“ Beisbol :” America ’ s Game
TheSportsRoom
By : Roberto Germain
The game once known only to residents in North America has grown significantly since its early beginnings in the 1800 ’ s . For decades , the game of baseball has been recognized as the “ National Pastime ” for the United States , providing entertainment , and memories that live on from generation to generation . Every spring , Americans look forward to heading to the ball park , smelling the grass and dirt and grabbing a hot dog and cracker jacks . For the past 15 years , the game of baseball has become more global . Some of the biggest stars in Major League Baseball have come from countries like Japan , Puerto Rico , and the Dominican Republic . This was especially evident at this summer ’ s World Cup Games hosted in Japan , Puerto Rico , and the United States . The World Cup games featured teams from Europe , Asia , and the America ’ s . The demographics of today ’ s game of baseball have changed .
Latino Americans have been playing in the Major Leagues since 1902 with their presence growing in greater numbers every season . Today 25 % of players on Major League rosters are Latino . That ’ s 204 players , including 91 from the Dominican Republic , 46 from Venezuela and 34 from Puerto Rico . According to ESPN Sports Poll , more U . S . Hispanics are fans of MLB than any other professional sport and the concentration of the MLB fan base in the U . S . that is Hispanic has grown over the past decade . Since 1996 , the percentage of MLB fans that are Hispanic has increased by 31 % from 9.5 % to 12.4 % ( ESPN Sports Poll ), and today nearly 6.4 million Hispanics consider themselves Major League Baseball fans ( Simmons Research ).
The biggest impact came during the decade of the 60 ’ s and 70 ’ s where future Hall of Fame caliber players began their careers . Players such as Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda ( Puerto Rico ), Juan Marichal ( Dominican Republic ), Rod Carew ( Panama ), Luis Apparico ( Venezuela ) and Tony Perez ( Cuba ). Today , seven Latin American-born players are among the 258 players whose bronze plaques adorn the walls of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown , there can be no doubt that their ranks in that shrine will swell in the coming years given the impact Hispanic players are having in the Majors today . Five of the past seven Most Valuable Players in the American League were Latinos , including Dominicans Miguel Tejada , Alex Rodríguez , and Vladimir Guerrero the past three seasons . Venezuelan Johan Santana was the AL ’ s Cy Young Award winner in 2004 after compiling a
20-6 record with a 2.61 earned run average . Ozzie Guillen , a native of Venezuela , become perhaps the most visible part of last seasons breakout year , in becoming the first Latino manager to win a World Series . This year Latinos will make more contributions as in past years . Look for the Latin American players to produce big during the 2006 playoff run and during the World Series . Latin Times Magazine would like to thank all the players for contributing to Hispanic Heritage !
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