For years it was said that San Pedro de Macoris in the southeast was the bed town for most of Dominican Major League Baseball success stories. Legends such as Rico Carty, George Bell, Tony Fernandez, Pedro Guerrero, Sammy Sosa and Alfonso Soriano are all from the southeastern province of San Pedro de Macoris. But with the installation of Major League Baseball academies in several other provinces, things have changed, and now other parts of the country are claiming the better ball players. Indeed, Santo Domingo, the capital city and province, now leads with the number of ball players active in the Major Leagues with 94. San Pedro de Macoris is in second place, with 69. The southern province of San Cristobal is third, with 34 ball players. Then follows Santiago, in the central region, with 32 players, and Peravia (Bani) with 23.
Most of the 32 provinces can claim credit for MLB ball players, according to the report in today’s Diario Libre. Other provinces listed in the newspaper article are Monte Cristi (16), San Juan de la Maguana (11), Valverde (Mao) (9), Duarte (San Francisco de Macoris) (8), Puerto Plata (8), Maria Trinidad Sanchez (Nagua) (8), Sanchez Ramirez (Cotui) (8), La Romana (8), La Vega (7), Azua (5), Barahona (5), El Seibo (5), Monsenor Nouel (Bonao) (4), Espaillat (3), Dajabon (2), Elias Pina (2), Hato Mayor (2), and Salcedo (1).