Follow the Lead?

In our most recent pieces, we have examined how the Black professional athlete could make a difference in the community while preserving his/her personal financial health. Because Latin American baseball players have become such a dominant force in Major League Baseball, measured in terms of their sheer numbers as well as the high quality of their play, I decided to take a look to see whether Latin ballplayers are any more involved financially in their communities than their African-American counterparts.

Latin America is currently facing a number of serious development challenges that threaten to explode into crisis. Poor education, growing HIV/AIDS, drug use, child labor, struggling tourism, inadequate housing, environmental degradation, drunk driving and pollution all have become major issues throughout the region, and efforts to resolve these issues are hindered by insufficient funds, overwhelmed organizations and limited tools.

At the same time, in seven Latin American countries (the Dominican Republic, Panama, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba and Nicaragua) and Puerto Rico there has been a boom in the development and export of baseball players to the Major Leagues in the United States. Latin American baseball players are a dominant force in Major League Baseball, measured in terms of sheer numbers as well as the high quality of their play.

Today, Latinos make up a significant portion of both the Major League Baseball player and fan bases. As of Opening Day 2005, 204 players born in Latin American countries were on Major League Baseball Club rosters accounting for nearly 25 percent of the overall MLB player base. The Dominican Republic led all countries with 91 players, followed by Venezuela with 46 and Puerto Rico with 34.

Using numbers from the 2005 All Star Break, the overall players’ payroll in MLB hovered just over US$2.5 billion. Of the 849 players listed on 25 man rosters at that time, there were 74 Dominicans, 36 Venezuelans, 36 Puerto Ricans, 16 Mexicans, 11 Cubans and 6 Panamanians (and 39 from the U.S. of Latino heritage). All in all, there were 229 players from Latin America and the Caribbean or of Latino descent (or 26% of the big leagues). Of the $2.5 billion total payroll, Dominicans earned $210 million, Puerto Ricans took home $135 million, and Venezuelans earned $75 million. Puerto Rican players are getting the best deal of the three largest Latin American groups — a per capita analysis shows that Dominicans earned $2.6 million per player, Venezuelans

$1.9 million and Puerto Ricans more than $3.3 million per player.
As is the case with Black ballplayers, there are exceptions, i.e. Sammy Sosa uses his wealth to help at home through his own foundation. "I love to help people," Sosa said. "I still run the clinic for the foundation. We vaccinate hundreds and hundreds of people every day. Every opportunity we can get to help any family with any problem — medical problems, house problems — anything, we take care of that.” However, very little has been done to harness the fame and goodwill of Latin players for the collective good of their countries and communities or channel the players’ good intentions in ways that maximize the development impact. For example, and notwithstanding their finances (over $400 million annually), Latin ballplayers raised but $170,000 for the victims of the December mudslides in Venezuela that killed as many as 30,000 people and devastated the country.

I wonder whether who represents them makes a difference in terms of the outreach effort of Latin ballplayers since they, like Black athletes, are for the most part also represented by people who do not look like them, know little about them or their culture, and do not come from where they come from.

If you have questions or require additional information, please contact Everett L. Glenn, Esq. at eglenn@espsportslawpro.com or call 562.619.8460.