Gary Sanchez and Luis Severino never experienced the age-old pastime of Little League baseball. For kids and teenagers in the Dominican Republic, the sport is far more demanding. And often burdensome.
The Yankees’ battery discussed some of the challenges they faced while pursuing a career in professional baseball on the “R2C2” podcast with Ryan Ruocco and CC Sabathia Wednesday. Although Sanchez and Severino didn’t recount their journeys in great detail, they did shed light on why Latino players view baseball differently than Americans.
Here’s what Sanchez said, via his translator:
“In my time in DR, I was basically training to hopefully sign as a professional baseball player.