The Eastern Stars - Mark Kurlansky [73]
The compound was gated, with an armed guard—one of those ubiquitous sleepy men with a beat-up pump shotgun who stood watch at most gates in the Dominican Republic. Inside it was prim and clean vanilla concrete buildings with red and blue trim, pristine interiors, and sparkling tile floors, all surrounded by careful groomed gardening—nothing too lush, but it is easy to grow things in the tropics. Of course, the grounds, like all grounds in the Dominican Republic, are grazed by chickens—free-range chickens, the national dish. Rent was $35,000 a month, food and maintenance included.
There were four manicured diamonds, two for the Braves and two for the Rangers. The Braves’ academy, which moved to Baseball Towers in 2006, had twenty employees. Dario Paulino, coordinator of the Braves’ academy, said, “This is the first step in the Braves’ system.” It was used as a Latin American center: signed prospects from throughout the region were brought to San Pedro.
Some academies sent players to a language school to learn English. The Braves had their own English teacher at the academy. Other courses were also taught so that the players, most of whom had dropped out of school to sign, could finish their high school education.
“The teams are trying to make them believe that they are intelligent people who can learn,” Paulino said. “A lot of players don’t make it because they can’t speak English.
“Most of the players here are illiterate,” Paulino continued. “They were too poor to go to school, though some have been to university. If they have never been to school, it is easier to teach them in the field. They are using a glove and you tell them it’s called a glove.”
The first phrase of English learned by many San Pedro teenage boys is “I got it!”—grammatically questionable but important words to know if you are ever going to catch a fly ball in an English-speaking game without a collision.
“Then, when we feel they are ready,” said Paulino, “we send them to school.” Many of the San Pedro programs use a locally produced book titled English for Dominican Baseball Players. It explains phonetically such critically important instructions as “Du nat drap de bol” as well as terms like the verb ejaculate—something all boys everywhere are told to avoid before a game.
The young ballplayers, even those from San Pedro, sleep at the academy in bunk beds, eight boys to a room. The rooms are kept spotless, as though ready for military inspection, with shoes neatly lined up under the bunks.
The academies all have gyms with weights for bodybuilding and trainers to guide the boys. Gary Aguirre, trainer at the Braves’ academy, said, “Many of these Dominicans, because of cultural background and nutrition, are undersized. I try to build them up.” The teams were considering a variety of protein supplements, such as energy bars. Aguirre added, “They are sixteen and seventeen when they sign and they have a very high metabolism. They can burn 1,500 to 2,500 calories a day, sometimes more.” They were fed three, four, and sometimes five times a day and encouraged to eat copiously. Most of it got burned off in exercise.
Typically, the Braves’ academy in San Pedro had about forty-five to fifty young, signed prospects at a time. This included some from other Latin American countries, but as in most academies a few American boys were also sent there to get some additional practice.
It all unfolded rhythmically. The big signing was July 2. Dominican Summer League ran through mid-September, then Instructional League began in October and ran until December 12, when players were either sent to farm teams in the U.S. or released and sent home. In the Braves’ camp, out of the forty-five or fifty prospects, about thirty-five would move on to the U.S.
The program was designed to teach players by providing games for them to play. José Martínez, a Cuban who played and coached for the major leagues, now worked as special assistant to the Braves’ general manager. “You have to play these kids until you have them figured out,” he said.
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