Players from Latin America were defined by many things except left out from the famous Major League Basketball up to the 1950s. Even though, as of now, these players are set to take over the scene in the foreseeable future. Baseball has been considered a leisure activity for most Americans for the longest time. However, as things stand, that is far from the truth. Things have changed, and now baseball takes the third position. When it comes to popularity, it falls behind basketball and football. Another crucial aspect to consider is that baseball has turned international, and as such, people living in the United States can no longer take possession of it.
In the playoffs in Major League Baseball this year, the team that is likely to emerge at the top during the World Series is the Los Angeles Dodgers. Most sports wagers are placing their luck on the pack of overseas talent evident in these playoffs. In general, the players from nations in Latin America are starting to take over at the culmination of the sport. Some Latin American sportspeople come from Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. You are probably wondering about the homeplace of these players participating in the Major League Basketball.
The majority of the Major League Basketball players are citizens in the United States. They make up one of the four top professional sports leagues in the United States. One hundred and ninety-two players out of the total 300 participants during this year’s season at the opening day rosters. These figures constitute sixty-four percent of the aggregate number of players. The rest of the players come from other parts of the globe with adequate representation from Europe, Asia, South America, and North America. Nonetheless, the parts that stand out are the countries from Latin America.
At the moment, the Dominican Republic is the nation that has the second-highest number of Major League Basketball players. The country has thirty-five percent of the lineups on an opening day. Coming in at number three with thirty-one players on an opening day is the nation of Venezuela. It has more than ten percent of the total players count. The remaining nations in two digits are Cuba and Puerto Rico, with eleven and twelve players. Other countries that play basketball include Canada, South Korea, and Japan. These nations were represented with a combined total of eight.
On the other hand, most countries situated outside the conventional centers of football have players that took part during the opening day rosters. Some of them include Colombia and Curacao, which has three and four. Others with a single representation include the Netherlands, Honduras, Germany, and Aruba. Apart from these fifteen nations that participate in the opening day rosters, others remain represented in larger forty-man rosters. The seven countries included in this category include Lithuania, Australia, Mexico, Taiwan, Nicaragua, Peru, and Panama.
Looking at the 36% of American players could appear as less than the impressive figure. However, people need first to place these statistics in context. Back in 1903, both the National League and the American League came together and founded what is now known as the Major League Baseball. At the time, there were about six platers that were born outside the United States and played in the opening day list. Five of them were from Western Europe, and one hailed from Canada. All of the six players had lived in the United States for quite some time.
Nearly four decades later, in 1940, things had remained constant. There were only two players that were from other places aside from the United States on the roster for the opening day. About 57 years following the foundation of Major League Baseball, things began taking a different trend. Things changed, and in 1960, there were twelve players who joined the opening day and were originally from foreign nations outside America. It marked one of the initial seasons to have global stars in the double-digit rates.
Eleven of these players were from countries based in Latin America. Major League Baseball experienced a significant rise in its number of overseas players after 1960. The twenty-six worldwide players playing in the opening day at the Major League Baseball in 1980 made up about 10.5% of these players.