Film Review: Ballplayer: Pelotero

Director: Ross Finkel and Trevor Martin

In Latin America and especially in the Dominican Republic, Baseball is the most popular sport and quite often the only sport that people are interested in. Major League Baseball, the name for the professional league in America, has around 20% of its players come from the Dominican Republic despite the small island only having 2% of the American population. Baseball is big business there for everyone involved as the players chase big signing bonuses, coaches take their commission and the teams look to snap players up for bargain prices compared to American youngsters.

The movie follows two 16 year olds who on the 2nd July will be eligible to sign for a Major League Baseball team in America for thousands or even millions of dollars. The boys are Jean Carlos Batista and Miguel Angel Sano, the latter being the most highly touted prospect in the country that year. They both live away from their families at centers that give the boys basic schooling but primarily teach them baseball so that they can impress when the big scouts come to visit. The coaches pay for everything for the young players including food, board, equipment and medical bills but will also take up to 35% of the players bonus if he is signed by a team as commission, if he remains unsigned then he receives nothing for all the time and money spent.

Jean Carlos Batista fields a ball in training

The film shows the work and dedication put in by the players to achieve their dream of earning big money in America for themselves and for their families. It is admirable how well they deal with the pressure of their entire work coming down to a few tryouts for the scouts considering their futures are hanging in the balance at the age of 16. The money offered to some players reaches the millions which means just so much more in the Dominican Republic but if you aren't signed aged 16 then chances are you won't get an opportunity again. It is very matter of fact about how baseball works in the country and is very well presented.

We also see corruption in baseball examined, Sano is put under investigation as previously players had lied about their ages and forged documents to do so as well as played under other people's names. We see genuine footage of a Pittsburgh Pirates scout saying to Sano's family that if he just signs for them for less money he'll make the investigation go away. It is incredibly candid footage which wasn't taken seriously enough at the time, unfortunately if professional sports teams can find a way to exploit poor people to save money then they will try it. It's just not the world of sports that is criticized by this corruption but human nature as a whole.

3/4 Intriguing documentary to the murky underside of baseball