dominican baseball players caught in scam

Kyle

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Jun 2, 2006
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wow 59 views and no comments ?:eek: it's been all over the news in the US but i guess not a popular subject in the DR.

moderator, maybe you want to remove this....
 

jruane44

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Jul 2, 2004
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If I'm not mistaken this was discussed some time back. It's amazing how one mistake can change your entire outcome in life. Hopefully young players will learn from the mistakes of others.
 
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Chip00

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This is a sad fact of life here. As far as the "human trafficking" statement that is almost certainly a baseless assumption. It's just that most Americans have no idea about the number of fixed marriages and probably find it incredulous to belive as I did in the beginning.

I personally am friends with two Venezuelans who have "business marriages" as they are called but could make a short list of a hundred or so if you gave me some time to ask my Dominican friends/family.

Here attitudes towards laws are a lot more lax. Most Dominicans, even the honest God fearing ones, take following the law with a grain of salt and figure everybody else in the world does too. It comes from generally being apathetic towards the way the country is run and the open animosity they have towards upholders of the law in general. This isn't to say most Dominicans are criminals or "bad" people by any means just that they see laws differently than we do.

When I read the article and the baseball players said they thought the "business marriages" were credible I didn't bat an eye because this term is flung around all day long by Dominicans as if it were a work contract or something. If you play close attention to Dominicans you will here they've even created their own verb to describe getting a visa - visar.

This problem is complicated and very deeply rooted and very common here and I don't expect it to be changing any time soon because for every 1 that is caught 10 "make" it.
 

Kyle

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Jun 2, 2006
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If I'm not mistaken this was discussed some time back. It's amazing how one mistake can change your entire outcome in life. Hopefully young players will learn from the mistakes of others.

you're right but since MLB is in spring training and those promising players still can't play is a shame. their visas were once again denied and/or canceled because of this scam that's why this issue is in the news again.

Chip, you're also correct on the human trafficking issue. until my travels around the world i never understood the "arranged marriages" as some call it.

do these guys involved play winter baseball ?
 

abe

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Jan 2, 2002
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It's amazing that the Major Leagues do not have a policy where they warn their prospects away from scams like this. With the efforts they make to ease the transitions--translators, etc.--this would be a very easy thing to do. It should be part of a DVD or videotape given to every kid and shown at every major league academy in the DR.
 

Kyle

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Jun 2, 2006
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you would think that dominicans would never scam their own people for a few hundred bucks or so especially knowing that some day they will make millions and that the gravy train may never arrive if they do something illegal and get caught..
 
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Chip00

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you would think that dominicans would never scam their own people for a few hundred bucks or so especially knowing that some day they will make millions and that the gravy train may never arrive if they do something illegal and get caught..

Kyle - you're kidding right?!!!!

Most Dominicans don't plan for tomorrow and so you think the crooks or sham artists are going to be any different? Haha - that's a good one.

What bothers me the most are not the crooks that misled these kids - hey they're are crooks all over this world - no, what bothers me is the society that places so much emphasis on going to the US that kids are brought up with the "dream" and will do just about anything to achieve it. There is a great deal of ignorance by the people here of the fact that many of the laws they want to break to get to the US are actually enforced.

Unfortunately, probably only by being as severe as possible to violaters will cause there to be change in attitudes here. I'm sure that the community where these boys live will certainly rethink arrainged marriages and if they forget they can always go down to the local colmado to see these once "bright futures".

It really bothers me what people would be willing to do to get to the US. I love my country for sure but I don't think people should risk so much to get there when life isn't as bad as the locals make it out to be here.
 

planner

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Sep 23, 2002
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Future consequences - not a concept that is part of the mentality for the most part.

From the perspective of these prospects: it must be truly overwhelming. For the most part they come from poverty, get this opportunity and then have no idea who to trust, who to believe or who to listen to.

I agree that the "league" must give them some guidance, find some local people that are trustworthy who can help these young kids!
 

Kyle

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Jun 2, 2006
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yes planner, i was kidding to a point. i don't know dominicans like most of you do. i can't imagine what i would do if i was in their situation. i would think that a visa would be worth all the money in the world. it's your freedom, your "way" out, most of your worries are about to be over, you've found the American Dream.

why risk it ?? i don't think i'll ever understand...
 

jruane44

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Jul 2, 2004
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Major League Baseball does have people assigned to the DR. They are there to help these young guys make the right decisions. You can lead the horse to water but you can't make him drink.