Baseball is More Than Baseball!(?)

aegap

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Mar 19, 2005
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Baseball is more than baseball
In his inspirational closing words of the presentation on the economic and social impact of Major League Baseball in the Dominican Republic held yesterday at the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development auditorium, Omar Minaya, general manager of the New York Mets, encouraged the Dominican leadership to emulate the example of Major League Baseball in the Dominican Republic in order to contribute to the wellbeing of the people. "We have the power to bring about change, but we need to use it," he told his audience. He highlighted the domino effect of the contributions to the community made by individual teams. He mentioned that the contracts signed with Dominican players joining the Mets include matching funds of US$1-US$1 when the players reinvested in community projects in their countries. He also predicted that as more Dominican general managers are appointed, this practice could expand in MLB.
Spokesmen for MLB in the DR highlighted that contributions to the tune of US$84 million in 2005 have been made in bonuses to new players (US$17 million), operation of 28 academies (US$14 million), Dominican Summer League (US$2.7 million), reinvestment of wages of Major League players (US$42 million), reinvestment of Minor League players (US$2.6 million), visits to the country by executives (US$360,000), donations (US$250,000).
John Seibel, speaking for the MLB teams, highlighted that the impact of the teams is even greater because the baseball academies are located in impoverished areas.
John Seibel said that there are challenges ahead for MLB to continue making a very good relationship even better. These include the end to the practice of forged identity and age papers, eliminating the consumption of prohibited substances, maintaining self-regulation practices, and supporting a bill that would legalize in the DR the same contract they sign with players in other countries.
Lou Melendez, vice president of International Baseball Operations, said that the DR is a prime target to host a round of games during the II World Baseball Classic in 2009, but that improvements would have to be made to the Santo Domingo stadium. Omar Minaya feels that the DR has much more to gain from baseball. "We need to brand what we have in our land that is positive. And we can do it by doing baseball. We can brand our country through baseball," he said challenging Dominicans to create synergies with Major League Baseball's large presence in the country.
Also attending the meeting were Ronaldo Peralta, senior manager MLB Dominican Republic Office, and Joe Garagiola, senior vice president baseball operations for MLB.
 

daddy1

Member
Feb 27, 2004
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what a crock of ...

Good ole MLB is at it again by using Minaya to convince Dominicans that baseball is who they are and all they ever will be....baseball is a kids sport, turned in to a multimillion dollar sport in the U.S. these men are interested in one thing, and that is making money what do they care of D.R.s infracstructure, they are just another company like the one's in the free zones interested in cheap labor and more benefits. when you read about the percentages of High school grads there at nearly 5% how in your right mind can you be talking about baseball, MLB in D.R. is just as destructive to young youth boys there then drinking beer all day, Money and cheap labor is MLB's agenda at hand and that is it!
 

Dolores1

DR1
May 3, 2000
8,215
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MLB became a corporate citizen here when faced by age and identity scandals, it had to organize itself. And organize itself it did, and today is a very positive force in the communities where they are located.

Baseball has brought new opportunities to youths that otherwise would just be drinking beer all day. Even if very few make it, they do get instilled in them discipline, ambition and get an education that they can apply in other jobs.

I invite you to see the options these youths have in the communities where the baseball academies have installed themselves. Yes, baseball is big business, but there are synergies and opportunities being created that the DR can take advantage of.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
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I tend to agree with Daddy on this.

While it is true that there have been some returns made by ML ballplayers, considering the sums involved in their contracts, it is pitiful really. Part of this is the very education of the ballplayers themselves: little or none! No civic spirit for most of them and a "gimme what's mine" attitude to go along with that.

And, to make things worse, what IS done is apparently done for self-aggrandizement. Lots of photos in the papers, but then???

Sorry, $$ and ? is not enough. It's where it goes that matters.

HB :D:D

(Of course the baseball farms are located n the poorest areas, that's where baseball is the only way out! And land is the cheapest, but that wasn't a consideration..:p:p)
 

Cleef

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Feb 24, 2002
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Don't focus on yesterday, tomorrow is coming.

