CDN Brings More than just Baseball Broadcasts to Dominican Fans

By: Chris Martinez
InteRDom Intern Fall 2011
InteRDom Experience Series Article #4

Christine Martinez studies Global Studies with minors in journalism and Spanish at San Jose State University in San Jose, California. She is participating in InteRDom's Fall 2011 Academic Semester, taking courses at a local university and carrying out a research project specially structured for her by InteRDom staff on the business of baseball in the Dominican Republic. The articles that she produces will be published on this blog under the tag "InteRDom Experience Series." To read more about Chris' experience with InteRDom in the Dominican Republic, read the InteRDom Experience Series on the InteRDom webpage.

There’s a sign in the CDN studios in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, that outlines the channel’s mission statement. At the top of the mission statement is CDN’s motto: the national leader in news.

CDNs an important local channel in the Dominican Republic, not just for news but for sports broadcasting. CDN holds exclusive rights among local channels for Major League Baseball and Liga de Beisbol Profesional de la Republica Dominicana (Dominican Professional Baseball League) broadcasts. The channel has a big responsibility to bring the favorite sport to citizens on television.

CDN sports producer Ambiorix Vidal understands why baseball is so important to his country. As a former ballplayer, Vidal values the sport and sees the positive impact baseball has on the Dominican Republic.

“La marca país is the national brand,” Vidal said through an interpreter. “The Dominican Ministry of Tourism created the national brand to promote the Dominican Republic through everything. Baseball should do that.”

Vidal mentioned a plan for the Dominican League to play regular season games in New York to promote the national brand, but the plan did not come together because Dominican League games are scheduled for the fall and winter months, when it is too cold to play baseball in New York City.

Vidal sees how Dominican businesses can use baseball to connect with their customers. Local bank Banco BHD runs a television advertisement during CDN baseball broadcasts for their bank cards and credit cards featuring Dominican League team logos. The commercial shows fans of each of the six Dominican League teams, wearing their team’s colors and coming together in the end as fans of baseball rather than just one team.

"The commercial identifies the fan with their team,” Vidal said. “It identifies BHD as a brand that supports baseball here."

The week after the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series, CDN broadcast a special report on the Cardinals team. It showed footage of the Cardinals celebrating after their win and featured interviews with popular Latin American players.

Albert Pujols, born in Santo Domingo, was one of the subjects. Pujols is one of the most popular players in MLB in the United States and is considered the best player among Dominican fans. Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was also interviewed on CDN’s special. Molina is part of a famous baseball family from Puerto Rico and his inclusion in the CDN special highlights how Latin American baseball players and fans are interconnected.

Vidal said players like Pujols and Molina grow together by spending time in the minor leagues. They stay together because of their common language of Spanish and because players in the minors share everything, from food to living quarters to money.

“As a channel, CDN promotes the familiarity so the fans can know it,” Vidal said. “All Latin Americans like to be familiar with one another.”

While CDN brings baseball to Dominican fans, Vidal insists the best way to watch a baseball game is at the stadium, especially if the visiting team wins. It’s standard procedure to favor the home team’s broadcasts and leave out the visiting team’s post game programming if the home team loses.

“Each channel is the owner of their transmission,” he said. “The visiting team won't have their post game coverage on the local channel. Last year when Toros del Este won the league championship, ESPN Deportes showed their celebration. For fans to enjoy the game they have to be at the stadium.”

MLB increases profits by investing in values in Dominican baseball

By: Chris Martinez
InteRDom Intern Fall 2011
InteRDom Experience Series Article #3

Christine Martinez studies Global Studies with minors in journalism and Spanish at San Jose State University in San Jose, California. She is participating in InteRDom's Fall 2011 Academic Semester, taking courses at a local university and carrying out a research project specially structured for her by InteRDom staff on the business of baseball in the Dominican Republic. The articles that she produces will be published on this blog under the tag "InteRDom Experience Series." To read more about Chris' experience with InteRDom in the Dominican Republic, read the InteRDom Experience Series on the InteRDom webpage.

