For over 100 years, the game of baseball has been called the national pastime, the "national" referring to the United States. But baseball influence goes far beyond the borders of the U.S. Baseball diamonds can be found as near as Central and South America, and as far as Japan and the Far East.
One ethnic breed has embraced the sport as much as the Americans, making mitts out of anything they can think of, marking bases on the dirt, using broomsticks and branches as bats. Dominican boys grow up on the sport, and in generations past cheered for their favorite American player in the Major Leagues. Today, these boys are the men that boys in their native Dominican Republic and in the United States admire and root for. Here we'll commemorate a few of the best. There are many more that can be mentioned -- past and present -- but these men have left marks on the sport that can arguably give them Hall of Fame mentions even early in their careers.
Slammin' Sammy Sosa. To most of the world, he is known as the guy who came in second to Big Mac. To the Dominican Republic, he is the people's champion. His baseball statistics alone are enough to earn anybody's respect, but his charitable contributions to his homeland are equally as admirable.
Year Team G
AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS OBP SLG AVG 1989 TEX 25 84 8 20 3 0 1 3 0 20 0 2 .238 .310 .238 1989 CWS 33 99 19 27 5 0 3 10 11 27 7 3 .351 .414 .273 58 183 27 47 8 0 4 13 11 47 7 5 .303 .366 .257 1990 CWS 153 532 72 124 26 10 15 70 33 150 32 16 .282 .404 .233 1991 CWS 116 316 39 64 10 1 10 33 14 98 13 6 .240 .335 .203 1992 CHC 67 262 41 68 7 2 8 25 19 63 15 7 .317 .393 .260 1993 CHC 159 598 92 156 25 5 33 93 38 135 36 11 .309 .485 .261 1994 CHC 105 426 59 128 17 6 25 70 25 92 22 13 .339 .545 .300 1995 CHC 144 564 89 151 17 3 36 119 58 134 34 7 .340 .500 .268 1996 CHC 124 498 84 136 21 2 40 100 34 134 18 5 .323 .564 .273 1997 CHC 162 642 90 161 31 4 36 119 45 174 22 12 .300 .480 .251 1998 CHC 159 643 134 198 20 0 66 158 73 171 18 9 .377 .647 .308 1999 CHC 162 625 114 180 24 2 63 141 78 171 7 8 .367 .635 .288 2000 CHC 156 604 106 193 38 1 50 138 91 168 7 4 .406 .634 .320 2001 CHC 160 577 146 189 34 5 64 160 116 153 0 2 .437 .737 .328 2002 CHC 150 556 122 160 19 2 49 108 103 144 2 0 .399 .594 .288 TOTAL: 1875 7026 1215 1955 297 43 499 1347 738 1834 233 105 .348 .546 .278
The most feared arm in the American League, Pedro Martinez has dominated the mound with mind-boggling consistency. He first came on the scene with fastballs that reached 98mph. Today, injuries have slowed down his fastball a few ticks, but continues to blow away hitters, mixing curveballs and changeups with a heater that can still hit 95.
W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV SVO IP H R ER HR HBP BB SO 1992 LA 0 1 2.25 2 1 0 0 0 -- 8.0 6 2 2 0 0 1 8 1993 LA 10 5 2.61 65 2 0 0 2 2 107.0 76 34 31 5 4 57 119 1994 MON 11 5 3.42 24 23 1 1 1 1 144.2 115 58 55 11 11 45 142 1995 MON 14 10 3.51 30 30 2 2 0 -- 194.2 158 79 76 21 11 66 174 1996 MON 13 10 3.70 33 33 4 1 0 -- 216.2 189 100 89 19 3 70 222 1997 MON 17 8 1.90 31 31 13 4 0 -- 241.1 158 65 51 16 9 67 305 1998 BOS 19 7 2.89 33 33 3 2 0 -- 233.2 188 82 75 26 8 67 251 1999 BOS 23 4 2.07 31 29 5 1 0 -- 213.1 160 56 49 9 9 37 313 2000 BOS 18 6 1.74 29 29 7 4 0 -- 217.0 128 44 42 17 14 32 284 2001 BOS 7 3 2.39 18 18 1 0 0 -- 116.2 84 33 31 5 6 25 163 2002 BOS 20 4 2.26 30 30 2 0 0 -- 199.1 144 62 50 13 15 40 239 TOTAL: 152 63 2.62 326 259 38 15 3 3 1892.1 1406 615 551 142 90 507 2220
Probably the most complete player in baseball, Vladimir Guerrero gets the least recognition because he plays for a losing team. However, teams opposing the Montreal Expos are very aware of the man that plays right field, who has the range of a centerfielder and a cannon for an arm, he's also a threat at the plate and on the basepaths.
Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG 1996 MON 9 27 2 5 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 .185 .296 .185 1997 MON 90 325 44 98 22 2 11 40 19 39 3 4 .350 .483 .302 1998 MON 159 623 108 202 37 7 38 109 42 95 11 9 .371 .589 .324 1999 MON 160 610 102 193 37 5 42 131 55 62 14 7 .378 .600 .316 2000 MON 154 571 101 197 28 11 44 123 58 74 9 10 .410 .664 .345 2001 MON 159 599 107 184 45 4 34 108 60 88 37 16 .377 .566 .307 2002 MON 161 614 106 206 37 2 39 111 84 70 40 20 .417 .593 .336 TOTAL: 892 3369 570 1085 206 31 209 623 318 431 114 66 .386 .588 .322
He turned heads in his rookie year, showing a great deal of potential; but nobody expected Alfonso Soriano to explode offensively as he did in his sophomore performance. Making the starting lineup in the 2002 All-Star Game and finishing the season top 5 in almost every offensive category, Sori also came close to joining the 40 Home Run-40 Stolen Bases Club. Expect to see him join more All-Star rosters.
Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG 1999 NYY 9 8 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 1 .125 .500 .125 2000 NYY 22 50 5 9 3 0 2 3 1 15 2 0 .196 .360 .180 2001 NYY 158 574 77 154 34 3 18 73 29 125 43 14 .304 .432 .268 2002 NYY 156 696 128 209 51 2 39 102 23 157 41 13 .332 .547 .300 TOTAL: 345 1328 212 373 88 5 60 179 53 300 86 28 .314 .490 .281
Always a very capable and talented player, Miguel Tejada came to the limelight as the Oakland Athletics' leader when Jason Giambi departed. Tejada didn't fail, leading his team to 103 victories and earning the American League Most Valuable Player Award. As long as his supporting staff remains solid, Tejada will remain among the AL's premier shortstops.
Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG 1997 OAK 26 99 10 20 3 2 2 10 2 22 2 0 .240 .333 .202 1998 OAK 105 365 53 85 20 1 11 45 28 86 5 6 .298 .384 .233 1999 OAK 159 593 93 149 33 4 21 84 57 94 8 7 .325 .427 .251 2000 OAK 160 607 105 167 32 1 30 115 66 102 6 0 .349 .479 .275 2001 OAK 162 622 107 166 31 3 31 113 43 89 11 5 .326 .476 .267 2002 OAK 162 662 108 204 30 0 34 131 38 84 7 2 .354 .508 .308 TOTAL: 774 2948 476 791 149 11 129 498 234 477 39 20 .330 .458 .268
His name's presence in a lineup alone is capable of boosting his teammates' stats, as is apparent with his departure from the Cleveland Indians and their eventual meltdown. Manny Ramirez is always ready to play, and it showed in 2002 when he won the American League batting title despite missing about 4 weeks of the season with a broken thumb.
Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG 1993 CLE 22 53 5 9 1 0 2 5 2 8 0 0 .200 .302 .170 1994 CLE 91 290 51 78 22 0 17 60 42 72 4 2 .357 .521 .269 1995 CLE 137 484 85 149 26 1 31 107 75 112 6 6 .402 .558 .308 1996 CLE 152 550 94 170 45 3 33 112 85 104 8 5 .399 .582 .309 1997 CLE 150 561 99 184 40 0 26 88 79 115 2 3 .415 .538 .328 1998 CLE 150 571 108 168 35 2 45 145 76 121 5 3 .377 .599 .294 1999 CLE 147 522 131 174 34 3 44 165 96 131 2 4 .442 .663 .333 2000 CLE 118 439 92 154 34 2 38 122 86 117 1 1 .457 .697 .351 2001 BOS 142 529 93 162 33 2 41 125 81 147 0 1 .405 .609 .306 2002 BOS 120 436 84 152 31 0 33 107 73 85 0 0 .450 .647 .349 TOTAL: 1229 4435 842 1400 301 13 310 1036 695 1012 28 25 .411 .599 .316