Dolores makes a most important point in all of this, MLB has become a corporate citzen. Up until this time, they were nothing more than freelance miners.

The idea is that - if properly applied - MLB will be investing in the product, not simply the mining of it. The recent push is to invest in the community (education, sanitation, infrastructure, job opp's) where they build their academies. The quandry - in my mind - is mobilizing the authority to guide the investments accordingly, without involving the inevitable government scumbag outfitting his entire neighborhood in SUV's and free Metro passes.

If we look back at *yesterday* Raul Mondesi and his purchase of a fire truck (cement blocks and tin don't burn fool) for his hometown, and that dilapidated pile of cement Sammy funded in SPD, then yes the players investment in their country has been minimal and misguided. Baseball success doesn't buy brains - especially for these two - it buys a persona.

Don't use these two very poorly adapted beings as poster children for MLB's work on the island. They came up through a very different system than what MLB is trying to develop now. Bear in mind, we have yet to see the fruits of the modern day academy. Minaya and others are working on *tomorrow* (and I don't mean "ma?ana") and that's a big change. Dominicans are no longer the pawns, they are ever so slowly becoming the kings of the industry.

daddy1, your POV is crystal clear, always has been. But you curse the darkness and offer nothing else. MLB is doing good on the island and they have extensive proof of just that. They are extending themselves in the DR like very few have. Are there bumps in the road? Definitely! I'm glad we have you here to remind us.

You mention cheap labor.

Are you saying the free zones are a bad thing?
Who are they bad for?
I'm just asking. I thought jobs were a good thing. There are only so many colmados and fruit stands to be manned.

It's supply and demand, if there were better alternatives I'd imagine the free zones would cease to exist.

So back to baseball, the true ruin of the Dominican Republic.

Think of it as a grass roots development system. The academies - as defined 'havens in the middle of the most impoverished zones' become symbols of hope, whether by the individual, a brother, father, mother or the collective whole.

If constituted properly, the academies invest themselves beyond teaching the 6-4-3 double play, and instead teach the a,b,c's and value of hard work and development to all who are willing to invest in themselves. In the development of youth, hope is fuel. Without hope there is no passion, without either, these communities are mere latent forces spinning their wheels.

Once some of the inevitable success comes from these development facilities the seeds will be born. The next Big Papi is likely to come back and build that community center, that school, that hospital and church. Minaya's $US1 to $US1 community project program is not window dressing, that wasn't whispered in his ear, that's well thought out.

If MLB does its part by eliminating illegal substances then it will be known that clean is the only way to go, the buscones and horse steroids will go away.

MLB is trying to do something positive in the communities where they have laid roots, typically in the poorest areas. Giving hope where there was none. They've put in place vehicles to make dreams come true, and at the very least offer 3 squares, education and a place to sleep, oh yeah, and something to wake up for everyday - that would be HOPE!

The government shows up once every few years with bags of rice, beans and Brugal to buy its votes. Other than that what do they do? Rape and pillage from what I've witnessed.

If I'm to be convinced of the right approach, I'll take MLB's over the DR's government any day of the week, twice on holidays.

I can't believe we have well funded glimmers of hope going into the most impoverished areas of a very poor country, and yet STILL we have people complaining about injustice. As HB stated, it's where it ($) goes that matters; fire engines, undergroud discos, and salons for your sister ain't gonna get it done.

Minaya et al aren't sneeking in the back door to snag the next Pedro or Papi, they aren't looking for a SS, they are looking for development and progression of a people, and they have the means.

I wish I was a bigger part of it. I'm excited at the prospects of community development and the building of avenues of progress.

Cleef
 

Tony Cabrera

New member
Sep 24, 2002
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Dolores said:
MLB became a corporate citizen here when faced by age and identity scandals, it had to organize itself. And organize itself it did, and today is a very positive force in the communities where they are located.

Baseball has brought new opportunities to youths that otherwise would just be drinking beer all day. Even if very few make it, they do get instilled in them discipline, ambition and get an education that they can apply in other jobs.

