A-Rod = Dominican?

by So Cal Bob on Jul 13, 2005 2:45 PM EDT

Did anyone see the ESPN report that A-Rod announced he's Dominican and playing for the Dominicans? I don't understand how this can be. Born in NY and raised in Miami except for 4 years (4-8) in the Dominican. What a slap in the face to the people of the U.S. and fans of baseball. I guess all the privledges he was afforded growing up here didn't develop him into the person he is today. What a disgrace.

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IF that is true I hate him even more. Link?

by novaoakland on Jul 13, 2005 2:50 PM EDT reply actions

here ya go

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2106934

by So Cal Bob on Jul 13, 2005 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions

It's true

A-Rod has a terrible reputation in the DR, with most people hating him, and this seems like an obvious attempt to repair his reputation amongst a community he has no business considering himself a part of.

Come from where you hide, So I may unchain my tempest, None will stop my tide, And you will tremble at my unrest.

by fyug on Jul 13, 2005 2:53 PM EDT reply actions

I think

this is ridiculous. I hope Manny competes for the U.S. just to stick it to A-Rod. The DR should refuse to take him, they already have Tejada at SS anyways and they don't need him at 3B. Then again, I don't really want A-Rod representing the U.S. either. If there's one encouraging thing though, it's that he wants to play.

by Anibal the Cannibal on Jul 13, 2005 2:56 PM EDT reply actions

Huh????

I don't see the problem. He has dual citizenship; he can do what he wants.

International sports have all kinds of crazily lax citizenship requirements. The U.S. benefits from this all the time in sports like soccer, in the Olympics, all kinds of places.

If you think he's being ungrateful to the U.S. or whatever, well... So what? We're a big, strong country and we can handle one baseball player choosing to play for someone else.

Besides, can you imagine what it would mean for the Dominican Republic to win -- an impoverished, baseball-crazed nation taking on the wealthiest country in the world? Maybe ARod just wants to know what it feels like to be an underdog again.

I don't really like ARod, but I just don't see that this decision has any significance at all.

by Joltin Joe Orsulak on Jul 13, 2005 3:10 PM EDT reply actions

Eh

Korea, now there's an underdog. The Dominican Republic, not an underdog.

It might be a very poor country, but it's a very poor country where the players grow up capable of playing year-round and major league teams start teaching these guys to play at younger ages than they do for American players. They also end up capable of playing at higher levels of minor league competition at younger ages than their American counterparts, allowing for a greater growth curve.

Poorer? Yes. But international players do admittedly have some advantages in a game where all one needs to play is a stick, a ball, and something that resembles a glove.

by mrkupe on Jul 13, 2005 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Right

I don't disagree with that. I didn't really mean underdogs in a pure talent sense, but in general larger geopolitical big, powerful country vs. small, poor country sense.

Going in, I'd say that the U.S. and the Dominican would be the two favorites, talent-wise. Other countries, Venezuela in particular, look pretty good, but have much less depth than those two.

by Joltin Joe Orsulak on Jul 13, 2005 4:17 PM EDT up reply actions

A Rod

Not to rain on everyone's parade, but do you all really think George will allow his Yankee players to compete in the World Cup? If one of his many multi millionare players went down in an exhibition game, he would blow his lid. I don't like the idea of A-Rod not representing the good ole USA, but I doubt he'll be allowed to represent any country.

by Mike McBride on Jul 13, 2005 3:29 PM EDT reply actions

Good point

This is a legitimate worry -- it's what killed baseball in the Olympics, to a large extent. I think the World Cup (or whatever) is a great idea, but the practical difficulties of pulling it off haven't been dealt with at all at this point.

by Joltin Joe Orsulak on Jul 13, 2005 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions

No problems

This was a deal between the players union, the owners and organizers along with owners/players in other countries like the Japanese leagues. We're way beyond problems like this, it's a done deal. Georgey has no say in A-Rod's decisions (I LOVE that part!) Stienbrenner trying to stop A-Rod from competing would be like the owner of the Colorado Avalanche trying to keep Joe Sakic from competing in the hockey world cup... aint gonna happen because the owners have collectively agreed to let the guys play.

by slurve on Jul 14, 2005 7:44 AM EDT up reply actions

Also...

what really killed the Olympics was timing more than anything. The WC is to be played during spring training, where the Olympics would have meant stopping the season for 2 weeks.

by slurve on Jul 14, 2005 7:47 AM EDT up reply actions

For some reason...

