsis  of  my  responsibilities  and  experiences  throughout  my  internship  with  Major  League  Baseball  and  their  influence  on  my  opinions.  I  will  conclude  with  a  short  writing  to  wrap  up  my  grand  takeaways  and  express  the  influence  this  program  has  had  on  my  beliefs,  abilities,  and  objectives  for  the  future.    

Weekly Essays  

Themes: Week  1:  Introduction  to  Course  Questions  and  U.S.  –  Dominican  Baseball  Relations    Week  2:  Player  Recruitment  and  Development:  The  Dominican  Pipeline    Week  3:  Consequences  of  the  Pipeline  /  Baseball  as  Underdevelopment    Week  4:  Dominican  Ownership  and  Latin  American  Models  for  Player  Development    Week  5:  Baseball,  Business  and  Culture:  Opportunity,  Pride,  and  Fraud   Reflectory Piece: The  weekly  essays  for  the  Sports  Ethic’s  class  constituted  the  majority  of    written  work  throughout  the  course.  They  were  extremely  beneficial  in  promoting  comprehension  within  the  class  because  they  required  an  extreme  level  of  critical  analysis.  They  gave  us  the  opportunity  to  connect  the  conceptual  themes  we  explored  in  class  to  our  real  life  experiences  in  the  country.  The  essays  allowed  me  to  check  my  comprehension  of  complicated  readings  and  concepts  through  weekly  feedback  from  the  professor  and  they  gave  me  the  chance  to  formulate  personal  opinions  that  I  was  then  able  to  compare  with  the  opinions  and  beliefs  of  a  certified  expert  in  the  field  of  Dominican  baseball.  These  assignments  were  vital  to  my  understanding  of  the  complex  intricacies  of  baseball  within  the  Dominican  Republic  and  they  contributed  significantly  to  my  final  conclusions  regarding  this  programs  central  question  of  “to  what  extent  has  Major  League  Baseball  colonized  Dominican  baseball?”    

Week  1      

After  completion  of  our  first  week  in  the  Dominican  Republic,  my  views  and  beliefs  regarding  baseball  in  this  country  have  only  been  reiterated.  When  I  arrived  I  held  skeptical  beliefs  about  Major  League  Baseball’s  influence  within  the  Dominican  Republic  and  after  a  week  of  readings,  discussions,  and  site  visits  I  still  maintain  my  belief  that  while  the  MLB  portrays  itself  as  a  caring  and  compassionate  institution,  it  clearly  has  a  mission  that  it  prioritizes  over  moral  and  ethical  standards.       Prior  to  arriving  in  the  Dominican  Republic  I  spent  some  time  attempting  to  understand  how  such  a  small  island  produces  such  a  disproportionate  amount  of  professional  baseball  players.  It  appears  to  be  a  breeding  ground  for  talent.  This  question  was  one  that  I  hoped  to  find  answers  to  during  our  trip  and  I  definitely  did.  The  biggest  difference  between  baseball  in  the  Dominican  Republic  and  baseball  elsewhere  is  the  way  in  which  Dominicans  perceive  the  game.  It  isn’t  simply  a  recreational  activity  like  it  is  in  the  United  States.  Dominicans  understand  that  baseball  is  the  sole  path  out  of  poverty.  During  our  trip  to  Consuelo  I  began  to  understand  the  way  Dominican  youth  see  baseball.  While  they  do  enjoy  the  game  and  play  for  fun,  deep  down  they  know  it  has  a  deeper  meaning  and  their  hard  work  is  mandatory.  In  a  poor,  developing  country,  baseball  provides  the  only  avenue  for  social  mobility,  which  is  incredibly  important  because  the  ability  to  rise  through  the  ranks  of  a  social  hierarchy  provides  hope  in  a  land  where  hope  isn’t  always  warranted.  Another  interesting  takeaway  from  Consuelo  is  the  idea  that  the  successful  production  of  professional  baseball  players  immediately  alters  the  family  dynamic,  which  then  resonates  into  the  community  and  eventually  modifies  a  society’s  views  surrounding  their  place  within  their  country  and  the  success  of  their  government.       In  addition  to  the  Dominican’s  perception  of  baseball  as  their  “golden  ticket”,  the  game  also  holds  strong  roots  within  the  country  and  everyone  appears  to  feel  some  kind  of  deeper  relation  to  the  game  that  is  not  present  in  other  countries.  After  analyzing  a  few  of  the  readings  and  discussions  I  have  quickly  begun  to  notice  the  way  Dominicans  feel  about  their  baseball  and  the  way  they  relate  to  it  as  a  national  pastime  and  a  source  of  pride.  It  is  tough  to  travel  more  than  a  few  blocks  in  Santo  Domingo  without  coming  across  a  baseball  field.  The  sport  has  taken  on  a  new  meaning  for  Dominicans  and  is  ingrained  in  them  as  a  lifetime  passion.  One  of  the  things  that  caught  me  off  guard  is  the  way  that  Dominicans  don’t  grow  out  of  their  love  for  baseball.  In  America  we  sometimes  dismiss  sport  as  child’s  play  when  we  grow  older.  Americans  value  our  education  to  help  us  gain  social  mobility  while  Dominicans  value  baseball.  It  is  extremely  common  to  find  a  grown  man  whose  love  for  baseball  resembles  that  of  a  young  child  seeing  the  game  for  the  first  time.    

  My  views  regarding  baseball  and  MLB  practices  in  this  country  are  quickly  growing  more  and  more  cynical.  From  my  understanding,  Dominicans  view  baseball  as  a  way  of  life  and  being,  which  is  different  from  the  objectives  of  Major  League  Baseball.  The  MLB  is  financially  driven  due  to  America’s  strong  capitalistic  beliefs  and  while  I  don’t  necessarily  believe  this  is  a  bad  thing,  I  do  notice  some  signs  of  exploitation  and  unnecessary  measures  being  taken  by  teams  in  effort  to  find  and  produce  Major  League  talent.  The  MLB  provides  an  incredibly  important  service  to  Dominicans  because  it  provides  hope  for  a  more  prosperous  life.  I  believe  that  the  Dominican  Republic  is  better  off  with  the  MLB’s  presence,  but  I  would  also  argue  that  MLB  needs  to  seriously  re-­‐evaluate  their  moral  and  ethical  obligation  to  society.                                              

Week  2    The  conclusion  of  our  second  week  in  the  Dominican  Republic  has  provided  

many  new  perspectives  to  some  of  my  personal  quandaries  regarding  baseball  and  the  culture  that  surrounds  it.  This  week  I  made  a  concerted  effort  to  look  at  baseball  and  it’s  life  impact  from  the  perspective  of  a  young  prospect.  I  remember  the  days  when  I  spent  weeks  practicing  for  a  tryout  and  the  nerves  I  felt  beforehand  and  I  decided  to  attempt  to  place  myself  in  the  shoes  of  the  Dominican  youth  in  hopes  that  I  could  get  a  better  understanding  for  how  these  young  prospects  view  the  game  of  baseball  and  their  role  within  it.  In  compliance  with  this  weeks  core  questions,  I  also  focused  on  a  viewing  the  game  through  a  more  historical  lens  and  making  comparisons  between  baseball  and  its  influence  in  the  early  20th  century  versus  its  practices  and  influence  in  present  day  society.    

