Underage Players, Predatory Moneylenders: 7 Findings From Our Dominican Baseball Investigation

Young players train at a baseball academy in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. Baseball is everywhere in the Dominican Republic, which sends a disproportionate number of players to the American major and minor leagues, including Hall of Famers like Pedro Martínez and Adrian Beltré. Playing fields and training academies dot the country in villages where players who’ve made the leap to the pros are immortalized in murals. For nearly half a century, the Dominican Republic has sent more players to the majors than any country outside the United States. The nation, which has a population roughly that of Ohio’s, had 144 players reach the major leagues last year.