Red Sox: Does ESPN’s Doug Glanville Know Dominican Flavor?
ESPN’s Doug Glanville had much to say about Boston Red Sox Dominicans, especially David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez, regarding the influence of the Dominican Republic on Major League Baseball.
Last night’s game between the San Francisco Giants and the Red Sox had a massive influence from one of the Dominican Republic’s all-time greatest sons. David Ortiz belted a three-run homer over the fence in right center field, off of his former teammate Jake Peavy, helping Boston win the first of the two-game series 4-0.
However, that was just a small taste of the Dominican flavor that will be coming into people’s homes tonight. Former MLB center fielder and current ESPN analyst Doug Glanville will be diving into the deep waters that surround baseball in the Dominican Republic throughout tonight’s broadcast of Wednesday Night Baseball between the Giants and the Red Sox. Glanville and a host of baseball analysts, legends, and current players have been a part of ESPN’s Global Game series, which celebrates cultural influences on the game itself.
I had the chance to interview Glanville last night to discuss the series, the Dominican Republic, and its native sons on the Red Sox who have done so much for baseball and who continue to contribute their lives to it.
The Global Game series agenda was to do an in-depth look at four countries and how they have influenced not just Major League Baseball but the entire baseball world. Venezuela, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Japan were on the list, each paired with a game that has a number of players on both teams from that particular country examined. Tonight’s Giants-Red Sox game features five active Dominican players, nine players if you count the 40-man roster, including notables Hanley Ramirez, Michael Martinez, and Big Papi Ortiz himself. Giants All-Star starting pitcher Johnny Cueto is also from the Dominican, but he doesn’t happen to start on the mound this evening.
When asked about being the central voice that the world is listening to regarding the series, Glanville’s response makes one realize just how grand a scope is needed to fully understand how the world has influenced the game of baseball: “I’ve always had a great passion for the anthropology of baseball, how these cultures fused together around this passion that I share […] and, as a writer, being able to pull together these emotions and ideas and histories into our broadcasts has been really swell.” He also mentioned how other countries and cultural events, such as Cuba’s past and present relations with the United States and Jackie Robinson‘s efforts to break the color barrier, are tied together and have influenced many other baseball stories across the globe.
His investigations into every country began with researching who the “first players were and what their walk was like”, that “every culture has a Jackie Robinson, so to speak,” who had to break barriers in baseball and “set the path” for other players and everyday citizens from each country to follow. Whether it was a color line or a language line, the influence on how to handle them “came from all of these other societies that are now such an integral part of the game.” From Japan to the Dominican Republic, even before Robinson’s struggles in the U.S., there were players fighting different battles, and “baseball’s always been a leader in being able to fuse so many of these different cultures together in a team concept, where a lot of misunderstandings melt away when players are fighting for a common cause.”
Glanville put into perspective just how the proverbial melting pot of baseball pioneers from various countries has been able to “help us understand how we came together as one country.” He felt that “the civil rights aspect” of this series project has been one of great importance to him, and how those rights had their own movements in countries like Cuba, including baseball, that had influence over the the civil right movement in the U.S. decades before Robinson took on racism in the major leagues.
In terms of the Dominican Republic, Glanville said, “when you think of the history of the Dominican, you think of [Juan] Marichal, you think of Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz,” and how the Global Game broadcast tonight will be talking to these men, as well as Sammy Sosa and Vladimir Guerrero on their success stories. It’s worth noting that Marichal, inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a Giant, also played for the Red Sox in 1974, showing just how fitting this examination of Dominican values coincides with the game tonight. Glanville emphasized that they will also look at “the landscape of what it took for some of these players to get the opportunity to play Major League Baseball and what their challenges were,” such as language barriers and immigration issues.
Regarding Ortiz’s worth to the Dominican Republic, especially in his birthplace of Santo Domingo, I pondered whether North Americans could even grasp just how much Big Papi means to his native people. Glanville replied that “many of us can relate to an immigrant history,” and that “you can relate to that person who’s broken that barrier, carried the torch and represented it well, and also been unselfish to remember his history, bringing it forward and sharing.” Glanville added that maybe the specific aspects would not be something that North Americans could understand, but the act of “bringing an entire generation of people” with the player is not only relatable but also “so inspirational and powerful.” A Latin player like Ortiz does not only have “a whole city on his back, but also a whole country,” adding an immense amount of pressure that maybe some of us cannot fully comprehend. Glanville remarked how “gregarious [Ortiz] has been, and just comfortable in the responsibility that he has,” which is incredible in itself.
