On a ragged baseball diamond in Maracay, Venezuela, its grass tall and infield dirt pockmarked, nearly 200 boys practice for hours every day. Many of them are inspired by the example of Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, who learned the game on this very field.
The baseball school in the poor neighborhood where Cabrera grew up is one of many across Venezuela, a web for training young ballplayers that has made the country an emerging power in Major League Baseball.
A record nine Venezuelans were named to the rosters of the Tigers and the San Francisco Giants in this year’s World Series. And the players have been giving Venezuelans plenty to cheer about with feats such as Pablo Sandoval’s three-homer game in the opener and Gregor Blanco’s diving catches in left field for the Giants.
San Francisco took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Series on Saturday and had a chance to close it out Sunday night in Detroit.
Baseball has long been Venezuela’s top sport and a national passion, producing such greats as Dave Concepcion and Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio.
But it has blossomed like never before in the past decade and sent ever-larger contingents to the major leagues from a large and well-organized system of youth leagues and baseball schools.
On this season’s Opening Day rosters, the 66 Venezuelans were second only to the 95 from the Dominican Republic for foreign-born players. For the World Series, the nine Venezuelans, nine Dominicans and two Puerto Ricans on the two teams produced a record 20 foreign-born players for the championship, surpassing the previous high of 16.
The Giants have five Venezuelans: Sandoval, Blanco, Marco Scutaro, Jose Mijares and Hector Sanchez. The Tigers have four: Anibal Sanchez, Avisail Garcia, Omar Infante and Cabrera — who this season became the first player since 1967 to win the Triple Crown, leading the majors in batting average, home runs and RBI.
Young fans in Venezuela have been watching the World Series with excitement. Often, they root for hometown heroes, and at the baseball school in Maracay, nearly everyone is behind Cabrera and the Tigers.
Cabrera comes from a family steeped in baseball. His mother, Gregoria, played 12 years on Venezuela’s national softball team. Uncle Jose Torres runs the baseball school training children as young as 3 at David Torres Stadium. The field is named for Torres’ late brother, who was Cabrera’s first mentor.
“The kids dream of playing in the major leagues, and their parents want to plant their children in this field hoping that seed might become the next Miguel Cabrera,” Torres said.
One of them is 11-year-old Adriangel Torres, a nephew of the coach and a cousin of Cabrera.
“My dream is also to be a major leaguer and bat like he does,” Adriangel said. When the boy went to bat, he knocked a ball into the outfield and exclaimed: “You see! I’m strong like Miguel, too!”
Such enthusiasm among players and their families has created a generation-after-generation baseball culture that for many is a central part of Venezuelans’ national identity.
Many believe the sport has been played in Venezuela since before 1900, when some Venezuelans who had studied in the United States apparently brought home balls, bats and gloves.
Baseball’s popularity grew in the 1920s, promoted by American oil workers who brought along their love of the sport.
In 1939, Alejandro Carrasquel became the first Venezuelan to play in the major leagues, for the Washington Senators. He has been followed by the likes of Aparicio, Chico Carrasquel, Andres Galarraga and Omar Vizquel.
While Venezuelans are proud of the major leaguers, their deepest loyalties lie with the eight teams in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, among them the Leones (Lions), Tigres (Tigers) and Tiburones (Sharks).
“I hope this is the first of many times that we’re going to see so many Venezuelans in the World Series,” said Carlos Vivas, a fan of Sandoval’s local team.
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