August 23, 200521 yr Six years after Latin American players were shut out from baseball's All-Century Team, the sport launched a promotion Tuesday to select a ??Latino Legends Team.'' Acknowledging the increased influence of its Spanish-speaking players and audience, baseball will conduct fan balloting from Aug. 29 through Oct. 10 and announce the winners before Game 4 of the World Series. In the 1999 voting for the All-Century team, the closest a Latin player got to one of the 30 spots was Roberto Clemente, who finished 10th behind Pete Rose in balloting for the nine outfield members. ??There are those who felt the Latin player-base community had been overlooked by fans in that election,'' said Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer. Hall of Famer Juan Marichal and New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera attended the news conference, but commissioner Bud Selig was absent. ??In my day, it was very, very hard for a Latino player to make it to the major leagues and establish himself at that level,'' Marichal said. A record 29.2 percent of players on opening day major league rosters were born outside the 50 states, with 91 players from the Dominican Republic, 46 from Venezuela, 34 from Puerto Rico and 18 from Mexico. ??Times are changing,'' Rivera said. ??I can't conceive what Juan Marichal and all those guys went through before. Today you have so many Latin players, so many Latino superstars, they take care of the kids when they come up to the big leagues. It's different now. It's totally different.'' Latin America's influence on baseball will be spotlighted next month by ??Viva Baseball,'' a documentary to air Sept. 23 on Spike TV. ??This is an acknowledgment of an entire area of the world and a heritage and multiple countries. This is not a racial thing,'' DuPuy said when asked why baseball had not run a similar promotion for black players. ??The Latin American influence in baseball has been pervasive.'' After signing Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran, the New York Mets appear to have increased their marketing to Hispanics, with some dubbing the team ??Los Mets.'' Baseball spokesman Carmine Tiso said the sport did not track the percentage of season ticket holders who identify themselves as Hispanic. ??There are a number of segments of the marketplace that I'd like to see us continue to reach out to and Latins is one of those,'' DuPuy said. ??Kids from the ages of 12 until the time they get out of college are an area we need to focus on. They're great through Little League, and then through high school we tend to lose some of them.'' DuPuy said another priority is ??getting African-Americans back into our player base'' and cited Dontrelle Willis, Ricky Weeks and Delmon Young as signs of an improvement. ??I think we're doing much better player-wise, but I think we need to reach out to African-American fans,'' DuPuy said. Major League Baseball and mlb.com selected the 60 players on the ballot, which is sponsored by Chevrolet, and the Hall of Fame provided research. Eight position players, three starters and one reliever will be on the 12-man team. Marichal said others could have been included on the ballot ? he cited Tetelo Vargas, a Dominican whom the stadium is named after in San Pedro de Macoris, and Horacio Martinez, who became a scout and helped the Giants sign Marichal. Citing a recent merengue night at Shea Stadium, Marichal said baseball had already improved its marketing to Hispanics. ??Latins love the game,'' he said. ??Everywhere there's a Latin player, they come to the game, they come to the stadium.'' Source: AP Being of Cuban heritage it is about time players from Latin descent get their just do!!!
August 23, 200521 yr About time is right........ Cause we all know that........nevermind i don't want to start a race war
August 24, 200521 yr About time is right........ Cause we all know that........nevermind i don't want to start a race war 912567[/snapback] Spit it out
August 24, 200521 yr I want an All-Black team and I want all Latins of African decent to get their own team.
August 24, 200521 yr I want an all Asian team. and an all South American team. and an all Europe team.
August 24, 200521 yr You must be kidding if you think an all latin team can beat and all American team. Theyd get creamed in a historical one, and probanly lose now. Just look at how the DR team from the Carribean WS(which is almost basically the proposed all current latin team) lost to a downright mediocre Mexican team. And im Cuban.
August 24, 200521 yr C. Ivan Rodriguez 1B. Orlando Cepeda 2B. Roberto Alomar 3B. ? SS. Alex Rodriguez LF. ? CF. ? RF. Roberto Clemente SP. Pedro Martinez SP. Juan Marichal CL. Mariano Rivera
August 26, 200521 yr Ted Williams and Reggie Jackson were Latin. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/26/sports/b...artner=homepage
August 31, 200521 yr Carew at 2nd btw. 914729[/snapback] Alomar>Carew 923215[/snapback] why? 923229[/snapback] offensively, they were about equal...defensively and baserunning, Alomar was far superior...Alomar is the greatest defensive 2B of all time, and for a big chunk of his career was the best offensive 2B in the game as well
August 31, 200521 yr Carew at 2nd btw. 914729[/snapback] Alomar>Carew 923215[/snapback] why? 923229[/snapback] offensively, they were about equal...defensively and baserunning, Alomar was far superior...Alomar is the greatest defensive 2B of all time, and for a big chunk of his career was the best offensive 2B in the game as well 923259[/snapback] good point, Alomar was the better all around player. and better on his prime what blows my mind is Carew's consistency. 18 times All Star (out of 19 seasons). Never having a bad year Alomar didn't do much on his last 3 years
August 31, 200521 yr C. Ivan Rodriguez 1B. Orlando Cepeda 2B. Roberto Alomar 3B. ? SS. Alex Rodriguez LF. Miguel Cabrera CF. ? RF. Roberto Clemente SP. Pedro Martinez SP. Juan Marichal CL. Mariano Rivera 913614[/snapback] anyone anyone? ok I know someone was thinking it somewhere. Im up for an all-cracker team, maybe an all-Florida team tambien. (If you dont consider those one in the same)
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