For Dominican baseball hopefuls, age fraud cases and a curveball from Japan reflect a broken system
Associated Press
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A teenage baseball player warms up at the start of a daily training session at the Trinitarios ballpark in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)A teenage baseball player chooses a bat during a daily training session at the Trinitarios ballpark in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)FILE - Japanese right-hander pitcher Roki Sasaki, 23, is helped with his #11 Los Angeles Dodgers jersey as he is introduced during a news conference at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki, of Japan, throws during a pitching session at the team's baseball spring training facility in Phoenix, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)FILE - Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announces the selection made by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round of the MLB baseball draft in Fort Worth, Texas, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)Junior Noboa, the Dominican Republics baseball commissioner, pauses during an interview in his office at the Quisqueya Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Adames)FILE - Washington Nationals manager Frank Robinson, right, introduces Dominican Esmailyn Gonzlez, an amateur free-agent shortstop who had taken four years off his age to appear younger, at a media presentation in Washington, July 2, 2006. Carlos lvarez, formerly known as Esmailyn "Smiley" Gonzlez, played for three years with the Washington Nationals before the MLB learned that he was lying about his age. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)Carlos Alvarez, formerly known as Esmailyn Smiley Gonzlez, who lied about his age to play for the Washington Nationals in 2006, speaks during an interview in Pizarrete, Dominican Republic, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Adames)FILE - Miami Marlins' Johan Quezada pitches during a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, in Miami, Sept. 12, 2020. Like other Dominican baseball players, Quezada felt pressure to perform while young: "We have to have baseball for breakfast, lunch and dinner if we want to get anywhere." (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)Teenage baseball players pull on resistance bands during their daily training at the Trinitarios ballpark in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)A teenage baseball player, wearing an MCB Sport Event jersey, arrives for practice at the Trinitarios ballpark in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)Teenage baseball players run laps during their daily training session at the Trinitarios ballpark in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)Young baseball players work on their compact swing during a daily training session at the Trinitarios ballpark in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)A young baseball player works to refine his swing during a daily training session at the Trinitarios ballpark in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)A coach helps a young baseball player lift dumbbells during a weight training exercise at the Trinitarios ballpark in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)Teenage baseball players practice during their daily training at the Trinitarios ballpark in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)Teenage baseball players practice pitching during their daily training at the Trinitarios ballpark in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)A teenage baseball player grooms the field during a daily training session at the Trinitarios ballpark in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)
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A teenage baseball player warms up at the start of a daily training session at the Trinitarios ballpark in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)
