Documentary "¡Indestructible!: Baseball on the Isthmus" Trailer

[NewEnglandAmazins]

I bumped into this baseball documentary...

[Richard]

I know Panama is a small country (I think a bit small than Puerto Rico), but I wondered why Panama has not produced more MLB ballplayers. After reading BaseballAmerica yesterday, there is only one major prospect coming from Panama this year, which doesn't always mean something. Carlos Ruiz signed for $8,000.

[titorondon]

I know Panama is a small country (I think a bit small than Puerto Rico), but I wondered why Panama has not produced more MLB ballplayers. After reading BaseballAmerica yesterday, there is only one major prospect coming from Panama this year, which doesn't always mean something. Carlos Ruiz signed for $8,000.

What happened in Panama happened in Puerto Rico, Honduras, Guatemala, etc. There were no baseball-loving promoters who could convince large businesses to underwrite baseball, and smaller sports, in particular male softball (!) and basketball, much cheaper sports, grabbed the available money. In most countries, the TV networks have bet on soccer thanks to the ability of FIFA to promote their sport worldwide, in contrast to IBAF, which does not work properly due to internal differences, and MLB, that doesn't give a hoot. Even in Cuba soccer is the number one TV sport now!