Learn To Play Baseball in the Domincan Republic

I was doing research about the Dominican Baseball Academies where many MLB prospects come from, and I came across a site that took me completely by surprise:

“Baseball players age 18 and under (separate sessions are also available for college age players) are welcome to attend our 7 day/6 night baseball trip to the Dominican Republic (see dates/college guest coaches). The camp is 30 miles east of Santo Domingo, in the the seaside town of Boca Chica, where we will immerse ourselves in baseball and the Dominican culture. We will practice and participate in the same drills done by Dominican baseball players and play in daily games against Dominicans. These games will be a highlight of the trip and will expose our players to the spirited style of play the locals are known for. Individual players or teams are welcome.”

Before I was able to read the paragraph in full, I was completely enraged. I thought this was a stupid, horrible idea trying to trick parents to sending their children down to the Dominican Republic to see if the talent of Dominican Republic children can rub off on our American boys.

As I continued to read, my anger decreased a little, but there is a lot I still see wrong about this. The trip takes place at the Boca Chica beach. I worry that the children and teenagers that go on these trips do not get a full picture about what life is like in the Dominican Republic. I couldn’t find any testimonials online, so my feelings can’t be proven but they are still legitimate concerns.

Have you ever been to Jamaica, or know someone who has been to Jamaica on a cruise? If you do a tour of the country, they obviously put a positive spin on everything that is going on there. I am not saying that there are only poverty stricken areas in the Dominican Republic, but I fear that these young, Impressionable minds will not get the whole picture of what it is like to live in the Dominican Republic.

A positive aspect of this program is that the players from America not only play against the Dominicans, but they also eat together as well. This is an interesting idea because the players can bond. However there are still issues here, the main one being a language boundary and the cynical reader could also say that the Dominican players are probably told tone down social issues (or the players might not represent all the social classes in the Dominican Republic). Of course, that same argument can be made about players from the United States, that they do not represent all of the social classes.

Overall, I am very skeptical about this program, but if they made more culture based and try to portray an unbiased view of the country, this program could have a lot of potential. If you want to visit the site, it can be found here.

Korean Baseball Comics

Have you ever wondered about how other countries look at Major League Baseball? How they receive their MLB news? Korea has a very interesting way to display their news about MLB and it comes from cartoonist Choi Hoon. About once a week, Hoon draws comics that reflect current issues in MLB, and they are really quite good.

The details in the comics show how in tune other countries are about the story lines in baseball. The comics don’t just show winners and losers, they show fan reactions and player interactions, which is very detailed level of the intangibles in MLB.

Lets break down a recent Hoon cartoon from April 25. A friend of mine, Dan Choi, who runs a blog about the issues surrounding the 2008 Olympics, translated the comic. The comic is not posted here due to its length, so please visit the link.

In the first block, Eric Gagne is coming to the mound in Dodgers gear and the Brewer fans are exclaiming “We’re doomed!” In the next panel, the fans are saying the same thing, but this time, Gagne is in a Brewers uniform. Issue: Gagne becoming ineffective. Also shows fan distress. The Barry Zito comic runs in a very similar fashion. When he is playing his guitar in the Oakland uniform, everyone is talking about how handsome and talented he is. In the next panel, in the Giants jersey, his fans are telling him to focus on baseball. This touches his ineffectiveness from coming over to the Giants and not living up to his contract.

In my personal opinion, the Millar comic is the one that shows the most insight about baseball teams. Millar is a funny guy, but since he signed with Baltimore, he has not getting much attention because the fans here really do not care. In Boston, the fans loved him, in fact he threw an opening pitch for one of the playoff games for Boston last year…when he was still signed with the Orioles. Anyway, in the first panel, Millar is telling a story about him and Manny and a bunch of Red Sox players, and everyone is laughing with him. In the second panel, he is doing the same thing with Oriole players, and no one is listening.

These comics show the stretch of MLB across the globe, and how readers in Korea, not only care about the final score of the games played here, but they also care about the players and the relationships to the team. That’s really incredible considering the distance between the states and Korea and also considering that there aren’t many players from Korea in the Majors.

Swinging Really Late about Basbeall in Israel

The past few days have been a whirlwind of information about Israeli Baseball for me and I am just starting to get a grip on the story. When I posted the video before, the information I had on the IBL came from their website. I thought it was a little strange that their last update was on February 20th, but I really didn’t think anything of it.