I invite you to see the options these youths have in the communities where the baseball academies have installed themselves. Yes, baseball is big business, but there are synergies and opportunities being created that the DR can take advantage of.

Totally, agree with you
 
Let's look forward

As most of you know, I"m new here - not as a reader, but as a poster. I don't want to put everyone to sleep with some long winded novel, but did want to throw in a couple things for what they're worth:

Although I certainly understand where daddy1 and Hillbilly are coming from, I'm hoping we can all look forward and not over our shoulders. I believe that MLB as a unit, as well as many individual ML teams are all trying to do the right thing. I do know for sure that many groups and organizations are aware of past problems and are working to minimize/eradicate them.

One thing I know for sure - daddy1 you commented that "MLB is at it again using Omar Minaya to convince Dominicans that baseball is who they are and all they ever will be". With all due respect, if you think Minaya was being used by MLB or anyone else, you don't really know Omar Minaya. Omar Minaya is one of the best things to happen to dominican baseball in a long time, if not forever. I have spoken to many people who attended the recent Funglode event, and all have told me that Omar Minaya's comments were very emotional and brought the crowd "to their feet".

Regarding the problems we all know about - here's the way I look at it:
You can be part of the solution or part of the problem. I am choosing to be part of the solution. Anyone care to join me?
 

trina

Silver
Jan 3, 2002
2,550
11
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Cleef said:
Dolores makes a most important point in all of this, MLB has become a corporate citzen. Up until this time, they were nothing more than freelance miners.

The idea is that - if properly applied - MLB will be investing in the product, not simply the mining of it. The recent push is to invest in the community (education, sanitation, infrastructure, job opp's) where they build their academies. The quandry - in my mind - is mobilizing the authority to guide the investments accordingly, without involving the inevitable government scumbag outfitting his entire neighborhood in SUV's and free Metro passes.

If we look back at *yesterday* Raul Mondesi and his purchase of a fire truck (cement blocks and tin don't burn fool) for his hometown, and that dilapidated pile of cement Sammy funded in SPD, then yes the players investment in their country has been minimal and misguided. Baseball success doesn't buy brains - especially for these two - it buys a persona.

Don't use these two very poorly adapted beings as poster children for MLB's work on the island. They came up through a very different system than what MLB is trying to develop now. Bear in mind, we have yet to see the fruits of the modern day academy. Minaya and others are working on *tomorrow* (and I don't mean "ma?ana") and that's a big change. Dominicans are no longer the pawns, they are ever so slowly becoming the kings of the industry.

daddy1, your POV is crystal clear, always has been. But you curse the darkness and offer nothing else. MLB is doing good on the island and they have extensive proof of just that. They are extending themselves in the DR like very few have. Are there bumps in the road? Definitely! I'm glad we have you here to remind us.

You mention cheap labor.

Are you saying the free zones are a bad thing?
Who are they bad for?
I'm just asking. I thought jobs were a good thing. There are only so many colmados and fruit stands to be manned.

It's supply and demand, if there were better alternatives I'd imagine the free zones would cease to exist.

So back to baseball, the true ruin of the Dominican Republic.

Think of it as a grass roots development system. The academies - as defined 'havens in the middle of the most impoverished zones' become symbols of hope, whether by the individual, a brother, father, mother or the collective whole.

If constituted properly, the academies invest themselves beyond teaching the 6-4-3 double play, and instead teach the a,b,c's and value of hard work and development to all who are willing to invest in themselves. In the development of youth, hope is fuel. Without hope there is no passion, without either, these communities are mere latent forces spinning their wheels.

Once some of the inevitable success comes from these development facilities the seeds will be born. The next Big Papi is likely to come back and build that community center, that school, that hospital and church. Minaya's $US1 to $US1 community project program is not window dressing, that wasn't whispered in his ear, that's well thought out.

If MLB does its part by eliminating illegal substances then it will be known that clean is the only way to go, the buscones and horse steroids will go away.

