If there was any doubt about the impact that Latin American ballplayers have had on Major League Baseball, those notions would quickly be dispelled with one look at the rosters of the two teams playing in the 2010 World Series.
The San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers advanced to this year's World Series with a host of players from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela making important contributions. A total of 17 players out of the 50 on the combined active rosters of the two teams played their high school baseball outside of the United States, if they played at all.
The two teams also have relatively few local players. The Rangers have only one Texas player in outfielder David Murphy, who prepped at Klein. However Jorge Cantu was born in McAllen and moved to Mexico shortly after birth. Cantu reportedly played some high school ball after being drafted as a 16-year-old.
Meanwhile San Francisco has a pair of local players in Pat Burrell and Nate Schierholtz. Burrell went to high school at Bellarmine Prep in San Jose while Schierholtz grew up in the East Bay and attended San Ramon Valley High School in Danville.
Of the Giant players who attended high school in the United States, most played in the South. Madison Bumgarner (North Carolina), Buster Posey (Georgia), and Matt Cain (Tennessee) were all Gatorade State Players of the Year while Mike Fontenot (Louisiana), Aubrey Huff (Texas), and Eli Whiteside (Mississippi) also grew up in the South.
Texas, on the other hand, has six players that grew up in the western portion of the United States. Michael Young, Matt Treanor, C.J. Wilson, Darren Oliver and Colby Lewis are all from California while Ian Kinsler played high school ball in Arizona.
League Championship Series MVPs Cliff Lee of Texas and Cody Ross of San Francisco both hail from states that don't necessarily produce a large number of professional players. Lee is one of seven players from Benton (Ark.) to reach the pros, but only the second Major Leaguer. Ross, meanwhile, played at Carlsbad (N.M.) and is the ninth player from that school to play professional baseball. Four players from Carlsbad have reached the Major Leagues.
Following is a list of the high schools of each of the 50 players on the active rosters for the Giants and the Rangers. Players who prepped outside of the United States are listed with the city where they were born, unless their high school was available.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Jeremy Affeldt -
Northwest Christian (Colbert, Wash.)Madison Bumgarner -
South Caldwell (Hudson, N.C.)Matt Cain -
Houston (Germantown, Tenn.)Santiago Casilla - San Cristobal (Dominican Republic)
Tim Lincecum -
Liberty (Renton, Wash.)Javier Lopez -
Robinson (Fairfax, Va.)Guillermo Mota - Jose Joaquin Perez (Dominican Republic)
Ramon Ramirez - Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic)
Sergio Romo -
Brawley (Calif.)Jonathan Sanchez - Escuela Superior Blanca Maloret (Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico)
Brian Wilson -
Londonderry (N.H.)Buster Posey -
Lee County (Leesburg, Ga.)Eli Whiteside - W.P. Daniel (New Albany, Miss.)
Mike Fontenot -
Salmen (Slidell, La.)Aubrey Huff -
Brewer (White Settlement, Texas)Travis Ishikawa -
Federal Way (Wash.)Edgar Renteria - Instituo Los Alpes (Barranquilla, Colombia)
Freddy Sanchez -
Burbank (Calif.)Pablo Sandoval - Academia Centro de Estudio Cavabobo (Ven.)
Juan Uribe - Bani (Dominican Republic)
Pat Burrell -
Bellarmine (San Jose, Calif.)Cody Ross -
Carlsbad (N.M.)Aaron Rowand -
Glendora (Calif.)Nate Schierholtz -
San Ramon Valley (Danville, Calif.)Andres Torres - Dr. Carlos Gonzales (Puerto Rico)
TEXAS RANGERS
Neftali Perez - Azua (Dominican Republic)
Derek Holland -
Newark (Ohio)Tommy Hunter -
Indianapolis Cathedral (Ind.)Michael Kirkman -
Columbia (Lake City, Fla.)Cliff Lee -
Benton (Ark.)Colby Lewis -
North (Bakersfield, Calif.)Darren O'Day -
Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville, Fla.)Alexi Ogando - San Pedro (Dominican Republic)
Darren Oliver -
Rio Linda (Calif.)Clay Rapada -
Deep Creek (Chesapeake, Va.)CJ Wilson -
Fountain Valley (Calif.)Bengie Molina - Rio Piedras (Puerto Rico)
Matt Treanor -
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)Elvis Andrus - Maracay (Venezuela)
Andres Blanco - El Carmen (Venezuela)
Jorge Cantu - Reynoso (Mexico)
Ian Kinsler -
Canyon del Oro (Tucson, Ariz.)Michael Young -
Bishop Amat (La Puente, Calif.)Julio Borbon - De La Salle (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
Nelson Cruz - Montecristy (Dominican Republic)
Jeff Francoeur -
Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.)Josh Hamilton -
Athens Drive (Raleigh, N.C.)Mitch Moreland -
Amory (Miss.)David Murphy -
Klein (Texas)Vladimir Guererro - Bani (Dominican Republic)