Prior  to  this  week,  my  historical  background  surrounding  baseball  focused  solely  on  Major  League  Baseball  in  the  United  States.  I  have  no  experience  studying  neither  the  Negro  leagues  nor  the  Caribbean  leagues  and  the  readings  from  this  week  were  my  introduction  into  baseball  on  a  grand  international  scale.  I  found  the  reading  in  “Raceball”  regarding  the  Latino  challenge  fascinating  because  it  depicted  an  era  when  competitive  “professional”  (In  quotations  because  I’ve  noticed  a  trend  of  argument  regarding  what  was  and  wasn’t  considered  professional)  baseball  wasn’t  confined  solely  to  the  MLB.  The  book  discussed  a  time  when  top-­‐notch  athletes  played  throughout  different  leagues  according  to  the  season.  One  of  my  major  takeaways  from  the  reading  was  the  way  in  which  a  vast  portion  of  players  fluctuated  from  the  Negro  Leagues  to  the  Caribbean  Leagues  throughout  the  year  while  Major  League  Baseball  held  a  relative  amount  of  stability  in  regard  to  protecting  its  talent.  I’ve  concluded  that  a  good  percentage  of  this  was  related  to  race  relations  and  economic  benefits  but  it  did  make  me  question  the  power  complex  between  the  three  leagues.    

It  is  clear  that  the  MLB  maintained  a  level  of  exclusivity  and  allure  thanks  to  its  financial  influence  and  a  prevalent  practice  of  racial  discrimination,  which  appeared  to  place  MLB  at  the  top  of  the  global  baseball  hierarchy.  The  Caribbean  leagues,  including  the  Dominican  Summer  League  and  Cuban  League,  held  influence  and  power  in  their  general  popularity  but  it  is  noted  that  many  Latinos  perceived  the  MLB  as  the  ultimate  goal  for  players  who  had  the  luxury  and  ability  to  bypass  the  color  line.    (Cuba  distinguished  itself  as  the  gold  standard  of  professional  baseball  for  those  who  were  barred  from  the  MLB  by  racial  discrimination).  The  readings  led  me  to  believe  that  the  Negro  Leagues  and  Caribbean  Leagues  suffered  from  their  competition  for  talent  and  therefore  dragged  themselves  down,  which  allowed  MLB  to  establish  itself  as  baseball’s  premier  league.      

Although  the  competition  between  leagues  is  fascinating,  I  was  most  intrigued  while  analyzing  the  evolution  of  Caribbean  baseball  from  pre  World  War  II  to  present  day.  Baseball,  especially  in  the  Dominican  Republic,  has  evolved  in  accordance  with  racial  tolerance  in  the  United  States.  Throughout  a  vast  majority  of  the  20th  century  Dominicans  viewed  baseball  as  an  activity  and  source  of  national  pride  rather  than  a  business  (Epitomized  by  the  “amateur”  status  of  their  leagues).  As  the  United  States  and  specifically  Major  League  Baseball  began  developing  more  tolerant  views  regarding  race  relations,  the  business  of  baseball  in  the  Dominican  Republic  saw  a  rapid  transformation.  The  Dominican  Republic  quickly  evolved  into  what  I  consider  an  exporter  of  raw  talent  and  the  idea  of  national  pride  and  fun  was  replaced  by  the  desire  for  financial  gain  and  social  mobility  (specifically  the  ability  to  rise  out  of  extreme  poverty).  This  desire  feels  justifiable  after  reading  Drysdale’s  article  and  visiting  the  multi-­‐million  dollar  MLB  academies  that  resemble  “paradise”  in  comparison  to  the  impoverished  pueblos  that  a  lot  of  these  kids  grow  up  in.  The  young  talent  in  the  Dominican  Republic  no  longer  grows  up  dreaming  of  playing  for  their  country  because  they  understand  that  MLB  is  now  the  best  place  for  their  aspirations.    I  think  this  belief  was  instilled  in  me  during  our  site  visits  to  the  Rudy  Ramirez  and  Ney’s  Academies.  I  made  a  point  to  ask  a  few  of  the  kids  what  their  plans  and  dreams  for  baseball  were  and  each  one  immediately  rattled  of  “¡Los  Grandes  Ligues!”.  In  the  United  States  it  is  typical  to  hear  a  young  boy  claim  his  dream  is  to  play  in  the  big  leagues,  but  more  often  than  not  it  is  understood  that  dreams  are  dreams  and  we  quickly  grow  up  to  understand  how  small  our  odds  are  of  actually  becoming  major  league  ballplayers.  In  addition  to  the  boy’s  responses  regarding  their  dreams,  I  also  took  notice  of  their  training  regiments  and  their  path  to  professional  baseball  and  I  compared  it  to  those  in  the  United  States.  The  passion  and  love  for  the  game  is  clearly  defined  both  here  and  in  the  States.  However,  thanks  to  firsthand  experience  I  believe  there  is  more  desire  and  a  feeling  of  necessity  to  succeed  for  the  Dominican  youth,  which  appears  to  enhance  their  motivation  in  a  way  that  a  majority  of  American  kids  can’t  quite  replicate.  Dominican  youth  and  their  route  through  baseball  clearly  views  the  MLB  as  the  ultimate  goal  and  therefore  emphasize  each  part  of  the  process  as  another  stepping  stone  towards  signing  a  professional  contract  whereas  American  baseball  culture  places  emphasis  primarily  on  having  fun  and  pushes  back  the  pursuit  of  a  professional  contract  until  one  expresses  and  displays  their  talent  and  commitment.    

       

 

Week  3  (Revised)      Major  League  Baseball’s  presence  in  the  Dominican  Republic  has  most  definitely  had  its  fair  share  of  ups  and  downs.  The  MLB  has  consistently  flirted  with  a  moral  and  ethical  boundary  between  exploitation  and  cultivation.  MLB’s  presence  in  the  Dominican  Republic  is  quite  clearly  a  business  venture,  which  understandably  makes  profit  the  primary  concern.  However,  I  believe  that  MLB  and  all  “big  business”  have  an  obligation  to  uphold  a  certain  set  of  standards  in  order  to  prevent  exploitation.  I  am  trying  my  hardest  not  to  fall  prey  to  Klein’s  idea  of  progressive  ethnocentrism  but  it  is  hard  not  to  occasionally  be  sucked  in.  I  believe  that  under  these  circumstances  my  criticisms  are  warranted.  However,  it’s  important  to  be  aware  of  our  natural  ability  to  skew  our  perceptions  to  match  our  predispositions.  I  need  to  remember  that  I  can’t  view  practices  here  through  my  typical  American  perspective  because  this  is  not  the  United  States  and  what  works  for  us  isn’t  always  feasible  in  other  countries.  In  spite  of  this,  the  one  aspect  that  I  find  truly  fascinating  is  the  fact  that  until  recently,  this  questionable  behavior  on  behalf  of  MLB  teams  went  almost  completely  unchecked.  As  our  journey  continues  it’s  becoming  clearer  that  as  MLB’s  investment  and  reliance  on  Dominican  talent  grows,  so  will  the  importance  of  oversight  and  monitoring.  This  system  of  oversight  has  become  an  agent  to  protect  both  the  prospects  and  the  organizations  and  hopefully  it  will  continue  to  evolve  until  this  American  “colonization”  of  Dominican  baseball  begins  to  provide  significant  benefits  to  both  parties  in  a  more  fair  and  justifiable  manner.    

