The Latino Legends Team was an all-time all-star baseball team selected in 2005 to honor the history of Latin American players in Major League Baseball. The players were chosen by fan voting. Ballots were available both online at MLB.com and at Chevrolet dealerships, and over 1.6 million total votes were cast. The team was announced at a ceremony hosted by actor Edward James Olmos prior to Game Four of the 2005 World Series.
Contents
The team
Controversy
Despite being the only native of South America in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Venezuela native Luis Aparicio was not selected. Another former White Sox star was snubbed - Cuban born outfielder Minnie Miñoso. In what was vindication for the organization, Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén became the first Latin-born manager to win a World Series later that night.(Lou Piniella, manager of the World Series winning 1990 Cincinnati Reds, was born in Tampa to a family of Spanish heritage but is not technically 'Latin-born')
Other significant snubs from this team were Puerto Ricans Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Alomar and Carlos Delgado, Cuban-born Tony Pérez and Negro League star Martín Dihigo. Dominican Sammy Sosa, a then still-active member of the 500 home run club was left off, as were Rafael Palmeiro and José Canseco, renowned Cuban-born sluggers caught up in the steroid scandals at the time. On February, 2009, Latino Legends shortstop Alex Rodriguez was reported to have tested positive for steroid use during Major League Baseball's 2003 survey testing. After the report was released, Rodriguez confessed in an interview with ESPN that he used banned substances between 2001-2003. On July 30, 2009, Latino Legends outfielder Manny Ramirez was also reported to have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during Major League Baseball's 2003 survey testing.