Kidnapping of Ramos sheds light on danger for ballplayers in Venezuela

[hack89]

Source: Sports Illustrated

Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos remains missing Friday morning, more than 36 hours after he was kidnapped by armed men in his native Venezuela, an unspeakable and ongoing tragedy that underscores the growing dangers for ballplayers in that country.

Just as more and more baseball talent from Venezuela has reached the major leagues in the past decade, so too has crime escalated, making it dangerous for both players and scouts trying to find the next wave of talent.

"I would make multiple trips on a yearly basis down there and, quite honestly, looked forward to each and every trip and really was in love with the country," he said. "As time has gone on, just on a personal safety basis, I've become more and more uncomfortable just being out and about in the country." Many clubs feel the same. Of the 30 major-league teams, 21 operated academies in Venezuela as recently as 2002, a number that has dwindled to just five scheduled to be open for business a decade later in 2012: the Phillies, Mets, Rays, Mariners and Tigers. The Cardinals closed their academy before the 2011 season and, most recently, the Pirates announced that they were closing their academy in September.

Those risks are detailed in on the U.S. State Department's travel advisory website, which notes that the country's per capita murder rate is one of the top five in the world and that kidnappings in 2009 increased 40-to-60 percent over the previous year, a number that's already difficult to track because the majority go unreported.


Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/joe_lemire/11/11/ramos.kidnapping/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

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Things are getting worse in Venezuela.

[russspeakeasy]

1. ...a little peek into our future ?

[hack89]

2. Crime in America is at historic lows and steadily declining

so I would suspect not.

[elfin]

3. Why do clubs have training there, anyway?

Does it save THAT much$? Is having a player kidnapped just the price of doing business like the occasional Pinto gas tank fires?

Makes no sense to me. Keep training camps and the boost to the local economy in the US, which includes warm Hawaii. Also Puertp Rico and the Virgin Islands would be far safer than most any other country south of the border.

[hack89]

4. They are development "academies"

They find young talent, teach them baseball (as well as regular academics) and sign the best to play in the major leagues. They are common all over Latin America - since the entire region is baseball crazy it makes more sense (and is cheaper) to go where the talent is and do the basic selection and training there.

[Davis_X_Machina]

5. Modelled on similar facilities..

...all over the footballing -- i.e. soccer -- world.

Baseball came to the acadamies late.

[msanthrope]

6. Time for MLB to tell their players no winterball in Venezuela. nt

[Peregrine Took]

7. Carlos Zambrano, my favorite player & Cub is down there. Be safe, ace!! n/t