The  establishment  of  the  MLB  Commissioner’s  Office  in  Santo  Domingo  provides  supervision  throughout  these  academies  and  has  made  significant  progress  in  creating  a  reformed  system.  In  addition  to  the  Commissioner’s  office,  individual  teams  have  begun  implementing  educational  programs  with  defined  objectives  in  order  to  track  player’s  educational  progress  and  MLB  has  commissioned  a  “trial”  program  which  they  hope  will  allow  them  to  structure  a  defined  program  for  all  academies.  Major  League  Baseball’s  response  to  this  problem  has  resulted  in  question’s  regarding  who  reserves  responsibility  for  solving  these  issues.  Personally  I  have  a  hard  time  placing  educational  responsibility  solely  at  the  hands  of  Major  League  Baseball  because  I  feel  like  a  nation’s  government  has  an  obligation  to  encourage  and  reward  education  and  the  Dominican  government  has  failed  significantly  in  this  aspect.  I  understand  that  MLB  has  promulgated  a  culture  that  encourages  young  men  to  abandon  their  schooling  for  the  pursuit  of  a  career  in  the  big  leagues  (Evident  in  “Hey  Kid,  Wanna  Be  a  Star?”)  and  for  that  reason  I  think  MLB  needs  to  maintain  some  sense  of  responsibility.  As  a  result,  I  understand  that  it’s  ridiculous  to  put  the  burden  of  reforming  an  entire  nation’s  education  system  on  the  back  of  a  single  corporation.  However,  it  seems  fair  to  

request  that  MLB  provide  assistance  in  the  reformation  effort,  especially  in  regard  to  the  education  of  their  players.  Personally,  I  think  the  relationship  between  MLB  and  Dominican  talent  is  similar  to  the  relationship  between  U.S.  corporations  and  their  employees.  Many  companies  in  the  U.S.  provide  incentives  or  benefits  for  their  employees  that  often  include  healthcare  and  subsidies  for  furthered  education.  In  my  opinion,  MLB  teams  have  a  responsibility  to  these  young  boys  to  provide  them  with  the  tools  and  education  they  gave  up  in  order  to  develop  their  baseball  potential.  In  order  to  see  real  progress  I  believe  collaboration  between  the  Dominican  government  and  MLB  will  be  necessary.  They  are  both  currently  significant  contributors  to  the  problem  and  their  cooperation  will  be  the  quickest  route  to  finding  a  solution.  For  the  past  5  weeks  I  have  struggled  to  find  a  solution  that  doesn’t  immediately  create  another  problem  and  I  am  still  struggling.  From  what  I  understand,  the  best  possible  solution  at  this  moment  would  be  for  the  Major  League  Baseball  to  raise  it’s  signing  age  to  18  while  the  Dominican  government  simultaneously  provides  funds  to  renovate  and  rejuvenate  its  public  education  system.  This  would  be  the  first  step  towards  stopping  this  problem  at  its  roots.      

From  what  I  understand,  MLB  has  partaken  in  years  of  exploitative  practices  designed  to  drive  down  the  price  of  developing  major  league  talent.  I’m  beginning  to  notice  a  new  trend  of  Major  League  Baseball  acting  as  a  governing  force  for  all  parties  involved  in  this  Dominican  pipeline.  MLB  provides  oversight  and  influence  within  academy  educational  programs  and  they  also  investigate  prospects  to  determine  their  legitimacy  (specifically  age).  I  think  MLB  is  finally  putting  forth  sincere  effort  towards  evening  the  playing  field  and  creating  manageable  work  conditions.  I  am  optimistic  about  the  future  of  academy  education  systems  because  of  the  progress  they’ve  made  throughout  the  last  decade.  However,  I  do  have  reservation’s  regarding  the  content  of  the  classes.  I  understand  that  MLB  teams  are  focused  solely  on  producing  talent  and  therefore  they  tailor  their  classes  towards  survival  and  baseball  related  knowledge.  However,  this  provides  little  to  no  help  to  the  thousands  of  prospects  who  will  not  succeed  in  their  baseball  careers.  At  the  very  least  I  would  like  to  see  MLB  extend  their  educational  programs  to  encompass  life  skills  in  addition  to  survival  and  baseball  knowledge  so  that  these  young  prospects  have  some  type  of  “fallback”  plan  when  their  big  league  dreams  don’t  pan  out.    

While  it  appears  that  MLB  education  program’s  are  finally  moving  in  the  right  direction  I  would  personally  love  to  see  MLB  provide  support  for  the  new  style  of  prospect  education  in  this  country.  Our  visit  to  Charles  Farrell’s  DRSEA  program  provided  a  refreshing  twist  on  the  current  educational  system.  I  think  it’s  one  of  the  best  ideas  I  have  heard  in  regard  to  this  issue.  Providing  young  prospects  with  the  ability  to  further  their  education  and  lives  while  simultaneously  having  the  ability  to  prosper  in  their  baseball  careers  is  genius.  By  giving  these  prospects  the  

opportunity  to  extend  their  life  knowledge  and  skills  through  attendance  at  a  university  while  concurrently  saving  their  “cheap”  labor  by  allowing  them  to  remain  eligible  to  sign  in  the  Dominican  Republic  appears  to  be  an  incredibly  simple  yet  effective  solution.  It  was  nice  to  finally  gain  a  sense  of  real  optimism  regarding  the  direction  of  prospect  education  in  this  country.  Until  that  visit  I  held  extremely  conflicting  thoughts  regarding  how  effective  MLB  oversight  can  be  and  how  I  would  plan  to  fix  to  the  system.  That  experience  really  sold  me  on  the  idea  that  programs  like  DRSEA  will  be  the  new  “frontier”  in  terms  of  education  and  I  would  love  to  see  MLB  get  behind  that  with  both  moral  and  financial  support.    

As  for  the  question  of  whether  or  not  MLB  is  colonizing  Dominican  baseball  AND  the  Dominican  Republic  as  a  country  in  total,  I  would  argue  that  baseball  and  the  pursuit  of  professional  success  has  become  increasingly  intertwined  in  the  last  two  or  three  decades.  I  believe  it  is  hypocritical  to  request  that  MLB  assert  itself  solely  in  affairs  of  Dominican  Baseball  because  I  think  interfering  in  baseball  will  then  have  a  direct  effect  on  the  culture  and  the  country  as  a  whole.  As  I  stated  earlier,  baseball  is  so  heavily  engrained  in  the  Dominican  way  of  life  and  the  Major  League  “dream”  is  so  prevalent  throughout  the  country  that  it  will  require  an  extreme  level  of  collaboration  between  the  Dominican  government  and  MLB  in  order  to  make  the  changes  that  people  really  want  to  see.      

                                     

   

Week  4    

This  past  week’s  discussions  and  lectures  have  really  helped  broaden  my  perspective  surrounding  the  game  of  baseball’s  role  within  the  Dominican  Republic.  During  our  first  few  weeks  of  the  program  I  became  enamored  with  the  idea  that  baseball  in  the  DR  is  an  avenue  out  of  poverty  and  I’ll  be  honest  I  started  to  become  relatively  closed-­‐minded.  I  developed  a  bias  and  it  was  quite  hard  to  shake  that  bias.  When  you  watch  these  kids  dedicate  a  majority  of  their  childhoods  towards  chasing  a  dream  that  has  very  little  probability  of  coming  true  it  begins  to  pull  on  your  heart  strings  a  bit.  It  doesn’t  help  that  the  most  publicized  stories  of  baseball  success  in  this  country  involve  members  of  the  poorest  class  overcoming  adversity  to  succeed  and  “escape  poverty”.  It’s  a  narrative  that  sells  and  Major  League  Baseball  does  its  best  to  advertise  its  involvement  in  social-­‐mobility.       The  first  3  weeks  of  the  program  included  many  site  visits  that  encouraged  my  previous  view  of  baseball’s  role  in  this  country  (Rudy  &  Ney’s  Academy,  Consuelo,  MLB  Academies).  All  of  these  visits  reiterated  the  level  of  poverty  in  this  country  and  when  surrounded  by  such  desperation  it  becomes  hard  not  to  immediately  classify  baseball  as  the  quickest  route  out.  It  took  me  until  the  end  of  Week  3  when  we  discussed  how  cliché  this  depiction  really  is  and  why  (according  to  April)  we  should  refrain  from  writing  it  within  our  essays.  Once  we  openly  discussed  this  idea  I  began  to  acknowledge  other  approaches  towards  the  question  of  “What  is  baseball’s  role?”.         To  answer  the  question,  I  think  baseball  has  multiple  roles  within  the  Dominican  Republic.  These  roles  are  far-­‐reaching.  They  alter  the  family  dynamic,  community  dynamic,  and  country  dynamic.  Within  the  family  dynamic  baseball  provides  a  sense  of  pride.  The  families  may  become  reliant  on  their  sons  to  eventually  provide  economic  benefit,  but  beyond  that  I  think  there  are  clear  displays  of  genuine  pride  in  having  success  within  the  game.  In  both  “Pelotero”  and  “Rumbo  a  las  Grandes  Ligas”  it  was  clear  that  the  families  bonded  over  the  game  of  baseball  for  reasons  beyond  financial  aid.  After  lightly  analyzing  baseball’s  effect  within  communities  I  think  one  can  also  point  towards  pride.  However,  I  would  argue  that  baseball  within  communities  holds  a  larger  and  less  visible  purpose  of  providing  unity  and  excitement.  The  game  does  a  fantastic  job  of  bringing  communities  together  and  providing  them  with  something  to  look  forward  to  which  directly  leads  into  baseball’s  role  within  the  Dominican  Republic  as  a  country.  Politically,  baseball  is  a  godsend.  As  April  has  mentioned  multiple  times,  baseball  success  in  this  country  keeps  citizens  focus  away  from  the  fundamental  problems  that  plague  this  government  (Lack  of  education,  poverty,  outdated  infrastructure).  Stepping  away  

