Ex-Husky slugger, Kyle Conley, plays in minor leagues with Dominican baseball players

Everyone knows that once a college player enters professional baseball he is going to see many more Latin and foreign players than he saw at the high school or college level.  The minor leagues are full of Latin players from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Columbia.

As the Dominican baseball blog at the start of the MLB season, over 10 percent of players on opening day MLB rosters were Dominican.  Though MLB does not take any official numbers of minor league players and nationality, most believe the percentage of Dominican and Latin players on minor league rosters is even higher.

Kyle Conley has gotten a chance to see some of this Latin baseball talent since moving from the University of Washington into the minor leagues.  He is playing in high-A Florida, and has played with a bunch of Dominican baseball players.  He feels this experience has made him a better baseball player and more rounded person.  From the official University of Washington athletics blog:

Our team has been comprised of guys from all over the US, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Panama, Cuba, and Colombia. It's fun to practice and play with guys from different places and really has shown me the game of baseball is universal and made me realize how special of a game it is and can be. My understanding and appreciation of Latin America and its different cultures has grown exponentially from my experience here and building great friendships with teammates.

As the Dominican Baseball Guy, and other cultural anthropologists understand, baseball and other sports can be an arena for cross-cultural understanding and allow people to suspend previously ethnocentric judgements and views.  Kyle Conley has had this experience thus far in his short professional career, and the Dominican Baseball Guy would think that many other minor leaguers (both Dominicano and American) have a similar experience.