The Dominicans Walk Off the Island and Kick Some Butt

I have no idea what the "Salute to Baseball Festival" down at Disney World was all about, but it apparently had a youth baseball competition component, and the Dominican Republic apparently dominated it:

The Dominican Republic won two world titles (gold medal), 2 second place, (silver medal) and a bronze in the Disney’s Salute to Baseball Festival, held in this Florida city, with the participation of over 60 teams from different countries. The Dominicans took the honors with a gold in the categories 16 and 10 year olds, silver in the 12 and 8 year olds, and Bronze in the 14 year old category.

It has been suggested that the introduction of organized baseball in the form of more youth leagues and the major league academies could one day pose a threat to the talent pool in the Dominican Republic, with the logic being that it's better to play ball all day on the streets than it is to join a league and limit your play to practices and games. I suppose that's possible, but from the looks of it, the little leaguers in the D.R. are doing just fine, thank you.