from  the  internal  political  role,  baseball  gives  Dominicans  the  ability  to  feel  significant  in  a  global  manner.       One  of  the  more  interesting  things  for  me  has  been  the  reinvigoration  of  attempts  to  “nationalize”  baseball  within  the  Dominican  Republic.  I  really  enjoyed  the  visit  to  LIDOM  because  I  think  the  Winter  League  is  an  interesting  concept.  However,  I  can’t  help  but  feel  like  Winter  League  baseball  is  “second  rate”  because  the  majority  of  the  Dominican  talent  has  been  outsourced  to  MLB.  I  understand  that  it  is  far  fetched  to  think  that  Dominican  leagues  could  ever  compete  with  MLB,  but  I  was  fascinated  by  the  idea  that  they  are  planning  to  begin  their  own  summer  league,  which  would  essentially  act  as  competition  for  MLB.  The  desire  to  nationalize  the  game  of  baseball  in  the  Dominican  Republic  is  one  of  the  first  examples  I  have  witnessed  of  the  DR  fighting  back  against  MLB  colonization.    It’s  nice  to  know  that  there  are  people  within  the  DR  who  are  no  longer  complacent  with  being  simply  an  exporter  of  talent.  I  would  be  extremely  interested  in  studying  LIDOM’s  plans  for  this  future  summer  league  that  we  briefly  discussed  during  our  visit.       In  my  personal  opinion,  I  remain  skeptical  about  these  Latin  American  countries  abilities  to  regain  their  National  Pastimes.  As  pessimistic  as  I  may  sound,  I  firmly  believe  that  Major  League  Baseball’s  ability  to  provide  financial  incentives  will  allow  them  to  reign  supreme  in  terms  of  global  influence.  However,  I  am  beginning  to  notice  slow  but  prevalent  movements  towards  regaining  a  sense  of  national  identity  in  regard  to  baseball.  The  development  (mostly  re-­‐development)  and  enhancement  of  national  leagues  and  the  Caribbean  Series  is  the  first  step  on  the  road  to  counteracting  MLB’s  overwhelming  prevalence.  As  one  final  thought,  I  would  love  to  see  the  Dominican  government  take  the  first  step  towards  regaining  stability  by  taking  a  stance  regarding  the  culture  and  expectations  established  by  MLB’s  presence  on  this  island.  I  realize  it  is  drastic  but  I  would  be  ecstatic  if  the  Dominican  government  would  take  the  initiative  to  reform  their  education  systems.  I  think  this  is  the  first  stop  on  the  road  to  combatting  MLB’s  influence  and  it  will  also  have  a  direct  effect  on  poverty  levels.      

     

             

Week  5      

Although  this  past  week  was  relatively  shorter  in  comparison  to  other  weeks,  I  think  it  included  topics  that  are  most  suitable  to  my  interests.  The  “prompt”  for  this  week  is  one  that  I  have  been  fascinated  by  since  day  one.  The  economic  factors  of  professional  baseball  are  amazing.  There  are  so  many  intricacies  that  one  must  explore  before  he  can  claim  any  sense  of  knowledge  regarding  the  topic  and  I  think  that  aspect  is  incredibly  fascinating.  This  week’s  prompt,  which  specifically  references  the  “business  of  baseball”  is  one  that  I  have  been  interested  in  since  we  began  our  studies.  I  wish  this  topic  had  come  about  on  a  weekend  that  wasn’t  cut  short  by  our  trips,  but  I  was  excited  to  explore  it  either  way.       Our  journeys  throughout  the  Dominican  Republic  have  highlighted  many  inequities  within  professional  baseball  and  its  impact  here.  One  can  clearly  see  that  Major  League  Baseball  is  running  a  business  here  and  its  primary  goal  is  to  enhance  its  bottom  line.  The  ability  to  sign  and  develop  talent  for  a  fraction  of  the  price  it  would  cost  within  the  United  States  is  incredible  and  an  understandable  motivation  for  MLB’s  investment  within  this  country.  The  idea  of  globalization  has  taken  an  entirely  new  form  throughout  our  generation.  Enterprise  has  expanded  at  an  unconscionable  rate  and  the  employer  versus  worker  dynamic  has  developed  an  entirely  new  relationship  that  contains  even  more  exploitation  than  the  era  of  industrialization.  Personally,  I  would  argue  that  the  connection  between  Major  League  Baseball  and  Dominican  ballplayers  is  incredibly  similar  to  the  relationship  between  Nike  and  its  Asian  sweatshop  workers.  Global  enterprise  is  willing  to  do  whatever  it  takes  to  diminish  labor  costs  and  enhance  profit.  In  my  opinion,  the  only  difference  is  the  fact  that  Nike  prefers  its  workers  to  be  “muzzled”  and  unknown  whereas  MLB  relies  on  increasing  the  fame  of  its  version  of  “sweatshop”  workers.       My  personal  experiences  with  this  phenomenon  have  derived  from  my  internship  with  MLB.  I  have  witnessed  firsthand  the  ability  of  MLB  to  persuade  its  workers  that  they  are  “special”  and  that  they  aren’t  being  exploited.  MLB  has  painted  a  narrative  in  the  Dominican  Republic  that  says  that  MLB  is  essentially  a  “savior”  and  that  the  road  it  has  paved  towards  wealth  is  the  easiest  and  best-­‐traveled  road.  I  would  argue  that  this  is  incredibly  similar  to  the  way  Nike  and  other  multi-­‐national  represent  themselves.  By  convincing  impoverished  and  relatively  desperate  workers  that  you  are  “helping”  rather  than  exploiting  you  create  a  seemingly  endless  supply  of  workers.  People  are  willing  to  put  forth  the  effort  when  they  are  forced  to  witness  a  cycle  that  tells  them  the  quickest  and  truest  route  to  success  lies  within  a  specified  sector  which  is  most  typically  run  by  American  “globalized”  companies.    

  In  my  opinion,  “Globalization”  exploits  cultural  and  social  aspects  in  an  effort  to  capitalize  on  economic  aspects.  I  think  Major  League  Baseball  in  the  Dominican  Republic  has  structured  social  expectations  and  cultural  norms  (the  narrarative  that  baseball  is  the  quickest  (and  only)  way  out  of  poverty)  that  enhance  MLB’s  ability  to  exploit  economic  factors.  I  would  argue  that  MLB  paints  a  picture  that  they  are  providing  financial  help  to  many  impoverished  families  but  this  picture  is  altered  to  enhance  MLB’s  influence.  I  think  it  is  quite  clear  that  in  terms  of  economic  benefit,  MLB  is  “winning”.  Although  MLB  may  match  a  young  Dominican  boy’s  lifetime  earnings  by  a  multiple  of  50  within  one  day,  that  boy  condemns  himself  to  live  a  life  that  is  reliant  upon  the  game  of  baseball  where  he  has  (and  most  likely  never  will  have)  a  backup  plan.    

