El Profe: Giving Back, a Latino Baseball Tradition

Roberto Clemente is not alone among baseball players in his desire to give back to local communities although he has come to personify a spirit of humanitarianism and Latino philanthropy which Major League Baseball recognizes through its annual Roberto Clemente Award.

Inspiration to engage in good works comes from different sources: family, homeland or an individual person.

Whatever the source of inspiration, a common desire arises to give those in the game purpose beyond the baseball field. That desire is to find a way to give back, whether to the game they love or to the people who love the game and find their own inspiration in their achievements in baseball.

A Baseball Tradition

Through giving back, Latino ballplayers positively impact the lives of those in the communities where they play and where they were raised. The charities and philanthropic foundations they have formed aid the next generation of children, whether or not the kids aspire to become ballplayers.

Over the past year we have witnessed current and retired ballplayers take action. Carlos Beltrán, Yadier Molina, Carlos Correa and Kike Hernández, among others, raised funds and helped coordinate or transport relief supplies to hurricane victims in Houston, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands affected by the hurricanes. Others answered the call to help earthquake victims in Mexico. Players and team officials also visited shelters housing those forced out of their homes by the natural disasters.

Robinson Chirinos, Albert Pujols and Carlos Martínez continue to visit children’s hospitals and raise funds for those with serious health conditions. Others like José Abreu and his Abreu’s Amigos focus on individuals with special needs.

Then there are those who focus on education and youth development. In Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar’s case, he does both through the Alomar Foundation and now as MLB consultant for Youth Development in Puerto Rico.

Familial Inspiration

Luis Tiant had a tremendous baseball heritage. His father Luis Elefterio Tiant was an ace pitcher in the Negro Leagues and in his native Cuba during a career that stretched from the late 1920s through the 1940s. But the younger Tiant inherited more than just baseball smarts from his father.

In a spring training interview, Tiant shared how his Cuban-born parents inspired him to give back to those in need, how the values they instilled in him motivated him to take action.
“We’re in the eyes of the people,” Tiant said. “You have to do good things. You have to be nice to people … you can help your community.”

For Tiant this meant visiting children’s hospitals.

“I used to go to a lot of hospitals, children’s hospitals,” he continued, “and I used to tell the doctors, because they got a lot of Latino doctors: ‘Don’t, don’t say anything to anybody. I’ll just show up.’”

The children’s spirits were uplifted to have a big leaguer in the room, sharing time with them, and playing with them. Yet, Tiant noted that he got something significant out of those visits: perspective.

“For me, that made me a better person,” he said. “It made me think better about life, and the life we have … And then, when I get out there [on the field], I was another person. Stronger, more mellow.”

A Hero’s Inspiration

The ripple effect of charity and philanthropic work is not always immediately seen. Yet these efforts surely do impact and inspire.

Jose Antonio Tijerino, a native of Nicaragua, currently serves as the CEO of Hispanic Heritage Foundation based in Washington, DC.

A voter registration drive was among the Foundation’s efforts to assist the Latino community in the United States this past year. That might not be atypical for Latino-serving organizations, but where and when this drive took place was different: it was at the ballparks in Florida and Arizona during Spring Training.

Who inspired Tijerino to do work that helped not just fellow Nicaraguans but all Latinos? Clemente was the inspiration, he said.

Tijerino first found inspiration in Clemente as a childhood arrival to Washington in the early 1970s. As a first grader acclimating himself to life in a new country, not knowing English wasn’t easy. Hearing of the continued feats of Clemente the ballplayer gave him comfort and eventually a Latino figure to talk about to his classmates.

Clemente’s tragic death taking relief supplies to Nicaragua gave Tijerino a greater purpose and inspiration: to help others, not just Nicaraguans but all Latinos.

A Better Tomorrow

A pioneer in baseball, former Montreal Expos and Mets general manager Omar Minaya went from a job as a team scout to MLB’s first Latino general manager with the Expos. Minaya has witnessed the evolution of Latinos in baseball over the past 40 years. He has also been an active participant in that transformation in his different roles in baseball.
Minaya has seen the conditions that prospects such as Sammy Sosa lived in the Dominican Republic, the manner buscones (independent talent developers) prepared prospects for tryouts with big league teams, and also what young Latinos encountered once when they got to the minor leagues.

One of the ways Minaya has given back is by advocating and institutionalizing changes that made organized baseball more accommodating to the realities faced by young Latino prospects, whether from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, or elsewhere in Latin America.

Teams and the Major League Baseball Players Association have institutionalized programs that seek to aid the cultural adjustment of Latino players and also prepare them for life outside of baseball. This means not just language classes but also financial literacy, including lessons on how to start a bank account, write checks or to save or invest for life after baseball.

The cumulative effect of the changes implemented in baseball has made dealing with cultural adjustment better for Latinos, even if still challenging.

All Star Week Gathering

This Friday, July 13, “Giving and the Game” will be the focus of a panel discussion at the National Museum of American History. The panel will include legendary pitcher Luis Tiant, President and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation Jose Antonio Tijerino, and acting co-GM of the NY Mets Omar Minaya.

The opportunity to moderate this distinguished panel will surely be a highlight of my week in DC. As will learning further about what inspires these individuals and other ongoing efforts through baseball to give back not just to the game but also to communities in the United States and throughout Latin America.

Featured Image: Alomar Sports Instagram