The San Francisco Giants did what the Tigers did to the New York Yankees, swept Detroit in four games. This fourth game was the most exciting as Detroit bats woke up a bit and had tied the game 3 to 3 going into extra innings. The Giants manufactured a run in the top of the 10th and once again, great pitching overcame good hitting as San Francisco's closer, Sergio Romo struck out the side in the bottom of the 10th. to take the 2012 World Series trophy to the West Coast.
Though all of San Francisco and others like my dad who was a Giants fan (though he was Puerto Rican New Yorker now in heaven) are celebrating, many other Latinos should also be celebrating as well. Latinos should celebrate the fact that this World Series had an unprecedented number of Latin American players. Half the active players on both, the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants were Latino. Each team had the same number, eleven players each on their payrolls for a total of twenty-two Latino players.
There were nine Venezuelans, the most in the history of this country in these classics. There were also nine Dominicans. San Francisco having five Venezuelans: Marco Scutaro, who was the MVP of the NLCS, Pablo Sandoval, Hector Sanchez, Juan Mijares and Gregor Blanco who filled the gap left Melky Cabrera. Detroit has Triple Crown winner, Miguel Cabrera and the sure 2012 American League MVP and Latino MVP. They also have Omar Infante, Anibal Sanchez and Cabrera's young disciple, the 20-year-old Avisail Garcia.
Dominican Republic was represented in Detroit by six players: Johnny Peralta, Ramon Santiago, and relievers Jose Valverde, Octavio Dotel, Joaquin Benoit and Al Alburquerque. In San Francisco they were represented by: Joaquin Arias and pitchers Guillermo Mota and Santiago Casillas.
San Francisco's, Sergio Romo has Mexican roots and Detroit's catcher Alex Avila's family are from Cuba. Puerto Rico was also represented in this 2012 World Series with two: Angel Pagan and reliever Javier Lopez (no kinship with Javy who played with the Braves) both playing with the Giants.
While MLB executives would have preferred a New York Yankee vs. Los Angeles Dodgers World Series to increase television and other ad revenues, Latino baseball fans could not be happier.
However MLB should be pleased with the final few weeks of this baseball Season. It was better than an award-winning Mexican novela that had many baseball fans hooked. No matter who wins this World Series, the Latino community has already won by showing what the future of baseball will look like. Now if only MLB and many club executives could also see this potential?
Follow Julio Pabon on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Brujo429
But yes, I would apply my reply to all of my fellow humans. As it would in turn be also ignorant of me to only apply it to one portion of the population. I can tell you that my celebrating the achievements of Kobe Bryant, Fernando Valenzuela, and Luc Robitaille or "the great one" are not based on ethnicity. Never would I suggest that someone should abandon their cultural heritage, but at the same time, one should never be holding their culture up as some sort of exceptionalism.