This  analysis  is  incredibly  critical,  but  I  think  the  financial  complications  involved  in  Major  League  Baseball  and  Dominican  Baseball  provide  enough  detail  to  describe  a  very  large  portion  of  the  entire  problem  within  the  relationship.  Major  League  Baseball  is  not  inherently  bad  for  the  Dominican  Republic.  It  does  have  influences  that  expand  further  than  monetary  gain,  specifically  the  idea  of  pride  and  nationalistic  views.  However,  I  think  the  time  has  come  to  re-­‐evaluate  the  relationship  and  make  it  more  mutually  beneficial  for  both  parties.  I  would  love  to  see  goodhearted  hometown  teams  like  the  Aguilas  and  the  Dominican  Winter  League  as  a  whole  gain  traction  in  a  manner  that  gives  them  some  type  of  leverage  against  the  MLB  and  its  capitalist  exploitation.  I  realize  that  the  DWL  will  most  likely  never  be  able  to  rival  MLB  in  terms  of  financial  bargaining  and  popularity.  However,  it  would  be  awesome  to  see  more  influence  placed  upon  nationalism  and  hometown  sentiment  in  order  to  counteract  MLB’s  allure.  Understandably,  Major  League  Baseball  will  not  be  a  fan  of  this  proposal  but  I  would  argue  that  the  Dominican  Republic  and  its  seemingly  “endless”  supply  of  talent  holds  more  bargaining  power  and  leverage  than  they  seem  to  realize.            

     

Site Visits

Schedule: 1.  San  Pedro  de  Macoris  /  Consuelo  –  June  21,  2014    2.  Rudy  Ramirez  Little  League  –  June  23,  2014    3.  Ney’s  Academy  &  New  York  Met’s  Academy  –  June  25,  2014    4.  Archivo  Naciónal  –  June  27,  2014    5.  RBI  Regional  Championship  –  June  29,  2014    6.  Daniel  Portorreal’s  Little  League  –    July  2,  2014    7.  Charles  Farrel  &  DRSEA  –  July  4,  2014    8.  Estadio  Quisqueya  &  LiDom  –  July  9,  2014    9.  Caño  Hondo  –  July  12-­‐13,  2014   Reflectory Piece: Site  visit  reflections  were  actually  a  requirement  of  my  second  course  within  the  CIEE  Baseball  in  Context  program  which  was  titled  “Cultural  Studies  of  Caribbean  Sport”.  However,  the  site  visits  were  extremely  applicable  to  both  courses.  The  site  visit  posts  were  a  vital  part  of  the  Sports  Ethics  course  because  they  gave  me  the  opportunity  to  make  tangible  connections  with  concepts  discussed  in  the  classroom.  It  was  fascinating  to  read  articles  discussing  very  specificied  topics  that  pertain  to  baseball  in  the  Dominican  Republic  and  then  having  the  opportunity  to  apply  that  conceptual  knowledge  in  a  real  life  setting.  These  visits  helped  to  clarify  common  U.S.  conceptions  regarding  Major  League  Baseball  and  its  percieved  role  as  “the  only  avenue  out  poverty”  and  it  put  the  extreme  level  of  poverty  into  understandable  context.  These  site  visits  helped  me  gain  a  multi-­‐faceted  understanding  of  baseball  as  it  pertains  to  Dominican  culture  which  ultimately  fueled  my  conclusions  regarding  the  extent  to  which  Major  League  Baseball  has  in  fact  colonized  Dominican  baseball.    

Consuelo  June  21,  2014  

During  our  visit  to  the  small  “pueblo”  (town)  known  as  Consuelo,  which  is  

located  near  the  larger  city  of  San  Pedro  de  Macoris,  I  felt  that  specific  moment  of  clarity  where  I  began  to  truly  understand  what  I  thought  I  had  already  known.  In  the  Dominican  Republic,  baseball  really  is  more  than  a  game.    Our  van  pulled  into  the  baseball  facility,  which  is  supported  by  Major  League  Baseball  manager  Manny  Acta,  and  I  immediately  noticed  the  condition  of  the  fields,  which  were  subpar  by  American  standards  but  from  what  I  have  seen  of  the  D.R.  so  far  during  my  first  week,  these  fields  were  a  blessing  for  this  pueblo.  We  took  a  tour  of  the  town,  explored  the  church,  saw  properties  owned  by  the  major  leaguers,  and  visited  the  old  sugar  mill  with  our  guide,  a  man  who  I  could  tell  held  high  esteem  within  Consuelo.  Although  he  may  not  have  struck  “gold”,  with  his  sports  career,  he  still  commanded  and  deserved  respect  within  the  community.  After  our  tour,  we  listened  to  a  lecture  from  one  of  the  prominent  sports  writers  who  called  Consuelo  home.  He  told  us  about  baseball  in  Consuelo,  but  he  specifically  discussed  baseball’s  role  in  terms  of  government.  He  reiterated  the  fact  that  baseball  is  a  tool;  used  by  the  government  to  maintain  expectations  and  control  within  the  Dominican  Republic.  After  our  lecture,  we  ate  lunch  and  then  played  with  some  of  the  kids  involved  in  the  league,  which  was  my  favorite  part  of  the  trip.  The  kid’s  love  for  baseball  is  evident  in  everything  that  they  do.  Although  they  may  see  baseball  as  their  only  avenue  out  of  poverty,  I  got  the  sense  that  they  didn’t  feel  an  overwhelming  amount  of  pressure  to  perform.  Perhaps  this  was  only  because  they  are  still  so  young  (9  or  10),  or  perhaps  it  is  just  the  way  things  are  here.  I’ll  need  more  time  to  fully  understand.    

   

               

 

Rudy  Ramirez  Little  League  Academy  June  23,  2014  

 Our  trip  to  the  Rudy  Ramirez  academy  was  easily  one  of  the  biggest  

highlights  of  my  trip  so  far.  Although  we  didn’t  actually  see  Rudy’s  little  league,  we  did  get  to  see  what  I  understand  to  be  some  of  the  premier  players  in  the  area  who  spend  every  single  day  training  for  their  chance  to  sign  professional  contracts.  It  was  exactly  what  I  have  been  waiting  for.  I  have  been  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  make  comparisons  between  my  experience  as  a  highly  active  and  competitive  baseball  player  while  I  was  in  high  school  and  this  was  it.  I  spent  a  lot  of  time  during  my  sophomore  and  junior  summers  traveling  throughout  the  Midwest  playing  games  and  trying  out  for  teams.  This  site  visit  really  gave  me  a  point  of  comparison  and  it  was  one  of  the  first  times  that  I  become  fully  conscious  of  the  fact  that  these  kids  play  baseball  as  a  job  whereas  I  played  baseball  as  a  hobby.  Even  more  exciting  was  the  fact  that  I  made  a  new  friend  while  we  scrimmaged  versus  the  players.  One  of  the  older  players  let  me  borrow  his  glove  and  we  began  talking.  From  what  I  understand  he  was  not  good  enough  to  sign  but  he  still  considers  baseball  to  be  a  huge  part  of  his  life.  Hopefully  he  can  grow  up  to  give  back  to  his  community  through  volunteering  because,  like  Rudy  Ramirez  said,  everything  helps  but  it  will  never  be  enough.  On  a  side  note,  Argenis  Mendez  is  now  my  newest  Facebook  friend.    

