The Impact Of Baseball In The Caribbean

1589 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Baseball how important to american culture

“America’s favorite pastime” is undisputedly baseball. Ever since the start of baseball in the United States in the late 1700s, baseball has been a game enjoyed by the majority of America. Baseball has not only had a profound effect on the United States but has spread its reach into foreign lands. Perhaps the most effected by baseball’s foreign outreach is the Caribbean. The Caribbean (mainly Cuba and the Dominican Republic) have embraced baseball as a way to a better life. From the day baseball was brought to Cuba baseball has changed the Caribbean. While some reports claim that American sailors brought baseball to Cuba in June of 1866, others report that baseball was brought by a Cuban national who was educated in the United States in 1864. …show more content…

Baseball’s presence was strengthened when it was banned by the Spanish oppressors in 1869 in favor of bullfighting. Cubans played baseball as an expression of freedom. The ban also pushed Cubans to join Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The Cuban League existed from 1878-1961 and received enough attention to become a league used for player development during the offseason by the MLB in 1947. From 1891-1959 The American Series pitted Cuban teams versus American teams. After the revolution in Cuba, baseball in Cuba was no longer a farm system for the MLB. During a time of anti-Americanism, Cuba began to retain its best players to represent Cuba. “Producing athletes who could compete on the international stage served as proof that the island nation stood on equal ground with the United States.” (Doherty) Presently, Cuba has a national team that competes in the World Baseball Classic. Cuban ball players are viewed as some of the most talented baseball players around and are heavily recruited by the United States when possible. Cuban patriotism along with the difficulty of defecting causes many of those talented players to stay in Cuba. The same cannot be said about players from islands that are not so strict, many of their star players leave home for the greener pastures of the

Show More
Related

  • Cultural Artifact: Baseball

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    1. Claim: (origin) the origin of baseball is shady at best, but one story stands out in American history is that Baseball originated from two British games, cricket, and rounders. The real inventor of the rules of the game was Alexander Cartwright, a bookseller.

    Read More

  • George Herman Babe Ruth

    2443 Words  | 5 Pages

    Baseball to my way of thinking, is the greatest single force working for Americanization. No other game appeals so much to the foreign born youngsters and nothing, not even the schools, teaches the American spirit so quickly, or inculcates the idea of sportsmanship or fair play as thoroughly.

    Read More

  • Baseball in the Dominican Republic

    633 Words  | 2 Pages

    Baseball was first brought over to the Dominican Republic in the 1870's, when thousands of Cubans came fleeing to the island nation in refuge from the Ten Years' War. Along with baseball, Cubans also brought with sugar producing expertise that had made them the largest sugar producer in the Caribbean. Sugar immediately became the Dominican Republic's key money-making export, but baseball took a little longer to come around. At the turn of the century, many British of African descent came to the Dominican Republic from St. Martin, Nevis, Tortola and other islands whose sugar industry was collapsing as the Dominican cane fields were expanding. These Cocolos brought with them cricket and more organizational social discipline, which were inhereted from their British backgrounds. Cricket was an extremely popular sport in the Republic until baseball came to be the sport of choice in the late 1930s.

    Read More

  • Latinos in Baseball

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    I chose this topic because I thought that it was important to highlight the recent successes of the Latino baseball players to show how minority groups can prosper in America. Latino atheletes have gain notoriety and riches through the sport of baseball. These are things that they couldn’t have dreamed about achieving without Major League baseball. Major League Baseball has given Latin Americans the opportunity to better their economic and social situation.

    Read More

  • Effects Of Racial Inequality In Baseball

    1086 Words  | 3 Pages

    In terms of racial inequality in baseball there have been many eras of integration. Baseball originally is seen as America’s national game belonging to the white men of America. However, throughout history there have been steps taken in recognizing and integrating those groups deemed “less favorable” by the American community. These groups include German immigrants, Irish immigrants, African Americans, Latinos, Native Hawaiians, Native Americans, and Asians. America used the game of baseball as a tool to indoctrinate the American ideals and values of teamwork, working hard, and collaborating for the greater good into the cultures of the “uncivilized world.” These groups used baseball as a medium to gain acceptance into the American community as racially equal counterparts.

