Paul Kruger ('10) assisting with the coaching of Liga Parallela Texas Rangers team (rookie team).
This past summer, I had the opportunity to serve as an intern for the Texas Rangers International Scouting department. This internship gave me the opportunity to spend 11 weeks based out of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic (DR). San Pedro is approximately an hour outside of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, and is known as the baseball hotbed of the DR. Current and former Major League Baseball (MLB) players that have come from this Dominican city include, but is not limited to; Robinson Cano, Alfonso Soriano, Sammy Sosa, Tony Fernandez, and Salomon Torres.
During my internship in the Dominican, I was given the opportunity to perform many tasks throughout the country as well as within the Rangers Academy. Some of the tasks that I took part in were assisting in investigations, advising in U.S. consulate appointments, scouting prospective players throughout the country, coaching the Liga Parallela Texas Rangers team (rookie team), maintaining databases for position players and pitchers, developing facility maintenance reports, and organizing and updating tryout players’ personal information and performance reports.
Along with being a crucial task, the investigations side of my internship provided me with eye-opening experiences unlike anything offered in the United States. Parts of this task included examining birth certificates and hospital records in hopes of uncovering the truth about a certain player’s age or identity. Other parts of the full investigation process included face-to-face interviews with neighbors and former coaches of the player in question. Along with that, I worked hand-in-hand with the MLB commissioner’s office, more specifically the investigations department, in order to determine the correct identities of players we, the Rangers, were interested in.
In addition to my role with the investigations, I had the opportunity to scout potential players and coach the Rangers international rookie team. I enjoyed having the opportunity to work with, and scout, some of the top international players in the world ranging from ages 15-19. It was incredible to see how baseball is played in different parts of the world and the amount of time and effort these youngsters put into improving their skills on the diamond. On average, the youngsters in the Dominican put in upwards of 10 hours a day playing pick-up games and practicing in sandlots all throughout the country. Seeing this opened my eyes to the dedication Dominican players have to improving their skills in hopes of one day being signed by a MLB club and making it to the United States.
In all, the experiences that I was able to be a part of in the Dominican are unlike any that I could have expected or imagined. The country is truly unique and the ability to live and work in a baseball hotbed is something that will hopefully help me as I begin my progression throughout the world of sports. From this internship opportunity I was able to take away many lessons about Latin American culture, baseball in other countries, the intricacies of scouting, and amount it of time and energy that goes into building a successful team and organization on and off of the field.
In addition, I look to build on the relationships that I have developed with the Rangers staff, as well as staff members of other organizations, throughout my career and thank everyone who made my time in the Dominican amazing. I truly appreciate the time and energy each individual I came across put in to make the experience what it was and to help me gain a better understanding of the world of professional baseball. Special thanks go out to Mike Daly ('02), graduate of the Ohio University Sports Administration program, for providing me with this unbelievable internship opportunity and coaching our rookie team to a 22-5-2 overall record.
