Nizao?
Can someone tell me exactly what Nizao refers to, translate to?
IMHO I'm not sure "commitment" would be a word I'd use to describe most of the baseball players. "Joy" perhaps, it is a game.
But also understand their skills are often times so superior to American players, for instance, because they play just about every day, year round from a very early age. In addition, it's a window of escape from poverty, a chance at a life they see on "Pimp my ride" and so on. They are hungry, figuratively and almost certainly literally.
Almost without exception, all the players come from very low income circumstances so their hunger to succeed and "win" money is an underlying theme to their success. Even so, there are so many more that once they achieve the instant fame of being signed and securing a contract (read - money) they become satisfied with just that, and eventually their new found notoriety is a downfall. They become "the man" and are satisfied with that fleeting success. Again, not all, but the vast majority, that we never hear about.
Hence, you have the numerous baseball academies dotting the island where they are put through laborious paces to hone their skills and to allow the teams to get a better handle on what it is they have, obviously in raw skill, but also in character.
Just my opinion, but there certainly is some fact to to the notion that the Dominican is the land of baseball players, and not much else. What else has the DR put into the mainstream of the world beyond baseball talent? Not much really. That shouldn't be construed as an insult or a bad thing, but we're talking about the WORLD, not the nooks and crannies.
The ballplayers are, for the most part, extremely proud of their country, as they should be. For a young kid come from such humble beginnings to become a huge success in the states in a premier game is an incredible story, an amazing accomplishment. It's an awesome country in many aspects, what's not to be proud of, well some things, but that's not my point.
I for one wouldn't know too much about the DR if it wasn't for baseball. It's what brought me to the island and it will always be a part of me.
As for the people distancing themselves from ballplayers, that's very understandable. Social classes have been doing that all over the world in a variety of ways. Again, they are all looked at as poor barrio people and with the inherent racism (both skin color and class structure) running rampant on the island, it's no surprise that the people you questioned offered nothing but contempt for them.
It's the nature of the beast just about everywhere you go.