    Read More

  • Cuban Food Research Paper

    643 Words  | 2 Pages

    The history of immigration between Cuba and the United States is distinct from other cultural and socio-cultural groups. Unlike other Hispanic immigrants, Cubans are welcome in the United States under the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Baseball In The Dominican Republic

    1621 Words  | 4 Pages

    Most consider the sport of baseball to be America’s pastime. While many in the United States spend countless hours following or playing the sport, it is more than a diversion in the Dominican Republic; it can be the key to overcoming impoverishment. For most citizens of the island, poverty is the only known way of life. In 2015, 32.4% or 3.4 million lived at or below the national poverty line. The per capita income for the country in 2016 was $6,909.13, which is $45,285.76 less than that of the United States. In order to achieve their goal of creating a better life for themselves and their family, baseball provides Dominicans an opportunity for upward mobility. It is common for children in the Dominican Republic to grow up playing baseball, the country’s beloved sport, hoping to make their hobby a full-time job.

    Read More

  • How Did Baseball Changed American Culture

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    During World War 1 half a million people died but millions of people became veterans. But one thing of American culture stayed the same; their love for baseball. On July 4th, 1918, America’s

    Read More

  • What Are The Differences Between Soccer And Hispanic Culture

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the United States to Hispanic countries like Spain, the countries share their love for the same sports even though they are oceans apart. While they have their similar interests, sports interests differ in each of the countries as well. Without sports in the world, our cultures we know and love would be completely different and dull. They help shape our cultures and the people within them. Sports like soccer, football, and baseball are sports that we know and love in Hispanic and American countries. We all know what they are, but the way they are played, their histories, and our passions for these sports differ and correspond.

    Read More

  • Drugs, Cheating, and the Purity of America's Pastime

    2872 Words  | 6 Pages

    Baseball, America’s pastime, is embedded in the fabric of society. The players and teams have come and gone, but the thing that remains constant is baseball’s ability to unite people as well as families. My own personal experience of this came right after September 11th, 2001. Following the tragedy that was 9/11, the country needed something to help everyone return to normalcy. In our moment of weakness and uncertainty, baseball helped calm my nerves. Fifty three thousand three hundred and twelve brothers stood up in unison and took back their lives. The electricity of that game, the sense of regularity in my life, and the knowledge that millions of people were finding comfort together with me during such a hard time, helped me feel a sense of closure that the worst was behind us.

    Read More

  • Essay On Baseball

    1352 Words  | 3 Pages

    As a faithful follower and player of American Baseball, this topic was of extreme interest to me. The origins and history of a lifestyle that I have dedicated the overwhelming majority of my life to has always caught my attention. Baseball, being America’s national sport, is a crucial illustration to understand when discussing the overall societal circumstances at that time. One of baseball’s most important tasks was integrating the sport and allowing people of every ethnicity to have a chance to play the sport at an equal playing field. Although we now know that the efforts to desegregate baseball were ultimately a success, to what extent were the efforts a direct success during that time period? Did the unification of different ethnicities in America’s national sport have an effect on the amount of time desegregat...

    Read More

  • The Desegregation of Baseball

    1885 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Desegregation of baseball in America was a slow process. Near the end of the 1800's, African American ballplayers were accepted in the Major Leagues, but as their success grew, they were quickly banned from the league. For the fifty-year period that there were no blacks in the Major Leagues, the Negro Leagues were where black ballplayers competed. The Negro Leagues grew and many stars emerged from the leagues that now have a legendary status. When Jackie Robinson joined the Major Leagues in 1954, baseball was once again desegregated (Sailer). The complete integration of the league was not as rapid as many would have expected. Economic reasons seemed to be the main reason why African Americans were brought back into the Major Leagues but there were other factors that contributed.

    Read More

  • The History of Baseball

    1295 Words  | 3 Pages

    Americans began playing baseball on informal teams, using local rules, in the early 1800s. By the 1860s, the sport, unrivaled in popularity, was being described as America's "national pastime." Alexander Joy Cartwright of New York invented the modern baseball field in 1845. Alexander Cartwright and the members of his New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club devised the first rules and regulations for the modern game of baseball.

    Read More

  • African American Athlete: Their Role in American Culture

    3732 Words  | 8 Pages

    Tygiel, Jules. 2001; 2000. Past time: Baseball as history. Oxford England; New York: Oxford University Press.

    Read More

  • Baseball is the National Pastime

    1061 Words  | 3 Pages

    For most sports fans there is nothing like opening day and a baseball field. In recent years I have over heard several people say Baseball is not the National Pastime or National Game any longer. When I query these people the typical response is Football is our new National pastime/game. Frank Deford (Nov 7, 2012) a writer for Sports Illustrated said, "Baseball is what we used to be. Football is what we have become." I refuse to believe this based on my knowledge of both games. In this paper we will exam the facts and I would submit to you that Baseball is still the National Pastime/Game and it cannot be disputed.

    Read More

More about The Impact Of Baseball In The Caribbean

Open Document