MLB is trying to do something positive in the communities where they have laid roots, typically in the poorest areas. Giving hope where there was none. They've put in place vehicles to make dreams come true, and at the very least offer 3 squares, education and a place to sleep, oh yeah, and something to wake up for everyday - that would be HOPE!

The government shows up once every few years with bags of rice, beans and Brugal to buy its votes. Other than that what do they do? Rape and pillage from what I've witnessed.

If I'm to be convinced of the right approach, I'll take MLB's over the DR's government any day of the week, twice on holidays.

I can't believe we have well funded glimmers of hope going into the most impoverished areas of a very poor country, and yet STILL we have people complaining about injustice. As HB stated, it's where it ($) goes that matters; fire engines, undergroud discos, and salons for your sister ain't gonna get it done.

Minaya et al aren't sneeking in the back door to snag the next Pedro or Papi, they aren't looking for a SS, they are looking for development and progression of a people, and they have the means.

I wish I was a bigger part of it. I'm excited at the prospects of community development and the building of avenues of progress.

Cleef


Fine posts like this is why I like Cleef. An excellent read and POV - well done.
 

Tordok

Bronze
Oct 6, 2003
530
2
0
As someone who has been associated with some of the non-baseball aspects of MLB (in US and DR) for over a decade, I must agree with Dolores and Cleef in that, even if far from ideal, the MLB farm system in the DR is making legitimate progress as a nascent, socially-responsible corporate entity.

Unfortunately we tend to see more published reports about the things that go wrong (exploitative labor and udercompensation, fake IDs, child abuse, dangerous use of banned substances, etc..), and not enough about the things that go well.

As any business, MLB obviously operates with the main objective of making profits in their investments. The market forces drove a few pioneering teams to set up a formal system of recruitment and player development programming in the DR. What we saw in those early days of this MLB expansion into the DR was a 'gold rush' of sorts, where many used short term tactics -"quick-buck" deals taking advantage of often illiterate players and their families, denying extra-wage job benefits to coaches and other staff, etc) and this shortsightedness was bound to clash with the wiser longer term strategies of "extra-curricular" investments that the market tends to reward with an expansion of mutual opportunities for success and sustained growth.

Like every system it took them several years to mature. Once enough teams established a critical mass of camps in the DR, MLB had an obligation to monitor these overseas transactions and practices. We now are slowly starting to see the dividends, with larger signing bonuses for Dominican prospects, stronger educational components at the academies, a local MLB office that directly helps set up standards and best practices for individual clubs, a no-cost country-wide counseling service for player and families, expert nutritional, fitness and health training, improved regulation of the buscones, preventive sessions regarding drug testing policies, independent legal and financial advice, etc..

Unlike most politicians (in DR, US, or anywhere) MLB may actually be learning from its past mistakes and tragedies in the DR, and appears to be genuinely trying to set things in a more beningn course.

- Tordok
 

daddy1

Member
Feb 27, 2004
351
0
16
MLB...pays the Dominican goverment for running there camps there every year, no good has come out of that money, MLB has played the card of see no evil, hear no evil for along time, now Minaya is a front man for further exploitation and to seal the deal, he is a businessman a GM this is his job the biggest buscon of all...they need Dominican cheap labor to keep there minor league programs running! it's all about money, they have exploited and have taken advantage of the fact that the Dominican government is a disaster, so they... like pilate washes there hands from young players leaving school to play there sport...they have a moral obligation to see that these boys get better oppurtunities, they do not help in building schools, or donating school books, nor library books, as a matter of fact education and joining a university hurts there business, so they stay away from education as much as possible, they are all scouts and they saw that in Venevuela, and D.R. education is not priority...so this was a perfect place to build factories of non-educational baseball facilities...let's set the record straight they are factories, Not schools, NOT academies! like people like to suggest, let's not be so gullable....when big money comes to town..if winston or salem cigarette and big time tobacco would have built a multitude of factories there and paid 5 dollars an hour for work, I guess just because they pay a big salary that makes them all right!