Are Latin American Baseball Players More Inclined To Use Banned Substances?

August 07, 2013

Much to the chagrin of the Major League Baseball Commissioner’s Office and many team front offices, general news headlines devoted to the sport in recent weeks were focused on when suspensions would be announced for players who were connected to the Biogenesis Clinic, linked to banned performance-enhancing drugs. The avalanche started with former Most Valuable Player Ryan Braun who was suspended for 65 games. Earlier this week, more than a dozen other players were suspended for using banned substances.

Eight of the players are from the Dominican Republic, three from Venezuela and another from Nicaragua. That has some looking at the culture in Latin American countries and its passion for baseball and getting into the major leagues, regardless of certain legal or health risks.

Steve “Esteban” Randel, a former international baseball scout and former publisher of Latin Athlete Magazine, talked about this issue.