Baseball: The Dominican Game

Outside of the United States, more Major League Baseball players are born in the Dominican Republic than any other country. Of the 846 players on opening-day rosters last year, 86 of them came from the Dominican Republic.   When I see the young men in the Dominican Republic play baseball in the sugarcane fields with a stick and a sock wound tight with tape, it reminds me of how important the game is. Here in America we dream of the championships, but in the Dominican Republic the dream is different.  It revolves around making a living and baseball is the lifeblood of the national.