Major League Baseball a stranger in our shores

Baseball, our once dominant sport until basketball took over, hogs the athletic scene in the next several days while the 114th edition of the World Series is played.

The best-of-seven-games championship pits two storied major league baseball teams—the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Utilizing a high-powered offense, the Sox blasted the Dodgers, 8-4, in Game 1 Tuesday night at Fenway Park in front of a home crowd of 38,000 plus fans deliriously cheering to stay warm in temperatures that dipped in the mid-40s.

It was colder during last night’s game, and with South Korean left hander Ryu Hyun-jin and his relievers struggling from the mound, the Sox scored their second win in the series, 4-2, as they move for the next three games to Los Angeles beginning Friday (Saturday in Manila).

Behind a strong outing from starter David Price, the Red Sox won their 117th game of 2018 and their sixth straight postseason victory.

Los Angeles is seeking its first World Series trophy since 1988, while Boston has won it three times since 2004, most recently in 2013.

Breezing past the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series, the Sox are tipped to win in six games over the Dodgers, who were pushed to the limit by the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League finals.

Baseball may be America’s pastime, but Sports Illustrated says it is a “global enterprise” because 27 percent of MLB players are foreign born.

The Dominican Republic has the most foreign born players with 84, followed by Venezuela with 74, Cuba with 17 and Mexico with 11.

The Asian continent is ably represented with 11 players from Japan, six including Ryu from South Korea and one from Taiwan.

Although there are no native-born Filipinos in MLB, a few with Pinoy roots are currently playing, including Addison Russell of the Chicago Cubs, whose mother, Milany de Ocampo, is Olongapo City-born and bred.

Asian standouts are likely to continue as top international prospects but foreign-born Pinoy players are nowhere to be found in the majors.

While baseball continues to go global every minute, with team owners willing to pay a king’s ransom for foreign-born talents, the game locally is still healing from years of neglect.

That is why MLB scouts will never turn their gaze on the Philippines and probably never will, while being rewarded with stars from our neighboring shores.