As one of the four major sports leagues in the United States, Major League Baseball is a highly profitable enterprise. Unlike the other leagues in the US, MLB has significant investments in player development outside of the country. It invests more in the Dominican Republic than in any country outside the US, and it sees a great return on those investments.

In a symposium at Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) in March, MLB released an economic impact report for the Dominican Republic that estimated an annual flow of US$125 million into the country from MLB and its 30 teams.

The sustainability of MLB's investment relies more and more on the development of Dominican players away from the diamond. ENTRENA specializes in training, consulting and education projects for clients in the Dominican Republic and the rest of the Caribbean and works closely with MLB in the country.

John Seibel, president of ENTRENA and consultant to MLB, works to bring the best of baseball out in the Dominican Republic through corporate social responsibility.

"The Dominican Republic is the only place in the world where a relatively small country has an incredible influence in development of a multinational sports industry," Seibel said. "MLB has an enormous influence through our players ,our image, and the values we represent."

Seibel believes that by investing in morals and values, MLB can sustain its investment. ENTRENA helps MLB foster long term financial sustainability by giving back to the community and to the fans and investing in education. Through these actions, Seibel says that people will respond even more favorably to the social impact of baseball and remark, "mira que buena es la pelota" or "look how good baseball is," and thus build a stronger foundation for baseball to grow as an enterprise.

"You do it because it's the right thing to do," he said. "Not to get some marketing out of it."

The Los Angeles Dodgers were the first MLB team to establish an academy in the Dominican Republic in 1984. Almost 30 years later, each MLB club has an academy in the country, a massive growth project that has led to constructing new state-of-the art academies like the San Diego Padres' facility.

This investment in Dominican baseball also helps the local economy by creating jobs. Groundskeepers are needed to tend to outfield grass and pitching mounds. Doctors, athletic trainers, and nutritionists are needed to keep the players healthy and focused on peak performance. Seibel said that these jobs spotlight the need for baseball development in this country to focus on training and managing these niches as the industry expands.

When it comes down to investing in development, the question is always about money and where the funds come from. Seibel said that much of the development funding for the DR comes from international sources, such as USAID, the Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank, and European Union.

He also said involvement from the Dominican private sector is key, but it presents challenges. "If you want to make development sustainable in the long run, Dominican society needs to be actively engaged,” Seibel said. “You can use international funding to jumpstart something but you [must] actively involve the Dominican private sector and government. That's a challenge."

MLB also directly invests in its own programs, many of which operate in the Dominican Republic. RBI--Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities--works in both the US and the Dominican Republic to increase interest in baseball and softball among at-risk children. The MLB Dominican Development Alliance is a unique program developed as a result of a public-private partnership between USAID and MLB. It was started with Dominican goals and realities in mind, rather than transplanted from the American setting and adjusted for the needs of the Dominican Republic.

"It is a model of the private-public partnership that the US government, through USAID, wants to develop more," Seibel said of MLB/DDA. "It's not just about giving money but rather creating a sustainable partnership which can harness the potential of baseball to improve poor communities in the DR.”

Education in the Dominican Republic: Part II—Major League Baseball’s role in providing a future for Latin American prospects outside of baseball

By: Chris Martinez

InteRDom Intern Fall 2011

InteRDom Experience Series Article #2

Christine Martinez studies Global Studies with minors in journalism and Spanish at San Jose State University in San Jose, California. She is participating in InteRDom's Fall 2011 Academic Semester, taking courses at a local university and carrying out a research project specially structured for her by InteRDom staff on the business of baseball in the Dominican Republic. The articles that she produces will be published on this blog under the tag "InteRDom Experience Series." To read more about Chris' experience with InteRDom in the Dominican Republic, read the InteRDom Experience Series on the InteRDom webpage.

Major League Baseball’s home base in the Dominican Republic serves the needs of baseball players throughout Latin America. The Santo Domingo based office was placed in the country that produces the highest number of international players to MLB. The Dominican Republic also sees more scandals with players surrounding age falsification, drug use, and predatory signing and training practices than in any other Latin American nation.

