People who don’t even know where the Dominican Republic is know that Dominicans are good at baseball. My husband likes to joke that even though I’m by no means an athlete, I have a wicked curve ball. Is it in the blood?

Check out this trailer for “Sugar”, the story of Miguel “Sugar” Santos, Dominican pitcher from the mainland who is struggling to make it in the big leagues. Playing baseball is his ticket out of poverty in the Dominican Republic. The film is, as they say, now playing at a theater near you. And to read more about the movie, check out “For Dominicans in baseball, culture shock”.

In a Los Angeles Times, “Exhibition tells story of Latinos in major league baseball”, Kevin Baxter writes: “Certainly no area outside the U.S. has produced more talent. Since 1980, Mexico, for example, has sent more players (72) to the major leagues than Canada (65), while Cuba (40) has produced nearly as many as Japan (46), though the Dominican Republic still beats them all (417).