projects
The Republic of Baseball
The Sports for Development Foundation and Manatt Media LLC have produced the first-ever documentary film about the history of baseball in the Dominican Republic. The Republic of Baseball: The Dominican Giants of the American Game premiered March 19th at the San Diego Latino Film Festival.
The premiere coincided with the finals of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego. .
The film was also featured during "Dominican Night" at the New York Latino Film Festival in July, and has been accepted by the Boston Latino Film Festival in October. PBS affiliates across the United States, including New York, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, DC are airing The Republic of Baseball during the month of September.
The Republic of Baseball: The Dominican Giants of the American Game, profiles the personal histories and professional careers of the first great Dominican stars of Major League Baseball, including Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal, the winningest pitcher of the 1960s; Felipe Alou, the first Dominican Major League star and current Manager of the San Francisco Giants; and Manny Mota, the Los Angeles Dodgers legendary player and coach.
The film also includes interviews with today's Dominican star players, including Pedro Martínez, Vladimir Guerrero, Alex Rodriguez and Alfonso Soriano.
More than a sports biography, The Republic of Baseball tells the tale of the forgotten Dominican stars of negro baseball, and how Alou, Marichal and Mota overcame dictatorship, poverty, and racism to blaze the trail for today's Dominican baseball stars.
Republic is also a portrait, through intimate interviews and beautiful location photography reminiscent of the film Buena Vista Social Club, of the Dominican Republic and its people. [press release .pdf]
Pedro Martínez
Pedro Martínez and President Leonel Fernández
The genesis of the Sports for Development Foundation came in July 2001 when Geoffrey Kirkman worked with Pedro Martínez, then the ace of the Boston Red Sox, and Leonel Fernández, the President of the Dominican Republic, to raise funds for research into education issues in the Dominican Republic and for scholarships for Dominican students. These successful efforts culminated with bringing together Dominican businesspeople and community leaders with academic researchers from Harvard University, a sports memorabilia auction and a salsa band at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. [mets website]Mariano Rivera and Computer Clubhouse
In 2003 and 2004, the Sports for Development Foundation worked with New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera and the Intel Foundation to open two Computer Clubhouses in Panama City, Panama (PDF). The Intel Computer Clubhouse is an after-school program that provides youth ages 10 to 18 access to high-tech equipment, professional software and adult mentors to help them develop the self-confidence and enthusiasm for learning skills needed to create new opportunities. Youth who visit the Computer Clubhouse learn by doing. They create digital artwork, produce their own music CDs, film, write and edit their own short movies and design Web sites. [yankees website] [intel news release .pdf]
Mariano Rivera video.