Pitching Democracy

Pitching Democracy makes a major contribution to our understanding of a very complex period in Dominican history, one that has not received the sustained attention it deserves. Yoder’s richly researched, crisply written book presents an original and compelling argument: that historians of politics should pay attention not only to the executive branch of government but also to various state–civil society interactions, of which baseball offers an excellent example.
  ~Robin Lauren Derby, UCLA, author of The Dictator’s Seduction: Politics and the Popular Imagination in the Era of Trujillo

Pitching Democracy illuminates how the Dominican Republic emerged as baseball’s Caribbean mecca while laying bare the deeper connections between sports and politics during and after the Cold War. In an impressive feat of research and analysis, April Yoder explains why and how this nation became a microculture of baseball excellence and connects the sport to the decades-long struggle to define democracy and development both in the Dominican Republic and throughout the Caribbean. ~Rob Ruck, University of Pittsburgh, author of Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Journey of Samoans to the NFL

Enriched by Yoder’s passion for the sport and extensive knowledge of Cold War Latin American politics, this is a detailed study of the links between sport and social change. ~Publishers Weekly

In Pitching Democracy, Yoder reveals how Dominicans have formed their own meaning around baseball, not merely as a measure of individual success but as a reflection of their society and democratic ideals. The book shows that baseball is hardly a cultural imperialist US import: the sport has its own long history in Dominican society, producing major leaguers as well as national identity and pride wherever Dominicans reside. ~Current History