                     

     

 

Ney’s  Little  League  &  New  York  Met’s  Academy  June  25,  2014  

    I  truly  enjoyed  the  combination  of  our  visits  to  Ney’s  Academy  and  the  Met’s  Academy.  I  also  think  the  timing  of  each  visit  held  more  value  than  we  gave  it  credit  for.  Visiting  Ney’s  Academy  and  seeing  the  level  of  poverty  that  exists  within  this  country  and  then  having  those  images  fresh  in  our  minds  while  walking  through  the  multi-­‐million  dollar  Met’s  facility  gave  us  a  true  depiction  of  the  contrast  between  the  majority  of  this  country  and  it’s  lack  of  resources  and  Major  League  Baseball  with  its  baseball  “resorts”  and  limitless  pocketbook.  After  taking  a  step  back  in  an  effort  to  actually  analyze  the  educational  efforts  of  both  academies  I  was  extremely  impressed.  Ney’s  Academy  appeared  to  make  a  sincere  effort  to  encourage  players  that  schooling  is  important  by  offering  morning  and  evening  sessions  and  collaborating  with  parent’s  to  set  up  a  workable  schedule.  The  Met’s  organization  appears  to  have  stepped  up  their  game.  Their  educational  facilities  were  top-­‐notch  and  when  our  guide  claimed  they  only  have  8  to  10  players  in  each  class  I  was  astounded.  My  skepticism  surrounding  Major  League  practices  in  this  country  remain.  However,  I  am  beginning  to  feel  like  I  am  beginning  my  studies  in  the  middle  of  a  serious  reform  movement.    

     

 

Archivo  Naciónal  June  27,  2014  

 If  I  am  being  honest,  our  visit  to  the  Archivo  Naciónal  easily  takes  the  cake  as  

my  least  favorite  activity  of  the  trip  so  far.  Not  to  say  that  it  didn’t  have  interesting  moments  but  it  simply  didn’t  mesh  with  my  personal  interests.  I  tend  to  analyze  problems  through  a  fiscal  and  economic  lens,  which  has  been  extremely  beneficial  throughout  our  studies  during  this  journey.  However,  the  trip  to  the  archive  provided  more  of  a  historical  lens,  which  simply  doesn’t  draw  my  attention  as  well.  One  thing  I  noticed  throughout  the  trip  was  the  complicated  political  history  of  the  Dominican  Republic.  Our  tour  through  the  “exhibit    ”  illustrated  multiple  dictatorships,  revolutions  and  other  historically  significant  incidents  that  I  never  knew  existed.  If  I’m  being  completely  honest,  I  know  little  to  nothing  about  the  history  of  the  Dominican  Republic.  My  biggest  takeaway  from  the  entire  trip  came  in  the  last  10  minutes  as  we  listened  to  one  of  April’s  many  friends  who  worked  as  an  employee  of  the  archive  in  the  “study  room”.  He  adamantly  declared  that  baseball  and  the  Dominican  Republic  are  “synonymous”  and  he  appeared  to  take  great  pride  in  saying  that.  For  me,  this  was  yet  another  example  of  the  way  Dominican’s  view  baseball  and  their  role  within  the  game.    

RBI  Regional  Championship  June  29,  2014  

 Today,  I  watched  some  kid’s  make  it  as  high  as  they  ever  will  within  baseball.  

A  regional  championship  game  played  in  a  major  league  style  stadium.  To  me  it  vaguely  resembled  a  high  school  athlete’s  last  game  and  the  moment  they  realize  they  may  never  play  the  game  competitively  again.  I  know  the  Dominican  team  will  definitely  continue  to  play,  but  I’m  still  quite  confused  on  what  caliber  athlete’s  make  up  the  Dominican  RBI  team.  If  the  age  group  is  16-­‐18  it  is  obviously  a  second  tier  of  players  because  the  most  talented  athlete’s  in  that  age  group  have  already  signed  contracts  with  MLB  teams.  The  RBI  tournament’s  atmosphere  resembled  that  of  the  Little  League  World  Series.  The  crowd  was  young  and  extremely  involved  in  the  game  and  snacks  and  treats  were  provided  by  MLB.  In  terms  of  the  actual  game,  I  was  surprised  to  see  the  extent  of  which  their  defense  outweighed  their  offense.  The  players  had  fantastic  gloves,  but  their  hitting  was  undoubtedly  below  par.  I  would  be  interested  in  following  some  of  these  players  futures  in  order  to  see  what  lies  ahead  for  them.    

                               

 

Daniel  Portorreal  Little  League  July  2,  2014    

 Our  trip  to  Daniel  Portorreal’s  little  league  academy  was  easily  one  of  my  

favorite  experiences  that  I  have  had  in  this  country  so  far.  Daniel  is  incredibly  humble  and  he  conveys  his  story  so  well.  Personally  I  am  amazed  that  he  holds  such  optimistic  views  about  his  life  and  his  journey  so  far.  It’s  refreshing  to  meet  someone  who  truly  believes  that  god  has  a  purpose  for  them  and  strives  everyday  to  meet  their  full  potential.  The  kids  in  Portorreal’s  league  are  blessed  to  have  such  a  good  role  model.  In  addition  to  hearing  Daniel  speak,  I  thoroughly  enjoyed  playing  Vitilla.  The  kid’s  (myself  included)  were  having  so  much  fun  playing  such  a  simple  game  and  it  really  gave  me  a  firsthand  experience  with  how  much  “baseball”  means  to  people  in  this  country.  I  also  think  Vitilla  is  symbolic  of  the  poverty  in  this  country.  It’s  hard  to  believe  that  many  children  play  Vitilla  simply  because  they  cannot  afford  to  play  baseball.  It  really  puts  the  poverty  into  perspective.    I  plan  on  bringing  Vitilla  back  to  the  states  and  playing  with  my  friends  because  it’s  such  a  simple  game  but  it’s  still  so  fun.    

   

Charles  Farrel  &  DRSEA  July  4,  2014  

    Our  trip  to  the  academy  in  San  Pedro  and  the  school  was  an  incredibly  enlightening  experience  for  me.  Upon  arrival  at  the  academy  I  immediately  noticed  the  difference  in  funding.  As  expected,  the  American  funded  academy  had  a  level  of  quality  that  I  have  not  previously  seen  in  this  country  (not  including  MLB  academies).  Another  thing  that  caught  my  attention  at  the  academy  is  the  idea  that  although  perhaps  only  2%  of  ballplayers  actually  make  the  big  leagues,  the  experience  and  knowledge  that  young  player’s  gain  on  their  path  through  the  minor  leagues  ultimately  provides  them  with  a  future  career  path  because  once  they  wash  out  of  playing  baseball  they  end  up  coaching  baseball.  Due  to  baseball’s  popularity  in  the  Dominican  Republic  there  is  clearly  a  market  for  experienced  and  knowledgeable  coaches.         Hearing  the  “principal”  at  Mr.  Farrel’s  school  was  fascinating.  It  is  refreshing  to  see  someone  who  genuinely  cares  about  the  well  being  of  others  with  no  side  agenda.  Mr.  Farrel  and  the  lady  who  spoke  with  us  are  legitimately  trying  to  solve  the  fundamental  educational  problem  in  this  country,  which  is  the  fact  that  education  doesn’t  hold  much  tangible  value.  In  the  states  a  high  school  diploma  holds  real  value  but  the  same  cannot  be  said  here.  I  think  what  they  are  trying  to  do  with  the  English  accredited  schooling  will  become  a  game-­‐changer  in  terms  of  future  education  programs.    

