Baseball in the Dominican RepublicBaseball was first imported to the Dominican Republic in 1870, when thousands of Cubans fled to the island nation as refuge from the Ten Years' War. Along with baseball, the Cubans also brought with them the sugar manufacturing expertise that had made them the largest sugar producer in the Caribbean. Sugar immediately became the Dominican Republic's main export, but baseball took a little longer to establish itself. At the turn of the century, many British of African descent arrived in the Dominican Republic from St. Martin, Nevis, Tortola, and other islands whose sugar industries were collapsing as Dominican cane fields expanded. These Cocolos brought with them cricket and a more organizational social discipline, inherited from their British background. Cricket was an extremely popular sport in the Republic until baseball became the sport of choice in the late 1930s. Why has baseball long become the cultural hub of the Dominican Republic? There are many factors to consider when answering this question. Because of the similarities to baseball, cricket can be seen as the springboard for what has become the truly Dominican national pastime. Cricket's popularity gave way to baseball, which exploded in the mid-20th century. An important element in the evolution of baseball in the Dominican Republic is the socioeconomic environment. The island is mainly made up of sugar mill workers, whose harvest is completely seasonal. During the winter months, also known as the season of the dead, workers didn't have much to do. Baseball became a favorite pastime as virtually every man and boy picked up a bat and ball to enjoy the game during their... middle of paper... ownership deepened the divide between players and fans. The pretty simple answer is that baseball is their life. Every boy grows up with a bat and a ball and everyone has the opportunity to play. Baseball in the Dominican Republic, compared to the United States, is baseball, basketball, football and Nintendo rolled into one culture. I have to use the term culture, because baseball in the Dominican Republic has transcended the boundaries of sport. It has become an amazing part of their daily lives. At the beginning of the century, the first championship games in Santo Domingo were attended by more than twenty thousand spectators, when the city's population was just over thirty thousand. Baseball has evolved into a national culture in the Dominican Republic, with enthusiasm and passion for the sport only growing in the Dominican Republic since then.