Today more than 25% of all the MLB Players are Latin American. This year three of the four major awards were won by Latin American players. The AL MVP was won by Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees, the AL CY Young Award was won by Bartolo Colon of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the NL MVP Award was won by Albert Pujols of the St Louis Cardinals.
I wanted to take a little time to talk about the players as people as opposed to them as players since it's so close to Thanksgiving. I guess I can start this by saying, during my first year in the minor leagues up in Eugene, Oregon, I lived above two players from the Dominican Republic.
As the season wore on I really got to know both of them. They ate hot dogs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. What money they saved, they sent back to their families in their native land. Now being from a middle class family in Connecticut, I was really impressed.
As I rose to the Major Leagues I played Winter baseball in Puerto Rico a couple of times, and it made me really understand why these players had such devotion to their families ... I saw families living in shacks made of tin with no floors and the sides of the shacks didn't touch the ground.
I saw poverty at it's worst but I also saw many players who would do anything to give back to their families and towns because just being able to play baseball, they knew they had really been given a blessing.
We all know the story of Roberto Clemente; he died trying to help total strangers in Nicaragua who had been devastated by an earthquake ... His plane carrying much needed medical, food and clothing supplies crashed and his body was never found. So let's talk about this year's MVPs.
Alex Rodriguez, a 2-time Award winner, has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to many charities. Let's just tell you about a couple of them. He gave $750,000.00 to the Boys and Girls Clubs and the Dominican Republic Relief Effort.
He also spends much of his time helping the youth of this country to improve their mental health ...His wife Cynthia, who has a Masters degree in Psychology, also helps Alex in many charities and says, "It's a lifelong effort to help children improve their mental health".
Your NL MVP Albert Pujols is just as giving. He has the Pujols Family Foundation that donates money to three or four charities including one very close to his heart, the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St Louis.
It's very close to him because Albert and his wife Deidre have a 7-year-old daughter named Isabella who has Down Syndrome. And what has Albert said besides being so giving, "I hope in 5 years we are helping 15 or 20 charities like this".
These are just two Latin American players. How about this year's AL MVP runner-up David Ortiz and last year's AL MVP winner Vladimir Guerrero. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, they both donated $ 50,000 dollars to the relief effort.
When asked why, David responded, "When we were younger, Vlad and I remember when we were hit with a hurricane and America was so generous. It was just the right thing to do".
The world not just America needs role models like these. I hear all the time how greedy baseball players are. I just wanted you to know, that there are many players who give back, not because they have to, but because they want to.
Someone out there needs to advocate for Alebert Belle. This guy was the most dominant right-handed hitter in the A.L. for 10 years. He made his mistakes but the way he took out Vina between 1st and 2nd would make any hockey player proud. Put Albert in the 'Hall.'
okay, so vlad and ortiz each gave less than 1 percent of their salary to the effort and they are heroes because of it? please ... 50K to these guys is chump change. it's more than i make in a year, but then i only teach the nation's children.
These players giveing money to help is indeed a great thought,my problem is when you make 10-25 mil a year.When u make that much chedder,50-100G's don't mean nothing in my book.For the JUNK some of these guys buy(cars,houses,bling)Clemente gave his life for the needed,who would do this?
Rob. Thanks for sticking up for Latino players. You didn't claim to be listing all of their donations. You only listed some highlights. Your point about the guys you bunked with when playing for Eugene is the main point -- and too few North Americans realize the poverty from which these guys came. Even a $40K/year teacher in the USA would be a very wealthy man in the towns where most of MLB's Latino baseball players were raised. I'm looking forward to your 2006 Thanksgiving Day post.
Rob Dibble was named a full-time co-host of BEST DAMN SPORTS SHOW PERIOD in April 2005. The outspoken, all-star reliever is a perfect fit for the most irreverent sports show on television.
Dibble, who is best known as one of the Reds' hard throwing "Nasty Boys," along with Norm Charlton and Randy Myers, won a World Series with the Reds in 1990.
Today more than 25% of all the MLB Players are Latin American. This year three of the four major awards were won by Latin American players. The AL MVP was won by Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees, the AL CY Young Award was won by Bartolo Colon of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the NL MVP Award was won by Albert Pujols of the St Louis Cardinals.
