Latino Baseball Hall of Fame
[reprinted from DRSEA Newsletter – Volume III, Issue 9]
by Charles S. Farrell
Recently, I had the honor of attending the opening of the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame and the induction of its first members in ceremonies in La Romana, where Dominican President Leonel Fernandez was on hand for the festivities.
The new Hall of Fame honored some of Latino baseball’s most famous figures in three categories: Those inducted in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame, veterans and contemporary players since 1959. The first group inducted consisted of Puerto Ricans Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda, Panamanian Rod Carew, Dominican Juan Marichal, Venezuelan Luis Aparicio, and Cubans Martin Dihigo, Jose de la Caridad Mendez, Cristobal Torriente and Tony Perez.
Also inducted: executive Alejandro Pompez, reporter Eloy “Buck” Canel, broadcaster Jaime Jarrin from Ecuador and broadcaster Felo Ramirez from Cuba.
The veterans were: Pancho Coimbre from Puerto Rico, Beto Avila from Mexico, Alfonso Carrasquel from Venezuela, Dominican Tetelo Vargas, and Cubans Orestes Minoso and Bobby Madura.
The inducted contemporary players: Roberto Alomar from Puerto Rico, David Concepcion from Venezuela, Felipe Alou from the Dominican Republic , Camilo Pascual from Cuba and Hector Espino from Mexico. Peter O’Malley was the winner of the Tommy Lasorda Award for a non-Latino person who has played an important role in the development of Latino ballplayers. O’Malley is credited with opening the first baseball academy in the Dominican Republic (Academia Campo las Palmas).
Many of those inducted are people I had never heard of, so it was an education for me to find out more about these Latino pioneers who contributed not only to Latino baseball, but also to baseball history.
While the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame is a great thing, I often find it curious why such institutions have to be established; why so many legendary figures don’t get their fair recognition by contemporary institutions. Cooperstown has only recognized seven Latin American-born players; more than 500 Dominicans alone have played in the majors, many dominating the game.
I also find it odd that when Major League Baseball celebrated its centennial a few years ago by designating the top 100 players of all time, not a single Latino was included. (Editors note: The MLB All-Century Team was chosen in 1999 from a panel-created list of 100 top major league players. The final team consisted of the 30 players voted on by fans (primarily). The pool of 100 players did contain Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal, Rod Carew, and other Latino players; the final team had no Latino players.)
Baseball now strip mines Latin American countries for talent; about 25 percent of current players are Latino. Baseball needs to do more to recognize the myriad of Latinos who paved the way.
About the DRSEA
The basic mission of the Dominican Republic Sports & Education Academy (DRSEA) is to provide young, gifted Dominican student athletes the opportunity to become well-rounded individuals. While providing student athletes with the opportunity to hone their natural athletic talents amongst some of the world’s best young athletes, the Academy will also prepare them to excel in life, outside the lines and off the playing fields.