                 

 

   

Estadio  Quisqeya  &  LIDOM  July  9,  2014  

 Our  visit  to  LIDOM  and  Estadio  Quisqueya  was  different  than  what  I  

expected.  I  didn’t  quite  know  what  we  were  planning  on  doing,  but  I  thoroughly  enjoyed  what  we  did.  The  brief  overview  of  the  stadium  and  it’s  seating  “levels”  helped  me  somewhat  conceptualize  what  a  typical  game  would  be  like.  I  am  extremely  interested  in  the  Dominican  Winter  League  and  I  spent  most  of  our  time  during  the  “tour”  envisioning  the  atmosphere  that  would  exist  during  an  Escogido  versus  Licey  game.  While  I  enjoyed  hearing  about  the  actual  stadium,  I  was  fascinated  by  the  story  told  to  us  by  the  head  of  public  relations.  When  he  mentioned  LIDOM’s  plans  to  implement  a  Dominican  league  that  would  be  similar  to  the  former  Cibao  league  that  attempted  to  actually  nationalize  baseball  here  in  the  Dominican  Republic  I  was  intrigued.  It  was  the  first  time  I  had  heard  of  such  a  plan  and  I  am  very  interested  in  following  its  progress.    

   

     

   

       

   

   

 

         Caño  Hondo  July  12-­‐13,  2014  

 Although  I  don’t  really  think  our  trip  to  Caño  Hondo  was  necessarily  meant  to  

be  “educational”,  I  definitely  think  it  was.  This  trip  was  the  moment  when  I  truly  realized  how  easy  it  is  to  learn  things  specifically  through  travel.  It  was  the  moment  of  clarity  that  I  hadn’t  yet  experienced  and  had  only  been  told  about.  For  nearly  5  full  weeks  we  have  been  searching  high  and  low  for  specific  examples  of  people  escaping  poverty  through  avenues  not  related  to  baseball.  Mikael  is  the  perfect  example.  A  boy  that  most  likely  came  from  extreme  poverty  used  his  passion  and  education  to  start  a  profitable  career.  It  was  amazing  to  see.  Another  large  takeaway,  although  it  was  more  of  a  comical  note  rather  than  a  serious  one,  was  when  Mikael  elaborated  deeply  on  “fotoblanceo”  or  in  other  words  the  damage  done  through  the  flash  photography.  It  couldn’t  have  come  at  a  better  time  after  our  discussion  of  Sammy  Sosa  and  his  “skin  disease”.    

                               

Movie Screening’s

Movies Watched: 1. “Rumbo  a  Las  Grandes  Ligas”  2. “Pelotero”  3. “Roberto  Clemente”  4. “Sugar”    

Reflectory Piece: Similar  to  the  site  visit  posts,  the  movie  screening  reflection’s  were  actually  a  requirement  of  the  “Cultural  Studies  of  Caribbean  Sport”  class.  However,  they  were  another  crucial  contributor  in  helping  define  and  enhance  my  conclusions.  The  movies  provided  a  fascinating  depiction  of  the  Dominican  pipeline  to  Major  League  stardom  and  they  acknowledged  the  inherently  flawed  societal  expectations  that  are  placed  upon  young  Dominican  boys  in  today’s  world.  It  was  these  portrayal’s  of  Dominican  society  that  helped  me  comprehend  the  degree  to  which  Major  League  Baseball  plays  a  role  in  the  lives  of  a  large  portion  of  Dominican  families.  Major  League  Baseball  has  implemented  itself  into  everyday  Dominican  life  which  has  allowed  it  to  furthur  enhance  its  colonization  of  Dominican  baseball.    

   

   

“Rumbo  a  Las  Grandes  Ligas”    

The  movie  “Rumba  a  Las  Grandes  Ligas”  caught  my  attention  quickly  because  it  was  essentially  a  summary  of  everything  we  have  been  studying  and  examining  up  to  this  point.  I  find  it  fascinating  that  an  entire  60-­‐minute  documentary  was  made  discussing  the  things  we  have  basically  covered  in  a  little  over  a  week  and  it  made  me  really  excited  because  I  know  we’re  going  to  be  able  to  look  so  much  deeper  into  the  culture  and  business  of  baseball  during  our  6-­‐weeks  here  in  the  Dominican.  The  movie,  which  took  an  overarching  case  study  approach  and  supplemented  additional  details  throughout,  followed  one  prospect  (Cabrera)  and  showed  the  gist  of  what  his  journey  through  life  consisted  of  during  his  early  teenage  years.  It  appears  that  this  method  was  chosen  in  an  effort  to    portray  the  pressure  that  some  of  these  kids  must  feel  and  to  help  the  audience  sympathize  with  the  player’s  situations.  Cabrera  discusses  the  fact  that  he  knows  baseball  is  his  only  opportunity  to  help  his  mother  in  her  financial  situation  and  if  he  does  not  succeed  he  will  most  likely  never  have  another  chance  to  help.  In  addition  to  Cabrera’s  story  the  filmmakers  added  additional  side  note  stories  in  effort  to  encompass  the  grand  picture.  Another  large  aspect  of  the  film  involved  the  depiction  of  current  Major  Leaguers  who  have  returned  to  their  hometown  and  feel  a  sense  of  charitable  responsibility  towards  the  youth  in  the  República  Dominicana.  The  film  focused  on  Vladimir  Guerrero  and  David  Ortiz  however  we  have  experienced  multiple  other  big  leaguers  that  have  returned  with  the  intention  of  doing  good  by  their  community.  In  comparison  to  our  study  of  culture  and  the  way  in  which  culture  is  studied,  I  think  “Rumba  a  Las  Grandes  Ligas”  took  an  approach  that  emphasized  the  economic  value  of  success  in  baseball.  It  placed  focus  on  a  child’s  ability  to  support  and  help  his  family  by  signing  to  play  professionally  and  it  also  focused  on  the  Major  League  player’s  who  have  succeeded  financially  and  are  then  able  to  provide  support  within  their  communities  (Albeit  not  always  financial  support).  I  truly  enjoyed  the  documentary  and  it  made  me  excited  to  watch  more  films  depicting  the  baseball  scene  here  in  the  Dominican.    

           

 

“Pelotero”    

The movie “Pelotero” was an incredibly interesting, informative, and biased piece of work. At first, I struggled to identify the true intention of the directors. On it’s surface level it seems hard to condemn “Pelotero” as an anti-MLB film because the film and it’s directors never “directly” accused Major League Baseball of any wrongdoing. Upon deeper analysis I began to realize that while the directors never openly expressed anti-MLB sentiment, the movie was full of insinuated remarks and a majority of the content was laced with depictions of the MLB that are designed to leave a sour taste in the viewer’s mouth. Personally, I believe that “Pelotero” indirectly attempts to condemn MLB and their practices throughout the Dominican Republic and Latin America without providing proper understanding of the many positive aspects that MLB has introduced into their operation. Moving past the purpose and into the content, I was amazed with the level of controversy that was present throughout the film. It made me wonder how they found their two case studies because quite honestly, both studies worked perfectly for the purpose of this documentary. I was confused because they clearly couldn’t have known the full outcomes until after they spent months and weeks filming these prospects lives. In the case of Saño, I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with MLB. It truly appeared that there was a sense of collusion in an effort to drive down his “worth” which caused me to deeply question the MLB’s sense of ethical and moral obligation to treat these prospects with the respect they deserve. In the case of Batista, I initially felt a sense of compassion. This feeling was short-lived when I realized that it truly doesn’t make sense for a boy to state his age as 9 for nearly 700 days as his trainer explained. I understand that prospects are often taken advantage of, but I share sympathy for his buscone who clearly lost a significant portion of his investment on that player. Although this movies bias focused against Major League Baseball. I personally felt like it painted a prettier picture of the buscone-player relationship than I imagined prior to watching the film. The buscones in this documentary appeared to be genuinely concerned about the player’s well being rather than solely concerned about their profit margin. Although I did cringe a bit when Batista’s buscone whom he referred to as a “father figure” publically denounced Batista and his family after the incident that occurred.    

