Atlanta Braves president Stan Kasten and general manager John Schuerholz visited San Francisco de Macoris in the Northeast to formally open the Las Caobas Baseball Training Camp. The RD$50 million investment was made together with Jose Hazim, president of Los Pollos winter professional baseball team. The Braves intend to have all their Latin American players train at the facility, rather than having them spread out on teams on the island and in Venezuela. It also will help the Braves tap into the baseball talent-rich Dominican Republic. The facility will allow the Braves to sign young Latin American players and develop them slowly in a comfortable environment, learn English in a classroom, rather than sending them to the United States before they’re ready. The club has signed a three-year lease on the state-of-the-art facility in Urbanización Almanzar, San Francisco de Macoris, about two hours from Santo Domingo. The complex includes four fields, dormitories for up to 124 players, weight rooms, lighted batting cages and classrooms. Speaking at the formal opening of the camp, Schuerholz called it “extraordinary and exciting,” and commented on the DR as a mine of players. Venezuelan bank to lend for Pan Am Games Bienvenido Solano, director general of the 2003 Pan Am Games, said the facilities for the Games will be financed by a US$26 million loan from a Venezuelan bank. He explained that the funding no longer will come from the San Jose Accord as initially planned since this organization merged with the Banco de Exportaciones de Venezuela, as reported in Hoy newspaper.
