Dominican Republic Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ) is a country located in the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that are shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest Caribbean nation by area (after Cuba) at , and third by population with approximately 10 million people, of which approximately three million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. Christopher Columbus
Sport in the Dominican Republic and soon after teams from the MLB began sending scouts to watch Dominican Republic players play. Between 1955 and 1980 there were 49 players from the Dominican Republic who played in the MLB. However, in the 1980s hundreds of players started coming to the United States as there became "working relationships between North American and Dominican teams." The first great pitcher from the Dominican Republic who starred in the United States was Juan Marichal who is nicknamed the "Dominican Dandy". He began his playing career in the MLB in 1960 after he was signed from the Dominican Republic by the