The transnational view of sport and social development: the case of Dominican baseball

Abstract

This essay examines social benefits of Major League Baseball's half century of dealings with the Dominican Republic. While the relationship was built along neo-colonial lines that heavily favoured the North American partner, structural events have unfolded in the past decade that have resulted in a levelling of the political-economic playing field. This is the outcome, not so much of MLB's sense of corporate responsibility, as it is the unforeseen consequences of its actions and the ability of Dominicans to take advantage of opportunities.

Notes

¹ Klein, Sugarball.

² Wallerstein, The Modern World System; Frank, Capitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America.

³ Klein, Sugarball; Klein, Growing the Game.

⁴ World Bank, Dominican Republic Poverty Assessment, 3.

⁵ DominicanToday.com, December 21, 2008.

⁶ Klein, ‘The Dominican Republic’; Klein, ‘Latinizing the “National Pastime”’.

⁷ I use this model in a heuristic fashion and include semi-periphery nations as peripheral. In global sport, Europe and North America represent the core from which sport emanates.

⁸ Hopkins and Wallerstein, ‘Commodity Chains in the World Economy’.

⁹ Gerrefi and Korzeniewicz, Commodity Chains.

¹⁰ Portes, ‘Social Capital’, 2.

¹¹ Bourdieu, ‘The Social Space and Genesis of Groups’.

¹² Putnam, Bowling Alone.

¹³ Bourdieu, ‘The Social Space and Genesis of Groups’.

¹⁴ Portes, ‘Social Capital’.

¹⁵ Klein, ‘Global Value Chains and Dominican Baseball’.

¹⁶ Klein, New Pride, Old Prejudice.

¹⁷ Klein, Sugarball; Klein, ‘The Dominican Republic’.

¹⁸ Klein, Sugarball, 58–79.

¹⁹ Klein, Sugarball; Klein, ‘The Dominican Republic’, 63.

²⁰ Klein, Sugarball; Klein, ‘The Dominican Republic’; Klein, ‘Progressive Ethnocentrics’.

²¹ J. Strauss, ‘Caribbean Baseball Agents Ruling the Roost’. SportsBusinessNews.com, December 25, 2005.

²² T. Jacobson, ‘Buscones M.O.: Find, Train, Reap: Dominican Agents Develop Talent, Then Take a Cut’. Fredericksburg.com/News, December 18, 2006.

²³ Author's interview with Cruz, May 22, 2007.

²⁴ Interview with J. Alou, cited in Klein, Sugarball, 110.

²⁵ Author's interview with Silverio, June 12, 2002.

²⁶ Klein, Growing the Game, Chap. 6.

²⁷ There is a Japanese academy in the country as well.

²⁸ Klein, Growing the Game, 40.

²⁹ Klein, Growing the Game, 48–50.

³⁰ Klein, Growing the Game, Chap. 2 and 3.

³¹ Badler, ‘International Roundup’, 11.

³² Klein, Growing the Game, 56.

³³ Klein, ‘Progressive Ethnocentrics’.

³⁴ Portes, ‘Social Capital’, 6.

³⁵ Klein, Sugarball, 103.

³⁶ Current information in this area has come from fieldtrips taken in 2007–08.

³⁷ Klein, Growing the Game, 90.

³⁸ Klein, Sugarball.

³⁹ Author interview with Perez, May 13, 2007.

⁴⁰ J. Díaz, ‘Dominicans Cast Ballots’. Boston Globe, May 17, 2006.

⁴¹ Klein, Growing the Game, 106–7.

⁴² Portes, ‘Social Capital’; Putnam, Bowling Alone.

⁴³ See http://www.MLB.com.