The
Tribune today had a big story on baseball in the Dominican Republic, which is
providing anywhere from 25 to 40 percent of the players on minor league
rosters. In the Dominican, most people
are poor, and baseball is the escape route of choice. The odds of signing a six-figure bonus are
slim, but better than the lottery.
The
national pastime has always lent itself to the ideal of social mobility; mill
ball and stickball fed major-league dreams and minor-league teams long before
the northward flow of Dominican talent.
And just as sure as Dominican agents take an ungodly cut out of a signing
bonus for their services (as much as 30 percent according to the Trib), pro
scouts cheated Midwestern farm boys eager to sign a contract. Some things never change.
But they should. Major-league baseball is all too willing to
cultivate talent in the Caribbean no matter the potential for abuse. Closer to home, supremely gifted athletes
wait for a chance to play that never comes.
Their crime is their gender. That
or they’re not poor enough to exploit yet.
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