For generations of Major Leaguers from Latin America, there have been stars from their countries to look up to and try to emulate, especially at the beginning of their professional careers.
For young players from Puerto Rico, Roberto Clemente was the standard, on and off the field, followed by Orlando Cepeda, Iván Rodríguez, Yadier Molina and others. In Venezuela, the icons were Alfonso "Chico" Carrasquel and Luis Aparicio, followed by David Concepción and later Miguel Cabrera. For aspiring Major Leaguers from Mexico, Roberto "Bobby" Ávila and, of course, Fernando Valenzuela were the figures to look up to. And Cuba brought us Atanasio "Tany" (or Tony) Pérez, who along with Tony Oliva and Luis Tiant set the bar for their countrymen in the last 60 years.
In the Dominican Republic -- birthplace of four Hall of Famers and the perennial leader in participating players in MLB born outside the U.S. and Puerto Rico -- Juan Marichal was for decades the undisputed king of baseball, the first of his countrymen in Cooperstown and the standard by which other Dominican players were measured. In just under six years, Pedro Martínez, Vladimir Guerrero and David Ortiz -- who in the last decade have followed Marichal's footsteps with Hall of Fame enshrinement -- will almost assuredly be joined in Cooperstown by Albert Pujols, who homered twice Friday night to join the elite 700-HR club.
As he winds down a historic 22-year Major League career, Pujols is that standard for generations of players, not only from the Dominican Republic, but from Latin America at large.
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