The students walk two miles on the dark side-streets of Salcedo, dodging mopeds and stray dogs, to learn the language. We try to teach them to act well, in the park or outside. The players also learn salty terms that would make the folks at Berlitz blush. Unlike American counterparts, Pena and other Latin prospects abandon high school to pursue their baseball dreams. Dominican law only requires children to finish sixth grade, although most students attend high school.
Players know they're operating without a net.
Failure isn't just possible, it's likely. The baseball landscape is littered with prospects who were supposed to be The Next Big Thing. Most of these players will be out of baseball in a few years. Ruiz ponders that, even though he seemed destined for the majors since the day he was born. His father, a baseball fan, named him Willy Randolph Ruiz for the former Yankee second baseman.