“Roberto  Clemente”    

I  was  extremely  interested  in  the  Roberto  Clemente  documentary  because  my  dad  has  always  been  a  big  Clemente  fan.  If  I’m  being  honest,  I  have  never  actually  payed  any  attention  to  him  or  his  story  but  I  did  have  a  strong  desire  to  learn  more  so  I  can  actually  hold  conversations  with  my  dad  about  Clemente  without  just  nodding  my  head  and  dodging  the  questions.  I  know  I  have  heard  of  the  Roberto  Clemente  Award  and  in  that  sense  I  knew  he  had  been  a  great  ambassador  for  the  game  of  baseball,  I  just  didn’t  know  how  big  he  actually  was.  I  missed  the  first  20  minutes  or  so  of  the  movie  but  I  don’t  think  I  missed  much.  What  I  took  away  from  the  movie  was  the  way  Roberto  Clemente  never  dulled  or  toned  down  his  ancestry.  Even  in  his  early  year’s  when  he  struggled  to  make  friends  because  he  was  different  he  kept  his  pride  in  Puerto  Rico  and  his  ancestry  and  he  let  the  outside  forces  fuel  him  rather  than  hinder  him.  I  thought  it  was  interesting  when  the  movie  talked  about  how  Clemente  was  positive  he  would  win  the  N.L.  MVP  and  he  came  in  8th.  I  thought  it  was  awesome  how  he  immediately  turned  his  anger  into  motivation  and  strived  to  become  even  better.  Clemente’s  playing  story  is  so  perfect  it  almost  seems  cliché.  What  caught  my  eye,  and  what  I  hope  future  players  will  do,  was  the  way  Clemente  used  his  status  as  a  ballplayer  to  kick-­‐start  and  influence  his  political  and  humanitarian  career.  He  didn’t  see  baseball  as  his  path  to  retirement  but  rather  his  path  to  something  bigger.  It’s  a  concept  that  everyone  preaches  but  few  follow  through  on  and  I  think  Roberto  Clemente  is  a  fascinating  story  that  should  definitely  be  publicized  even  more!    

                         

“Sugar”    

I  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  movie  “Sugar”.  I  had  previously  heard  great  things  about  it  and  I  have  been  meaning  to  watch  it  for  quite  some  time  now.  I  enjoyed  it’s  fictional  approach  because  I  think  it  gave  the  directors  and  film  makers  some  leeway  in  how  they  wanted  to  portray  certain  aspects  throughout  the  movie.  After  making  comparisons  between  the  previous  documentaries  we  have  watched  and  this  fictional  depiction  I  feel  like  “Sugar”  attempted  to  dilute  the  intensity  of  the  Dominican  pipeline  system  that  Major  League  Baseball  has  implemented.  The  movie  attempted  to  lighten  the  mood  while  depicting  the  struggle’s  of  Latino  players  in  their  attempt  to  assimilate  into  U.S.  culture  (specifically  with  language)  and  while  it  was  comedic  at  certain  points  (french  toast),  it  is  a  very  serious  problem  for  a  lot  of  young  Latino  players  and  this  movie’s  depiction  clashed  with  the  way  the  other  documentaries  showed  the  problem.  Another  thing  I  noticed  throughout  “Sugar”  was  the  ongoing  comparison  between  Miguel  Santos  and  Brad  Johnson.  It  was  interesting  because  the  symbolic  nature  of  this  relationship  flew  under  the  radar  throughout  the  majority  of  the  movie,  but  once  it  was  mentioned  to  me  I  began  to  notice  its  prevalence.  The  comparison  between  a  Latino  player  whose  journey  through  MLB’s  pipeline  included  very  little  education  and  meager  pay  versus  the  U.S.  journey  through  the  pipeline  that  included  prestigious  schooling  and  million  dollar  contracts  (It  should  be  noted  that  Brad  Johnson’s  journey  isn’t  the  most  accurate  depiction  of  the  U.S.  pipeline.  However,  in  comparison  to  the  Dominican  journey  it’s  really  not  too  big  of  an  exaggeration).        

MLB Internship

Academies Visited: 1.  Tampa  Bay  Rays  2.  New  York  Mets  3.  St.  Louis  Cardinals  4.  Toronto  Blue  Jays  5.  Milwaukee  Brewers  6.  Kansas  City  Royals  7.  Houston  Astros  8.  New  York  Yankees  9.  Colorado  Rockies  10.  Washington  Nationals  11.  Pittsburgh  Pirates    12.  San  Francisco  Giants  13.  Miami  Marlins  14.  Cleveland  Indians      Reflectory Piece: The  work  placement  component  of  this  study  abroad  program  was  easily  the  most  influential  in  shaping  my  grand  takeaways.  My  internship  with  Major  League  Baseball  gave  me  valuable  access  and  insight  into  MLB’s  influence  within  the  Dominican  Republic.  My  involvement  within  the  Dominican  academies  education  programs  provided  firsthand  knowledge  of  the  extent  to  which  Dominican  youth  are  essentially  bred  for  Major  League  Baseball’s  use.  The  uninhibited  access  to  freshly  signed  Dominican  prospects  gave  me  the  unique  opportunity  to  gain  a  better  understanding  of  how  Major  League  Baseball  and  its  far-­‐casting  shadow  are  percieved  by  the  Dominican  youth.  The  realization  that  Dominican  prospects  welcome  Major  League  Baseball  and  its  influence  in  their  lives  solidified  my  position  regarding  MLB’s  colonization  of  this  country  in  terms  of  baseball.  Major  League  Baseball  has  exploited  and  enhanced  a  narrative  in  the  Dominican  Republic  to  paint  itself  in  good  light  and  said  narrative  has  been  overwhelmingly  accepted  and  embraced  by  a  significant  portion  of  Dominican  society.      

   

 

Conclusion       As  my  time  here  in  the  Dominican  Republic  begins  to  wind  down,  I  consider  myself  incredibly  blessed  to  have  had  such  an  invigorating  and  life-­‐altering  experience.  I  had  the  opportunity  to  expand  my  horizons  on  multiple  levels.  As  a  travelor,  this  trip  gave  me  the  ability  to  step  outside  my  comfort  zone  and  live  as  an  independent  adult  without  being  restricted  to  the  typical  “bubble”  that  often  accompanies  college  life.  As  a  student,  I  was  given  the  chance  to  explore  one  of  my  true  passions  that  may  or  may  not  fit  in  with  my  future  degree  and  career.  The  ability  to  study  a  topic  based  solely  on  passion  without  worrying  about  alterior  motives  is  one  of  the  most  liberating  experiences  in  academia  and  it  really  kindles  one’s  desire  to  continue  with  education.         This  program’s  central  question  of  “to  what  extent  has  Major  League  Baseball  colonized  Dominican  baseball”  has  been  the  overarching  quandary  in  the  back  of  my  mind  for  nearly  6  weeks.  As  my  learning  experience  culminates,  I  am  finally  ready  to  provide  my  answer.  For  the  purpose  of  this  conclusion,  I  have  chosen  to  define  the  term  “colonize”  as  the  level  to  which  Dominican  baseball  and  its  efforts  are  simultaneously  benefitting  Major  League  Baseball  and  its  motives  for  involvement  within  the  Dominican  Republic.  The  combination  of  my  experiences  throughout  this  country  has  led  me  to  believe  that  Major  League  Baseball  has  in  fact  “colonized”  Dominican  baseball.  MLB’s  shadow  can  be  found  lurking  near  every  form  of  baseball  in  this  country.  Local  little  leagues  are  reliant  on  ex-­‐major  leaguers  for  financial  support,  buscone  academies  initiate  the  MLB  feeder  system  when  boys  are  still  going  through  puberty,  Dominican  academies  foster  hope  for  hundreds  of  prospects  while  bolstering  a  mere  2%  success  rate,  and  the  only  form  of  Dominican  baseball  that  remains  in  the  Dominican  Winter  League  is  slowly  converting  into  a  puppet  figure  for  Major  League  development.  I  truly  believe  that  Major  League  Baseball’s  influence  can  be  found  in  every  corner  of  this  island  and  it  will  remain  there  until  the  Dominican  Republic  falters  in  its  production  of  Major  League  talent.