Starting this month of September
(Latinamerican month in the USA)
last of the regular season a total
of 30 percent of all Major League
Baseball players are Latinos,
a figure that continues to
increase with each season.

By Amaury Pi-González
Bay AreaIf you are over 40 years old
you have noticed that in
the USA you don’t see the
same amount of kids
playing baseball nowdays
like you see those playing
Soccer. I mention 40 years
old because until the
1970’S baseball was still
one of the most popular
sports played by our
youth.

Even with the influx of players
from Asia, like Ichiro,Matsui,
Chan Ho Park, Byiung Kim
and others, Latinamerica
is the richest place in the
world today to discover
professional baseball
talent.

When the Giants played
the Expos the minority of
players in those teams
were not the Latinos.

When we speak about
Latino talent we are speaking
not only quantity but quality.

Below listed are some of
the best players in baseball:
-Alex Rodríguez
-Vladimir Guerrero
-Pedro Martínez
-Sammy Sosa
-Miguel Tejada
-Esteban Loaiza
-Manny Ramírez
-Nomar Garciaparra
-Mariano Rivera
-Rafael Palmeiro
-Bartolo Colón
-Magglio Ordoñez
Of course there are many
many more Latino stars
in todays Major Leagues.
Not to mention way over
40% of all players in
the minor leagues happen
to be Latinos also.

Dominican Republic,
Puerto Rico,Panamá,
Cuba,México,Nicaragua,
Colombia,Venezuela are
the top producing countries
in Latinamerica as fas
as baseball is concerned.
Those are “hot weather”
countries and when you
travel you can see kids
in the middle of the winter
playing baseball.

When I last spoke with
Doug Grenwald, who is
doing the play by play
of Fresno Grizzles games
(Triple A for the SF Giants)
he told me the importance
of speaking Spanish in
today’s game. Doug is
fluent is Spanish another
asset for him who very soon
someday will make a very
good play by play announcer
in the Major Leagues like
his father Hank.

This year in Seattle (aside
from my responsabilities
as Spanish Network Play
by Play announcer for the
Seattle Mariners Spanish
Radio Network) I have been
doing work for the Fox Sports
Northwest Television(English)

I interview Latino players
in Spanish and the interview
is played in Spanish with
English subtitles.
Plus many times prior to games
at SAFECO I am part of the
“around the stadium”pregame
show by Fox in which I would
give my opinion on camera
with Ron Fairly and others
with the Mariners broadcast
crew.

The Spanish interviews with
regular English television started
this season after Cubs superstar
Sammy Sosa was quoted
verbatim and didn’t set very
well with him or other Latino
players. The Players Union
sent a Memo to all 30 Major
League teams with the
recomendation that teams
with bilingual announcers
should conduct interviews in
Spanish with Latino players.
If at all posible.

Some regular English play
by play announcers also
speak Spanish and do work
in Latinamerica during the
winter. Eric Nadel announcer
for the Texas Rangers is one
example. He often goes to
Latinamerica and works there
during the winter leagues.

The latest surveys in Major
League Baseball shows that
Latinos overpassed African
Americans in baseball, as
well as the #1 minority in the
US. (According to the 1990
US Government Census Latinos
are the largest minority in
the US).

Last 20 years, specially
after the 1994 USA World
Cup(which I covered for
Telemundo Bay Area)there
is a feeling that Soccer
was the Sport of the
future here in the US.
But I never believed that
since the best Soccer
players in the world
do not play in the MLS,
they play in Europe
were they pay the
highest salaries.

Unlike baseball, soccer
has a problem in this
country. First it is not
an american sport,
second the best soccer
players in the world do
not play here in the USA
unlike the best baseball,
basketball,hockey and
football players.

I interviewed the greates
soccer player of all time,
Pelé during the 1994
US World Cup. He told
me soccer was going
to be a top sport in the
US in about 10 years,
well we are getting closer
and closer to 2004.
So far I do not see
soccer as a top sport
in the USA.

While baseball keeps
prospering specially
with the great Latino
talent in today’s game.

During the next 20 years
more and more Latinos
will be inducted into
Cooperstopwn and more
and more Latino talent
will invade the Major
Leagues.
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