Major League Baseball

Jamaica to build baseball field with help from MLB

Published Mar. 7, 2010 3:29 p.m. ET

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Jamaica is taking after its baseball-crazy Caribbean neighbors with plans for a new field supported by Major League Baseball.

Island officials say the diamond will be part of a new stadium in Trelawny, west of the capital Kingston.

MLB officials say it would be the organization's first investment in the Caribbean island if the project is approved.

``We want to totally help develop the game and present the youths of Jamaica with new opportunities,'' Renaldo Peralta, MLB's manager for baseball operations in Latin America, said during a trip last week to meet with local officials.

MLB spokesman Matt Bourne said on Saturday that he could not provide details on the proposal.

Jamaica plays cricket but has little baseball tradition compared to neighbors like Cuba and the Dominican Republic. It does not have a national baseball team, and the country's high schools play softball.

``We are surrounded by countries that play the game,'' said Donavan Duncan, president of Baseball Jamaica, a nonprofit organization. ``We're just lagging behind in the endeavor. It's sad.''

He said some 100 underprivileged children participate in his organization's program, which relies mostly on equipment donations.

Duncan was encouraged by the MLB's proposal, adding that picking up baseball would be easy for a nation that plays cricket, since the sports are similar.

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