I always A-Rod was Australian.

by templeUsox on Jul 13, 2005 6:01 PM EDT reply actions

whoa

this is perhaps the most surprising thing i've ever read on this blog.

by jpahk on Jul 13, 2005 7:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Another Possibility...

It seems that the main purpose of the World Baseball Classic is to get current countries, and those who have yet to have a major commitment to baseball, excited about the sport. I believe they want to have the same excitement about this event as The World Cup Soccer has in alot of other countries. Now, how would it go over if all the stars played on the USA team. Maybe I am living a day dream or possibly giving MLB/and the players too much credit, but could they be trying to "spread the wealth". If you have some of the biggest stars playing for other teams, then the other countries will probably have more excitement about this event. Just a thought.
Anyways, like previously stated by other posters, the owners and some of the players are going to poopoo this before it even becomes a reality.

by shobbs13 on Jul 13, 2005 7:03 PM EDT reply actions

Hmmm....

There has been speculation that ARod would play for the Dominican team since people found out that he actually lived there for a couple years when he was younger and that he actually has DR roots.. He's a dual citizen anyway.

No one complained when Greek-Americans played for the Greek olympic team, and they aren't even Greek citizens.

And about the "winning" thing, the US team will more than likely be up there the DR and Venezuela, even without ARod.

by SenorGato88 on Jul 13, 2005 9:23 PM EDT reply actions

A-Rod Is A Joke

I heard A-Rod say that being Dominican is in style right now.

by RandyKutcherHair on Jul 14, 2005 11:36 AM EDT reply actions

this is great

It's not A-Rod's decision. It's up to Selig. And now A-Rod is content with any decision Selig makes.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2107979

by So Cal Bob on Jul 14, 2005 5:19 PM EDT reply actions

don't like this idea at all

Who is Selig to decide by what nationality people should define themselves?? The purpose of this tourney is to boost baseball in other countries, essentially playing on those countries' national pride. If someone with roots in those countries wants to show his own national pride by playing for his foreign nation, doesn't it defeat the purpose of the whole thing to prevent him from doing that? Even if you don't buy that that's A-Rod's true motivation (not that any alternative motivation has been suggested that I can see), surely there will be many others who honestly do have that motivation. To tell someone who correctly considers themselves primarily a foreign national that they must play for the US -- or to tell someone who correctly considers themselves primarily an American that they can't play for the US -- seems very unfair to me.

and boom goes the dynamite.

by dcarrano on Jul 14, 2005 10:14 PM EDT up reply actions

A-rod

Was Born in the US, lived his whole life in the US and speaks Spanish poorly. If you're going to play for a team, you should have lived there at some point.

by CrimsonLiederhosen on Jul 15, 2005 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions

understood...

... but that's a reason why you or I might not consider him Dominican... who are we to tell him how he ought to feel about his own background? Ultimately, he has to be the one to decide what he considers himself, IMO. (Limited of course to countries with which he has a citizenship or blood tie.)

and boom goes the dynamite.

by dcarrano on Jul 15, 2005 11:33 PM EDT reply actions

This also assumes...

the Dominican team wants him. Maybe they only want players born and/or raised in the Dominican. They also have some kid named Miguel Tejada who I hear is a decent SS.

by Anibal the Cannibal on Jul 17, 2005 11:33 AM EDT reply actions