With the World Baseball Classic coming, filling a roster will not be a problem for the Dominican Republic. Considering the amount of MLB players that they have, Glanville said that “whatever team they field will be a major league team.” While other countries will have to lean on their few MLB stars to carry the load, the Dominicans have a plethora of MLB talent and there are “more players in the pipeline. It’s not like this is stopping any time soon.” Glanville called Dominican baseball “a steady success study in recent history,” partly because the MLB players remember how hard it was for them to succeed. They go back to their homeland to help their fellow Dominicans in any way that they can, which also keeps their own fires stoked. “Staying focussed on where you came from creates a meaningful cycle,” which leads to future success.
From dramatic flair to infamous bat flips, many people have observed Dominican players wearing their emotions outwardly. While some baseball people have criticized these methods of expression of the years, Glanville said, “I’m hopeful that Major League Baseball embraces that more and more […] that expands the game. It brings more people into the fold and, once its all fused, it’s all part of it.” He believes that “any cultural exchange, where one culture embraced the game and adds its own flavor,” like how the Dominican Republic has embraced baseball as their national sport, is “good for the game. It makes it more welcoming.”
Glanville does not necessarily contribute that form of love solely from the Dominican, “but just a general flavor from throughout Latin America that has embraced the game in a different way.” While U.S. baseball has held on to traditions and codes of the game, “an endearing characteristic” that preserves history, there is “a concern about being exclusive” and possible insensitivity to the positive expressions that these cultures bring to the game. However, Glanville also believes that the rigidity is “melting away, slowly.”
Hanley Ramirez, another Red Sox player from the Dominican Republic, is proud of his heritage and his birthplace of Samana. Glanville discussed this project with Hanley and his time in Boston, stating how “he seemed happier this year,” especially from the stresses from last season. As a former center fielder, with a 293-errorless game streak in his career, Glanville expressed his annoyance at the idea that someone like Hanley could just be thrown into the outfield, “like Little League. It’s a tough position,” especially in Boston’s left field with the Green Monster stretching overtop of you. Ramirez’s time as an All-Star shortstop has come and gone, through injuries and Father Time creeping up on him; however, that didn’t mean that the Red Sox should have expected him to play the outfield with any form of expertise. “Him being back in the infield at first base, in the pace of play, you’re involved in every play […] I think that’s made him feel back at home and has done a good job.” First base “has given him that new life,” showing that “he’s got plenty of skill left. And [the Red Sox] need him, that right-handed bat to given them that veteran power for them to continue to be successful offensively.”
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It’s safe to say that Glanville knows a great deal about the latin flavor of baseball, including the Dominican zest. The seasoning has taken place for decades, surpassing a century of global history that has influenced the game of baseball. The passion that they bring with them to MLB teams, like the Red Sox, comes from the heart of their own families and cultural heritage. Baseball and the Dominican are considered synonymous with each other, living and breathing in every Dominican citizen playing in the U.S. or watching in the Caribbean. Boston and the rest of the world have to thank the Dominican Republic for producing players who continue to inspire everyone to reach for the stars because it truly is possible.
*** For more information on ESPN’s Global Game series concerning the Giants-Red Sox game, consider the following:
Wed, July 20th – 7 p.m. San Francisco Giants at Boston Red Sox presented by Hankook Tire
- ESPN, WatchESPN, and ESPN Deportes+
- Jon Sciambi, Eduardo Perez, Doug Glanville, Pedro Gomez
- The focus will be on the Dominican Republic and will include interviews with David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Johnny Cueto and the San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer.
Wed, July 20th – 10 p.m. Baseball Tonight
- ESPN, WatchESPN
- Adnan Virk, John Kruk
Thu, July 21st – 12 a.m. Baseball Tonight
- ESPN2, WatchESPN
- Adnan Virk, John Kruk