One of the lesser known functions of the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball in Santo Domingo is the organization’s work to improve the education of Latin American prospects playing in baseball academies in the Dominican Republic.

The Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball in Santo Domingo estimates that for every 100 teenage prospects in the Dominican Republic, two make it to the United States to play baseball. That places a heavy burden on MLB to provide skills outside of baseball to the scores of young men with dreams that may never be reached. This is not a simple task and that is why the Office of the Commissioner is conducting substantial research on the matter.

Community affairs director Peggy Morales works in the Office of the Commissioner to enrich the lives of prospects in the Dominican Republic. Currently the prospects, who begin their careers at age 16, are taught English lessons in the team academies along with their baseball instruction, but MLB wants to offer them more.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a shining example of what MLB’s education initiatives can do in the country. Their academy offers English lessons as well as lessons on how to use computers and they aid prospects to finish their high school educations through lessons at the academy. The Pirates work with Cenapec, a non-profit education organization in the Dominican Republic that helps adult students complete their basic education though distance learning.

Pittsburgh has an education coordinator who works in the team’s minor league system in United States as well as in the Dominican Republic to make sure that the education in the system is up to par. “They have a good educational philosophy they want everyone—players and staff--to be prepared,” Morales said.

Cenapec created a program specifically for the Pirates’ based on the organization’s needs and has an education coordinator working solely for the Pirates. Players at academies take classes four hours a day, three days a week to complete their high school diplomas. Comprehensive classes are offered in history, language, social science, and computers. The students have access to several classrooms equipped with computers and media at Pittsburgh’s academy in El Toro, close to Boca Chica.

Pittsburgh mandates attendance at these lessons for all their prospects. “It’s difficult because players schedule is tight,” Morales said. “They practice, play, and take English lessons, and then take classes. It poses a challenge for implementing programs. It's tough to get players to value education because they're so tired from the day's events.”

Achieving DELE Language Certification in the Dominican Republic

By: Caitlin Lowery
Graduate and Gap Year Program
Fall 2010

When I applied to the InteRDom program, I mentioned that one of my goals was to take the DELE (Diploma de Espanol como Lengua Extranjera) exam and the InteRDom team worked hard to help me accomplish that aim. The DELE is a test of proficiency in the Spanish language for non-native speakers, comparable to the TOEFL exam required for foreign applicants by many universities in the U.S. to demonstrate linguistic competence in English.

The DELE is only offered a few times a year and has three levels: Inicial, Intermedio, and Superior. InteRDom set up private Spanish language tutoring sessions for me, twice a week, for my entire stay in the Dominican Republic, with Martha Campusano, a very kind and capable teacher. I elected to take the "Superior" test, because I felt that it would be most beneficial in light of my future plans. The test includes reading comprehension, writing, listening, vocabulary and grammar, and an oral section. I decided to take the DELE in part because I wanted a concrete measure of my degree of proficiency in Spanish and also because I would like to work in the field of international development and I believe it will be useful when I apply for jobs that require fluency in Spanish. After weeks of studying with Martha and living and working in Santo Domingo, I passed the exam and should receive my diploma in a few weeks, an accomplishment I could not have achieved without the help of Martha and the InteRDom staff.

Epy Guerrero’s baseball legacy lives in the US and the Dominican Republic

By: Chris Martinez
InteRDom Intern Fall 2011
InteRDom Experience Series Article #1

Christine Martinez studies Global Studies with minors in journalism and Spanish at San Jose State University in San Jose, California. She is participating in InteRDom's Fall 2011 Academic Semester, taking courses at a local university and carrying out a research project specially structured for her by InteRDom staff on the business of baseball in the Dominican Republic. The articles that she produces will be published on this blog under the tag "InteRDom Experience Series." To read more about Chris' experience with InteRDom in the Dominican Republic, read the InteRDom Experience Series on the InteRDom webpage.

To understand baseball in the Dominican Republic, it's best to consult the best man for the job. Epifanio Guerrero has signed more players to Major League contracts than any scout, has produced World Series winning talent, and has won loads of awards for his accomplishments. He continues his work as an independent scout in the Dominican Republic today.

