Major League Baseball teams sign more players from the Dominican Republic each year than any nation besides the U.S. Almost every neighborhood is home to a baseball field where kids as young as 4 begin learning to play. In our months of reporting, we’ve rarely come across anyone in the Dominican who doesn’t have some connection to the sport: a sibling or uncle or son who aspires to be a professional player, or who once did.
As beloved and important as baseball is in the Dominican, industry practices can hurt young players and their families. Dozens of trainers and players have told us that adolescents are expected to perform at levels never asked of their peers from other countries and enter into agreements with teams at much earlier ages. (We just published a story about abusive moneylending practices that have sprouted from this system.) We’re planning more stories brought to our attention by this community.
We want this work to reach people whose lives are touched by the issues we’re investigating. If that’s you, we want you to be able to easily connect with our reporting team and share tips or experiences you think we should know about Dominican baseball. The more people we hear from, the more impactful our reporting on these complex issues can be. (Learn more about ProPublica and our mission.)
For this series, we’re opening a WhatsApp line because it’s a popular way to keep in touch in the Dominican, and international calls and texts are free. All you have to do is text “baseball” to our WhatsApp number, 1-917-207-6447.
If you’re not a WhatsApp user, if you can still get in touch with our reporting team via email:
- Gus Garcia-Roberts: [email protected]
- Maryam Jameel: [email protected]
If you would prefer another way to get in touch, see our advice here.
What can you expect if you text our number?
You’ll get a link to our latest stories about baseball. We’ll also ask about your connection to baseball and ask you to share anything that you think our reporters should look into as we continue investigating.
If you give us permission, we’ll also send you quick updates from our series every now and then.
What kind of tips and comments are helpful?
We want to hear about baseball-related issues and experiences that are important to you, whether they’re connected to finances, health, education or something else. Below are a few of the topics we’re already reporting on; if you have related experiences to share, we would appreciate hearing about them.
- Illness and injury related to performance pressure
- Wide availability of anabolic steroids and consequences of use
- Conditions at training academies (pensiones)
If you have a connection to baseball — whether you’re a current or former player, trainer, parent of a player, doctor who treats athletes, someone who works for an MLB team or you have some other link — we would love to hear from you.
If I don’t have a connection to baseball but want to follow along, should I sign up?
Yes, we’ll share updates from our investigations, along with links to our latest reporting.
What if I know someone who has a connection to baseball?
Please send them a link to our baseball series or have them text “baseball” to our WhatsApp number, 1-917-207-6447. And thank you — we need to reach as many people as we can.
We will read everything you send and follow up with you if we have further questions or are interested in including something you’ve shared in our investigations.
We take your privacy very seriously. Our reporters speak to people every day who want to share information but fear retribution. Our reputation is built on protecting sources, and we take that responsibility to heart. You can request to speak on background, which means you would not be named in our stories.
Will ProPublica sell my information to anyone?
No.
