Sports Talk : <i> B</i> e<i> isbol</i> Gives Dominican Boys a Chance at Fame and Riches

The robust dark clouds that have been lingering over the city finally unload their cargo with unabashed gusto, but nobody runs for cover at the Campo Las Palmas baseball academy.

A tropical rain or two is not going to keep the boys here from practicing beisbol, the vehicle they hope to use to reach fame and fortune.

Built in 1987 by the Los Angeles Dodgers after five years at another location on the island, the camp is one of several operated year-round by major league baseball teams to develop young players in what has become the most fertile source of talent for the American pastime anywhere in Latin America.

Last season, for instance, more than 50 Dominicans played in the majors and many more toiled in the minors. They come from all over this small Caribbean country of about 6 million people, but the southern coast town of San Pedro de Macoris, which has produced, among others, St. Louis first baseman Pedro Guerrero, Toronto shortstop Tony Fernandez, Texas second baseman Julio Franco and new Dodger outfielder Juan Samuel, is the undisputed hotbed.

“This place is a mine,” commented academy director Rafael (Ralph) Avila, 60, a Cuban-born former amateur player who has been a Dodger scout since 1966. Avila, the Dodgers head scout in Latin America, said he first proposed the idea of an academy to former Dodger general manager Al Campanis in 1971.

The 50-acre camp is modest but well-equipped. It houses 40 players, ages 16 to 19, in a dormitory setting and includes a formal dining room--named after Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda--quarters for the instructors and a recreation room that doubles as a classroom.

There are three baseball diamonds at the complex, three lighted batting cages and 12 pitching machines.

The players fall into three categories: those under contract, those who are 17 years of age or older and might be signed to Dodger contracts, and those who are 16 and cannot turn professional for another year, as dictated by Dominican law. Those under contract play as the Santo Domingo Dodgers in summer and in winter leagues for rookies, and some are reserves on top-flight professional clubs here such as Licey, Estrellas Orientales and Escogido.

“What interests us the most in this camp is the development of ballplayers, not winning championships,” Avila said. Yet his teams have won titles in three winter and two summer leagues of the six in which they have played.

“We don’t set a rule as far as how long we keep them at the camp,” he said. “The time it takes them to graduate depends on what they have in their heads and in their guts.”

Avila’s coaching and scouting staff includes former Dodger infielder Teddy Martinez and Dodger shortstop Alfredo Griffin’s uncle, Argona Read. They have helped mold some of the most promising youngsters to come out of here in recent memory.

At its previous location, the academy produced Dodger outfielder Jose Gonzalez, and catcher Gilberto Reyes, shortstop Mariano Duncan and pitcher Alejandro Pena, all since traded to other clubs. Notable Las Palmas graduates include Dodger right-hander Ramon Martinez, minor leaguers Jose Vizcaino (the potential heir to Griffin at shortstop), Jose Oferman and Braulio Castillo.

“We don’t sign players for the minor leagues,” Avila said. “These players are here because the consensus of the staff is that they possess the tools, the ability to reach the major leagues if they develop as we expect them to.”

Avila said that at least 10 players will leave the camp for Class A assignments this season at Vero Beach, Fla., and Salem, Ore., and rookie league work at Great Falls, Mont., and Kissimmee, Fla. They include outfielder Freddy Gonzalez, who led all U.S. minor leagues in hitting last year with a .381 average while at Kissimmee. Others are power-hitting outfielder Raul Montesi, second baseman Gustavo Zapata and right-handed pitcher Pedro Martinez, Ramon’s 18-year-old brother.

“The general opinion here is that (Montesi) is the best prospect this year,” Avila said of the 18-year-old from San Cristobal. “Everything he does is above average. . . . He’s an outstanding fastball hitter with tremendous power. We call him ‘Popeye.’ ”

Avila has been equally impressed with Martinez: “Right now, Pedro is a much better pitcher than Ramon was at the same age. He has a good curve, good control and better velocity than Ramon. He now throws 88 m.p.h. He’s a tremendous prospect.”

Martinez hopes Avila’s assessment is correct: “My dream is to pitch next to my brother,” he said.

Because these players and those to follow--as experience has proved--will have to make adjustments to life in a vastly different environment once in the United States, the academy supplements the baseball regimen with educational and social training that ranges from English classes to fundamentals of etiquette to money management.

Said scout-instructor Pablo Peguero, a former minor league catcher in the Dodger chain: “The main benefit is that when they arrive in the United States they also know how to handle things other than baseball. . . . Some of these boys are from deep in the country and don’t even know how to use a toilet.”

Some also have problems with English classes. But teacher Joaquin Colome and the players are enthusiastic.

“It’s going pretty well, considering that the boys don’t have a high level of education,” Colome said. “It’s an English of daily situations so that the individual has a basic notion and can deal with any necessity over there (in the United States).”

Avila also wants the young players to remember discipline when they start earning substantial salaries in the United States. He has seen players shift their focus from the game to impressing folks with their good fortune, a trap that has ruined many promising careers.

“They get to the United States with nothing and all of a sudden find themselves with $700 or $800 in their pockets, and they think they own the world,” Avila said. “And since they have never had money, they don’t know how to spend it.”

“Then, after they have bought jewelry, radios, stereos, shoes and fancy clothes, they want to come home. Many people used to confuse that with being homesick, but in reality it wasn’t that they wanted to see mom or dad or their brothers and sisters. What they wanted to do was show off what they had acquired.

“Now, we find out about those who are more interested in hats, jewelry and drugs here, before we have too much invested in them. Before, those problems surfaced in the United States. Now we weed them out here.”