Baseball And Immigration

About 28% of major league baseball players are foreign-born, which is a far higher percentage than a generation ago, and a higher percentage than in professional football and basketball.

The best players in Major League Baseball are American-born. In 2015, for example, all six out of the six top award recipients were born as American citizens. So why is such a high percentage of the teams foreign-born?

Owners may prefer recruiting foreigners to play in the United States for the same reason that big corporations prefer foreign-born engineers: the visa system makes it easier to control foreign-born labor compared with American citizens.

2022 World Series starting lineups[edit]

As television ratings for baseball continue to decline and many ballparks are like ghost towns during games, these were the immigrant-dominated starting lineups for the final Game 6 of the World Series:^[1]

Losing Phillies:
1) LF Kyle Schwarber .218/.323/.827
2) 1B Rhys Hoskins .246/.332/.794
3) C J.T. Realmuto .276/.342/.820
4) DH Bryce Harper .286/.364/.878
5) RF Nicholas Castellanos .263/.305/.694
6) 3B Alec Bohm .280/.315/.713
7) 2B Jean Segura .277/.336/.723
8) CF Matt Vierling .246/.297/.648
9) SS Edmundo Sosa .227/.275/.644
SP Zack Wheeler (12-7, 2.82 ERA)

Winning Astros:
1) 2B Jose Altuve .300/.387/.920
2) SS Jeremy Pena .253/.289/.715
3) LF Yordan Alvarez .306/.406/1.019
4) 3B Alex Bregman .259/.366/.820
5) RF Kyle Tucker .257/.330/.808
6) DH Christian Vazquez .274/.315/.714
7) 1B Trey Mancini .239/.319/.710
8) CF Chas McCormick .245/.332/.739
9) C Martin Maldonado .186/.248/.600
SP Framber Valdez (17-6, 2.82 ERA)

World Series MVP: rookie Jeremy Pena, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic

All Latin American Lineup[edit]

On Roberto Clemente Day on September 14, 2022, the Tampa Bay Rays had an all-Latin America starting lineup.^[2]

References[edit]