The Impact of Baseball in Latin America: Literature Review

According to Left Out Afro-Latinos, Black Baseball, and the Revision of Baseball’s Racial History, by Burgos, the 2006 National Baseball Hall of Fame displayed something an exciting phenomenon on the Latin American baseball. According to this article, the media showed interest in both inclusion and exclusion (37). This was especially important in reviving black American baseball. Burgos says that the interest was majorly aroused by Buck O’Neil’s storytelling and other forms of depiction of African Culture. The article also shares the cultural view of baseball. It, for example, notes that the majority of Latino baseball players played in the black baseball circuits.

The article also investigates the racialization of language accents as seen on the playing fields. Specifically, black Latinos are noted to experience duality on the playing field. The language barrier is however observed to have gone extinct along with certain aspects of culture. The paper also investigates the challenges of individual players who have particular difficulties suffered an individual who has difficulty communicating in English would especially be noted to have difficulty on the baseball field (44). On the other hand, individuals who are bilingual and bicultural are likely to have an easy way to the field. Their main difficulty would have been to maintain their dignity with particular regard to their culture.

The Globalization of Baseball: A Latin American Perspective by Vargas shares the position of the Latin culture on the baseball field. The author observes that recent past, Latin American baseball has reached its prime. The success of baseball has been indicated by the success of the leagues to be taken into Latin American countries and to include Latin American players in the baseball games (22). Moreover, these players have come to be celebrated in the form of videos that have been released by the Leaguers. By so doing, baseball has come to be acknowledged highly in these countries.

Vargas (31), however, notes that the globalization of baseball has been made difficult for the Major League Baseball (MLB) since the organization fails to acknowledge the real issues that Latin American Baseball players experience in the cause of a baseball career. If these matters are attended to, the author notes that the globalization of baseball will be more successful in these countries.

Vargas (22), for example, notes that the Latin American players are mistreated. Mistreatment often kills the spirit of the game and leads to them shunning the games. To aid the reader further comprehend the situation of Latinos in the baseball field, the author further shares the stages a player with Latin American origins undergoes before being fully accepted into the baseball field. Throughout the four phases of becoming a professional actor, the Latin American player meets various difficulties.

According to Baseball as Underdevelopment: The Political-Economy of Sport in the Dominican Republic by Klein, with time, baseball has acquired a cultural dimension. This is as pertains to a change in culture and neocolonialism. The author notes that baseball today does not just feature talent (122). Instead, he refers to it as an internalization of the division of labor by major multinational corporations. The author further notes that rather than lead to the improvement of these third world countries, baseball depreciates their economies.

The article majorly explores the case of the Dominican Republic. This is an especially important country to study since it is characterized by extreme poverty. The author notes that owing to the high poverty levels in the country. There are few opportunities for income in the country. Consequently, many men have resulted to baseball as a source of revenue. This has led to success in the country’s baseball. Based on their need for financial salvation, the country has produced more players per capita than any other country globally (128). It seems therefore that the success of the Dominican Republican baseball originates from their social status rather than their interest in the sport. It seems, therefore, that the place of the poverty in baseball is tremendous. It also highlights the need to approach the issue of poverty in the Latin American countries.

Storm’s article El Monticulo (The Mound): The Disparate Treatment of Latin American Baseball Players in Major League Baseball explores baseball as an American pursuit that is slowly gaining popularity in other states worldwide. The author also notes that the MLB recently inaugurated the Latin American Legends team. This was intended to acknowledge the contribution of Latinos to the American baseball (82). This author does not think financial constraints drive the Players. Instead, he argues that the players have a deep passion for the game. To support this point, he claims that their teams have been awarded many awards especially by the MLB. The author further notes that Latinos have met several barriers in the course of pursuing baseball as a sport in the country. Specifically, he notes that in the mid-20^th century, Latino players met with opposition from playing baseball (92). While the ban was not absolute, it might have caused difficulties in establishing a strong culture of baseball in the country.

References

Storms, Jeffrey S. “El Monticulo (The Mound): The Disparate Treatment of Latin American Baseball Players in Major League baseball.” U. St. Thomas JL & Pub. Pol’y 2, 2008: 81-103.

Burgos, Adrian. “Left Out Afro-Latinos, Black Baseball, and the Revision of Baseball’s Racial History.” Social Text 27.1 98, 2009: 37-58.

Klein, Alan. “Progressive Ethnocentrism Ideology and Understanding in Dominican Baseball.” Journal of Sport & Social Issues 32.2, 2008: 121-138.

Vargas, Angel. “The globalization of baseball: a Latin American perspective.” Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 2000: 21-36.