These days, Epy is an affable guy who's eager to tell stories of his 40 years in baseball. His house at his training complex in Villa Mella has a room full of pictures of his players, articles about his work, and awards for his achievements.

Guerrero's success in the sport can be summarized in a framed photo sitting in his Santo Domingo home. It's the three newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.: right-handed pitcher Bert Blyleven, infielder Roberto Alomar, and executive Pat Gillick. The trio was inducted into the Hall of Fame this July, and Guerrero was on hand to celebrate with Alomar and Gillick, two men who owe much of their success to Guerrero.

Guerrero worked as a scout in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, signing and developing players like Carlos Delgado, Tony Fernandez, and Damaso Garcia. In 1991, fourteen of the players on Toronto's 40-man roster were guys Guerrero signed and developed. The following year, the Dominican Summer League Blue Jays won 38 games to start the 1992 season before finishing 68-2.

Artifacts of both milestones are also in Guerrero's Santo Domingo home. There's a picture, yellowed with age and hanging on the wall, of Guerrero standing with seven of his kids in 1991. A white baseball cap embroidered with the old Blue Jays logo and a special inscription of the DSL team's 38-0 record hangs on his bureau.

Of course, there is the big prize of the Blue Jays organization. Toronto won back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993, thanks in no small part to Guerrero's talent pool. Alomar was one of the offensive stars of those teams.

Gillick was the general manager of the Blue Jays when they won their world titles and went on to win another World Series with Philadelphia in 2008 before retiring from executive work.

Guerrero built the Toronto teams for Gillick, someone he's still close with and refers to as a father figure.

Guerrero has also scouted for Houston and Milwaukee but has seen the greatest achievements of his career come in Toronto. Now he works for himself, developing Dominican kids independent of any one team.

Guerrero’s legacy in the Dominican Republic can be seen in the talent he sends to the Major Leagues, but also in his most important organization: his family.

It’s clear that Guerrero values family in baseball. His sons Sandy, Patrick, and Mike all work in the sport. Sandy is the hitting coach for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds in the Brewers organization and Mike was a manager for Double-A Huntsville, also a Brewers affiliate, in 2009. Patrick works with his father in the Villa Mella camp.

The Field of International Relations in the Dominican Republic

By: Jatnna Garcia
InteRDom Caribbean Summer 2011 Alumnus

Growing up in the Dominican Republic was a great experience. There are so many things to love about this tiny island, from its weather to its people. Through the different multicultural activities at school, I met people from all over the world with all sorts of races, religions, and cultures. I became highly interested in foreign languages, the way people from different nations interacted, and how people with different cultural backgrounds got along. I knew ever since elementary school that I wanted to get to know many cultures, further interact with people from around the world, and learn more about different nations, therefore, international relations seemed like the best career choice for me. Eventually, I figured that it was important for me to study in another country, in order to better understand how one’s culture, religion, native language and so on could affect the way one formed relations with different people. This is what mostly influenced my decision to finish high school in the US and go on to college in the same country. Besides, I realized it would be a great way to get some firsthand experience on international relations. Also, few to no Dominican colleges offered the program, so the best decision seemed to be to leave the country.

Coming back to the Dominican Republic to work for a local NGO that deals with International Relations so closely as does the Dominican Council of International Relations (CDRI), under the initiative of FUNGLODE, was a marvelous experience. It feels great to be able to, through my chosen career path, give back to the land in which I grew up. Since I left, I always came back for vacations, but none had been as long and beneficial as this one. I got to see and be a part of a lot of changes taking place in regards to education in the country, one being in the area of international relations itself. Careers in diplomacy and international relations are now offered in two local universities (UNICARIBE & UCSD), and more programs, including masters and graduate programs are being drafted. Lastly, I noticed that more and more people are interested in international relations here in the Dominican Republic, and that the country is getting more and more involved in international affairs. These discoveries fill my heart with joy because, although there's still a long way to go, Dominican Republic, in comparison with other countries in the Region, keeps an accelerated pace in terms of development, in accordance to the demands of a globalized planet.