When baseball player David Ortiz was signed in 1992, the Seattle Mariners gave the 16-year-old from the Dominican Republic no more than $4,000. He went on to become an all-star.
Now, a top Dominican prospect will make more — much more. One of the two prospects profiled in “Ballplayer: Pelotero” (the second word is a translation of the first) could get a signing bonus of $5 million, his trainer estimates. A lot is riding on the talent of a hard-working but bombastic teenager. But sports, like much else, has become more about business than the game.
And this documentary certainly is more about the money than the passion. More accurately, I suppose, it’s about the passion for money in a place that hasn’t seen much of it. As narrator John Leguizamo tells us, 20 percent of major league ballplayers come from the Dominican Republic, though the Caribbean country’s population is only 2 percent of that of the U.S. “We’re producing players, and that’s what the baseball world wants,” one Dominican says. The teenagers hoping to be chosen have a cockier view.
| On screen |
| ‘Ballplayer: Pelotero’ |
| 3 out of 4 stars |
| Stars: Jean Carlos Batista, Miguel Angel Sano |
| Directors: Ross Finkel, Trevor Martin, Jonathan Paley |
| Rated: Not rated |
| Running time: 72 minutes |
“I don’t want to brag, but we are the best ballplayers,” declares Jean Carlos Batista, a 16-year-old shortstop. “Yeah,” a friend agrees, “the gringos aren’t as smooth as us.”
The other player profiled here, Miguel Angel Sano, is also a shortstop — and also supremely confident. “People say I’m the top prospect in the country,” he tells us. “People say teams will give me all the money in the world. Can you believe that?” He pumps his biceps for the camera and says, “Everyone knows Miguel Sano.”
He’s the one who could sign for $5 million. “July 2. The door opens for kids to become millionaires,” as one person puts it. That’s the date that 16-year-olds become eligible to try out for MLB.
That’s the minimum age, but many seem to see it as the maximum. Signing bonuses drop drastically every year the player gets older. That leads, of course, to rampant corruption and forgery. Both boys here will have to prove their date of birth.
It seems like a sick system, dangling unimaginable amounts of money in front of families who have spent their existence struggling simply to survive. But the kids have to work hard to have the chance to make their dreams come through. Many start training at 12, working nonstop to perfect their game by the time they’re eligible to sign at 16.
Without fail, it seems, the kids plan to use part of their potential riches to buy their mother a house. “Ballplayer” doesn’t just showcase the unlikely dreams of two Dominican game players. It shows how entire families — across the small, poor country — have bet their happiness on how well their children swing a piece of wood or throw a ball.
