{"id":16372,"date":"2012-09-13T19:46:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-14T02:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/?p=16372"},"modified":"2012-09-13T19:47:21","modified_gmt":"2012-09-14T02:47:21","slug":"young-dominicans-dream-of-big-league-baseball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/young-dominicans-dream-of-big-league-baseball\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Dominicans dream of big league baseball"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Still from the film Pelotero. Courtesy Makuhari Media.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Young men in the Dominican Republic strive to become great baseball players, in hopes of getting signed to the major leagues and escaping poverty. What we don\u2019t hear about are the obstacles they are faced with, such as accusations of fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cBallplayer: Poletero\u201d is a documentary that explores this untold story by giving two firsthand accounts from Juan Carlos Batista (16), and the country\u2019s top prospect Miguel Angel San\u00f3 (15).<\/p>\n

Directors Ross Finkel, Trevor Martin and Jon Paley are huge fans of baseball, who noticed Latinos coming to the forefront of the sport–especially those from the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n

\u201c[These] kids [began] playing street ball on a dusty Dominican street with balls made of socks and bats made of sticks,\u201d Martin said. \u201cYou get no sense of the process that leads them to become these superstars.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1962, the San Francisco Giants were the first U.S. team to have four Dominican players: Felipe Alou, Matty Alou, Many Mota and Juan Marichal. That team would make it all the way to the World Series, but ultimately lose in seven games to the Yankees.<\/p>\n

After seeing this success, other teams began recruiting Dominican players–a trend that has only increased over the years–and now rosters are filled with big names like Vladimir Guerrero, David \u201cBig Papi\u201d Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez and Robinson Can\u00f3.<\/p>\n

According to the film, 20 percent of MLB players are Dominican.<\/p>\n

Eager to join the Major Leagues, many of the young men drop out of school, launching themselves into intense training, waiting for the International Major League signing day, which falls on July 2.<\/p>\n

Batista left home when he was only 13 to train with the well-known trainer Ast\u00edn Jacobo. \u00a0The son of the MLB\u2019s first scout in the Dominican Republic, Jacobo became a father figure to Batista.<\/p>\n

The MLB has mandated that players be 16 years old to sign with a big league team. \u00a0This causes some of the players to lie about their age and even their identity.<\/p>\n

If their age is in doubt, players face investigation and a possible one-year suspension if found guilty of identity fraud. \u00a0San\u00f3 experienced this firsthand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest surprise [while filming] was learning about the investigation process,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n

While San\u00f3 was known as the country\u2019s top prospect and had been expected to break all previous records for the largest signing bonus, his accreditation was disputed, which caused him to be devalued.<\/p>\n

San\u00f3 was originally expected to earn somewhere near $6 million when he went pro.<\/p>\n

Rene Gayo, the director of Latin American scouting for the Pittsburg Pirates \u00a0is seen in the film telling San\u00f3\u2019s family that if he signed with the Pirates for a significantly smaller figure, the investigation would be over.<\/p>\n

San\u00f3 ended up signing with the Minnesota Twins for $3.15 million because they were the only other team that wanted him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the greatest aspiration is that we can get as many people [as possible] to see the film and raise public awareness,\u201d Emmy-nominated producer Isaac Solotaroff said. \u201cI think it will impact the way people watch and understand the game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Young men in the Dominican Republic strive to become great baseball players, in hopes of getting signed to the major leagues and escaping poverty. What we don\u2019t hear about are the obstacles they are faced with, such as accusations of fraud. \u201cBallplayer: Poletero\u201d is a documentary that explores this untold story by giving two firsthand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1803,768,1804,65],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-16372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-ballplayer-poletero","tag-baseball","tag-dominican-republic","tag-film","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nYoung Dominicans dream of big league baseball - El Tecolote<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Young men in the Dominican Republic strive to become great baseball players, in hopes of getting signed to the major leagues and escaping poverty. 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