Among those honored as part of the all-time Latino team were current New York Yankees third baseman and nine-time All-Star Alex Rodriguez as well as Hall of Famers Rod Carew, Roberto Clemente and Juan Marichal. Fan balloting on MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, and in participating Chevrolet dealerships, determined the "Chevrolet Presents the MLB Latino Legends Team."
“This program was one of many community outreach efforts Chevrolet sponsors in the Hispanic community.”
The players selected by the fans to the "Chevrolet Presents the Major League Baseball Latino Legends Team" consist of:
Catcher Shortstop
------- ---------
Ivan Rodriguez Alex Rodriguez
First Base Third Base
---------- ----------
Albert Pujols Edgar Martinez
Second Base Starting Pitchers
----------- -----------------
Rod Carew Pedro Martinez
Juan Marichal
Outfield Fernando Valenzuela
--------
Roberto Clemente Relief Pitcher
Manny Ramirez --------------
Vladimir Guerrero Mariano Rivera
Today, Latinos make up a significant portion of both the Major League Baseball player and fan bases. As of Opening Day 2005, 204 players born in Latin American countries were on Major League Baseball Club rosters accounting for nearly 25 percent of the overall MLB player base. The Dominican Republic led all countries with 91 players, followed by Venezuela with 46 and Puerto Rico with 34. According to ESPN Sports Poll, more U.S. Hispanics are fans of MLB than any other professional sport and the concentration of the MLB fan base in the U.S. that is Hispanic has grown significantly over the past decade. Since 1996, the percentage of MLB fans that are Hispanic has increased by 31% from 9.5% to 12.4% (ESPN Sports Poll), and today nearly 6.4 million Hispanics consider themselves Major League Baseball fans (Simmons Research).
"Players of Latin American heritage have a deep passion for the game of baseball, and have made immense contributions to the national pastime," said Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. "This program was created to reflect those contributions and to honor the indelible mark they have left on the game. It is my distinct honor to congratulate each of the twelve players that comprise the final Chevrolet Presents the Major League Baseball Latino Legends Team. "
"We are proud to partner with Major League Baseball in support of this program as it recognizes the most significant Latino players of all-time," said Ed Peper, Chevrolet general manager. "This program was one of many community outreach efforts Chevrolet sponsors in the Hispanic community."
Academy Award nominee, Edward James Olmos emceed the pre-game ceremony, which recognized the 12 players selected by the fans to the all-time Latino team. More than 1,600,000 total votes were cast both online, and in participating Chevrolet dealerships nationwide as part of the program. Fans selected eight position players, one at each infield position and three outfielders, three starting pitchers and one relief pitcher to makeup the "Chevrolet Presents the Major League Baseball Latino Legends Team."
As the presenting sponsor of the "Major League Baseball Latino Legends Team," Chevy launched an exciting sweepstakes which gave one lucky fan a trip for four to Game Four of the 2005 World Series and behind the scenes access to the official unveiling. Fans entered the sweepstakes through the paper ballots available at participating dealerships and online at MLB.com.
First Base ---------- (Top Vote-getter) 1. Albert Pujols, Dominican Republic 64,952 2. Orlando Cepeda, Puerto Rico 28,672 3. Tony Perez, Cuba 17,986 4. Andres Galarraga, Venezuela 15,654 5. Rafael Palmeiro, Cuba 13,247 Second Base ----------- (Top Vote-getter) 1. Rod Carew, Panama 69,868 2. Roberto Alomar, Puerto Rico 37,545 3. Alfonso Soriano, Dominican Republic 25,753 4. Jose Vidro, Puerto Rico 3,761 5. Juan Samuel, Dominican Republic 2,998 Third Base ---------- (Top Vote-getter) 1. Edgar Martinez, Puerto Rico 57,550 2. Bobby Bonilla, Puerto Rico 24,068 3. Vinny Castilla, Mexico 23,577 4. Adrian Beltre, Dominican Republic 20,468 5. Edgardo Alfonzo, Venezuela 13,011 Shortstop --------- (Top Vote-getter) 1. Alex Rodriguez, Dominican Republic 70,890 2. Luis Aparicio, Venezuela 24,951 3. Miguel Tejada, Dominican Republic 23,369 4. Dave Concepcion, Venezuela 16,470 5. Omar Vizquel, Venezuela 6,308 Catcher ------- (Top Vote-getter) 1. Ivan Rodriguez, Puerto Rico 80,167 2. Tony Pena, Dominican Republic 25,164 3. Javy Lopez, Puerto Rico 12,435 4. Benito Santiago, Puerto Rico 11,432 5. Manny Sanguillen, Panama 10,885 Outfield -------- (Top Three Vote-getters) 1. Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rico 100,955 2. Manny Ramirez, Dominican Republic 66,830 3. Vladimir Guerrero, Dominican Republic 62,895 4. Sammy Sosa, Dominican Republic 39,344 5. Bernie Williams, Puerto Rico 23,842 6. Tony Oliva, Cuba 20,722 7. Carlos Beltran, Puerto Rico 20,646 8. Felipe Alou, Dominican Republic 17,207 9. Moises Alou, Dominican Republic 14,774 10. Minnie Minoso, Cuba 13,863 11. Jose Cruz Sr., Puerto Rico 9,048 12. Juan Gonzalez, Puerto Rico 8,184 13. Rico Carty, Dominican Republic 5,452 14. Luis Gonzalez, Cuba 5,175 15. George Bell, Dominican Republic 4,786 Starting Pitcher ---------------- (Top Three Vote-getters) 1. Pedro Martinez, Dominican Republic 93,118 2. Juan Marichal, Dominican Republic 68,199 3. Fernando Valenzuela, Mexico 49,616 4. Luis Tiant, Cuba 36,610 5. Johan Santana, Venezuela 32,952 6. Bartolo Colon, Dominican Republic 22,226 7. Lefty Gomez, Mexico 22,016 8. Dennis Martinez, Nicaragua 18,168 9. Livan Hernandez, Cuba 11,264 10. Joaquin Andujar, Dominican Republic 9,127 11. Mike Cuellar, Cuba 7,845 12. Jose Rijo, Dominican Republic 6,347 13. Camilo Pascual, Cuba 5,757 14. Martin Dihigo, Cuba 4,393 15. Dolf Luque, Cuba 2,066 Relief Pitcher -------------- (Top Vote-getter) 1. Mariano Rivera, Panama 107,710 2. Jose Mesa, Dominican Republic 9,389 3. Roberto Hernandez, Puerto Rico 8,230 4. Willie Hernandez, Puerto Rico 8,127 5. Armando Benitez, Dominican Republic 7,431
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