Baseball on a Saturday

So even though today was the start of the weekend, the players were still at work. They play six times a week during the summer, getting only Sundays off. So I set off to Baseball City pretty early. It's quite the facility; six teams sharing the same basic complex. Each team has its own separate facilities, which are all very similar. They are nice, but not nearly as nice as the Padres or Mets academies. Eight players share a room with four bunk beds; the dining room is small and musty, and the offices are pretty small. Nevertheless, compared to the rest of the country, Baseball City remains an oasis.

In contrast to the other academies I have visited, Baseball City is walking distance from a large town (Boca Chica, where I am staying). Additionally, it is completely adjacent to a small farming community that houses several thousand people. Despite the largely urban setting, it remains relatively isolated, and it seems that most of the teams have little to no interaction with the surrounding communities.

My first interview was with Juan Peralta, the Administrator for the Cincinati Reds. Juan and I had a long talk about their academy versus the Mets and Padres. He noted that the Mets and Padres were much nicer ("like a resort") but also said that they cost much more money to maintain, and in the end, probably did not do too much more to develop prospects. He admitted that if the Reds and Padres were trying to sign a player and offering similar monetary amounts, they would probably choose San Diego (the old San Diego discount at work again), but he thought that wouldn't happen very often.

Juan did not have much to say when it came to the Reds interacting with the community. He noted that they gave old equipment to Boca Chica youth leagues 3-4 times a year, and sponsored 1-2 baseball clinics each year with their coaches. That seemed to be the extent of their involvement, and he didn't seem inspired to expand it in the coming years. Additionally, while their players do take English classes, and Juan noted that the Mets educational program seemed ideal, he said it was a budgetary concern, and the people at the top in Cincinati did not appear ready to allocate money for such an endeavor. Basically, it seemed that the number one, and almost only concern, is to produce baseball players. Little resources remain for the community.

I then watched a bit of an Orioles-Reds game at the adjoining Orioles complex. The Oriolex facility shares a gate with the neighboring community, and an open gate allowed some small children to watch the game. There were only about ten of them, but that was more than I had seen at any other Baseball City game. The children all stopped when I came by with my camera, and asked me for money.

I talked to the Orioles Management of Player Development, Felipe Alou Jr. (he's the son of former player and manager Felipe Alou, and the brother of current injured player Moises Alou). Felipe was a really nice guy, allowing me to eat at the facility and then conduct an interview while a Cubs-Pirates game was on TV in the background. The Orioles just moved to Baseball City from San Pedro de Macoris, and so he said that much of their operations were just starting up. He admitted they had no real community outreach programs, largely because they had just arrived. Subsequently, the Orioles had little name-recognition in the community. Felipe did talk extensively (and with experience) on the potential of baseball, noting how all Dominican youth aspire to be Major Leaguers, and noted the importance that the game has been for the country. He humbly noted that the Dominican Republic is a very poor country, but baseball, in addition to providing an economic stimulus, is a source of immense pride. Considering he comes from possibly the pre-eminent Dominican baseball family (his father, brother, and two uncles played in the Majors, and he made it to Triple A), this carried a lot of weight.

I took a walk in the neighboring town after the interviews. Kids were playing ball all over the street; some using bottle caps in place of balls. While the kids all expressed a love for the game, they told me most of their gloves were broken and they didn't usually receive materials from the teams. A few older people in the town said they loved baseball and thought it was great the academies were next door, but also said the teams never did anything concrete for them.

After having interviewed five teams, it's very evident that some teams put much more into their community outreach programs than others. The teams in baseball city, with limited resources already because of their smaller academies, don't seem to put an emphasis on their outreach. Hopefully, this attitude can change in the coming years.