My full intention with the last post was to tell a story about conversation I had with my Israeli cousins over the weekend. I asked my cousins over the weekend if they knew anything about the IBL (I was looking for some material for this blog) and they told me that they have never heard of professional baseball in Israel. I was astonished, and started listing the teams and where they played, but they kept shaking their heads no. One of my cousins was also talking about how Americans always think that Israeli’s need some sort of distraction in their world. She went on to say that in her view, the attacks and everything around that are just events of her daily life, and she got used to them. That led me to start thinking about who’s interest are we trying to serve here.
Luckily, Sam Peters of Tabloidbaby opened my eyes to the entire issue. To literally quote part of our email correspondence:

“A major flaw in the Israel Baseball League blueprint was its lack of
promotion among native Israelis. They were
playing to a US-based big money audience and not the punters who fill the
stands-- which is why your cousins never
heard of the league. How could that be possible?

It is.”

This pretty much answers the question that the needs and “dreams” of the United States were really being granted in this expedition. This is a theme I hope to touch on later with the recent promotion of baseball in China.
What I am truly embarrassed about is that I did not see this months ago like everyone else out there. On top of that, the IBL, albeit not officially announced on their website, will not be playing ball next year.
This is an example of exporting of baseball that did not work.

Israel Baseball League: American Perspective Video

Baseball in Israel was one of the first topics I thought of when I decided to talk about world baseball because I feel that its known in America more than in Israel and I have often questioned the motives for it (but I do love it, don't mistake that). I root for the Modim Miracle only because of their Manager, Art Shamsky, who was a '69 Met, so I am a little biased when it comes to their teams.

I found this video on YouTube not too long ago (about two weeks ago). The video was added online a little over a year ago, but makes a lot of insightful points subliminally. When you watch it, think about the goals of Baseball in Israel? Are we going over to offer a distraction? Do they need a distraction? Is this another example of America trying to act as a hero?
I have been thinking about this clip now for over two weeks, and I still have not finalized my opinion about it.

Baseball in Ghana

Complete Video can be found here.

The above YouTube video is a segment of a story from Frontline on PBS. Please click on the link to see the full 12 minute story. It is really interesting.

The great thing about this video is that there are so different aspects of Baseball and Ghana that are shown. First and foremost is the acceptance, or lack their of, of baseball in Ghana. It is amazing that they are playing baseball in Ghana, and it’s not surprising that baseball has a lack of support. The story about the soccer goal in shallow left field represents that vast majority of people in Ghana probably do not care about baseball in Ghana.

To counteract this negative view of baseball in Ghana is another aspect of baseball in Ghana which is children playing it in order to get out, to make it big in America. This statement is an over generalization, but these feelings have some very similar ties to those players in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, etc. The difference being that those countries have players who have made it big, who have made it to the pros. Ghana does not have these examples to relate to.

One of the aspects of this story that really struck me was the importance of Baseball on a Government/Political level as a symbol of the status of the country. I really never thought of Baseball as a sign of a country that is advancing, and Ghanaian Prince featured in this video really opened my eyes to that view. If we imagine an industrialized country as one being in a tree, and there is ladder leading to that tree, it is almost as if Ghana sees baseball as one of those rungs of the ladder to get to that state. Another, smaller version of this can be seen when the Barber at the end talks about how he wants to be able to watch players in his country play Baseball in a league style when he grows older. The undertone here is that the nation develops so that this can happen. It is there with soccer, and a more diverse nation can have it with Baseball. (This is of course open to interpretation because his aspirations here can be taken and understood on many different levels).

The video, with some subtlety, talks about the imperialism of Baseball. In this video, with Omar Minaya, Dusty Baker and Dave Winfield, is an example of the benign spread of baseball. Besides scouting, this group of three is not looking for an American buck in Ghana. The looking for an American buck is like the recent games in China (I still support those games) but there was an economic interest for the US in those games. One could make the argument that is happening with Ghana with all of the Mets logos on shirts that Omar brings with him, but that’s a real cynical view on a charitable move by Omar.

I really enjoyed this video, and I hope that you did as well. If you find any videos that you think will pertain to the theme of this site, please shoot it by me at eteich@umd.edu

Welcome!

From the creation of baseball, it has intertwined itself with American History. This critical game in America's History mirrors many of the great events that happened here, and as America has spread its ties globally, so has Baseball.
America's game is quickly becoming Everyone's game. Baseball is even gaining popularity in countries, like Ghana, that people would not normally think Baseball would even be in.
What is the root of this spread? Is it politics? Is it money related?
New controversies have came from the spread of the game as well. Are we signing players too young from other countries? Are the intentions of Major League teams benign? Are they selfish?

These are the topics I hope to discuss in this blog. My name is Elliot and some of you out there have probably read the other blog I write: 213 Miles From Shea. Baseball is a huge part of my life and I have always have been interested in International Baseball. Aside from the topics previously stated, I hope to touch upon relevant International Baseball events.