Posted By:
bruce dorskind
The most recent data we could find indicates that about 1 in 4 Major Leaguers
come from foreign countries.
Clearly the 2003 numbers listed below under represent certain countries
of origin on the 2005 rosters. But even an additional 50 names would
still mean that the total number of foreign citizens is less than 30% of all
those players on current Major League Rosters. Would welcome any
comments.
Perhaps someone can find these same figures for 2005
Where they come from
With baseball’s continued globalization and the prospects for a worldwide draft, the number of foreigners playing Major League Baseball is both a relevant and growing number. But figures citing the number of foreign-developed big leaguers as 35 to even 48 percent are erroneous. BA research has shown the numbers are lower. Of 1,218 players who played in the majors last year, 299–or 24.5 percent–were foreign-born. By definition, a foreign-born player is anyone who did not attend his final year of high school in the United States. The breakdown by country:
Dominican Republic
114
Venezuela
54
Puerto Rico
47
Mexico
17
Japan
13
Canada
12
Cuba
11
Panama
8
Australia
6
South Korea
6
Aruba
3
Colombia
3
Curacao
2
Nicaragua
2
Taiwan
1
Best,
Bruce Dorskind