These days I’m working in San Pedro de Macoris, a city of 200,000 about an hour west of Santo Domingo. Compared to the capital, its pretty quiet. Not a big tourist town. Not too much to call attention, just the constant hum of motorcycles zipping around the streets.

You’d never guess it was the baseball capital of the world.

That’s right. San Pedro produces more Major League Baseball players per capita than any other city in the world. That number is exactly 76, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Sammy Sosa. Alfonso Soriano. George Bell. José Offerman. Robinson Cano. Guillermo Mota…

MLB.com documents the San Pedro baseball phenomenon with a great video. Unfortunately I can’t embed it here, so click here to watch it.

And, just for fun, have a listen to 12-time Latin Grammy winner Juan Luis Guerra singing a merengue tribute to his San Pedro roots:

¡Oh!, san pedro de macorís, ey
I’d like to live in the streets
Of san pedro de macorís
I’d like to live in the streets
Of san pedro de macorís
I’d like to sing my song
In the middle of malecón
I’d like to sing my song
In the middle of malecón
Drinking my guavaberry
Watching the sun go down, oh
Woman that’s all i need
In san pedro de macorís, oh!

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