Luchy Guerra and Artie Harris are by far two of the world’s most interesting people. Luchy’s humble beginnings began in her home town of San Pedro de Marcoris in Santa Domingo. Arriving in the US in 1984 as a foreign exchange student, then went on to become assistant director for international player development for the Los Angeles Dodgers and is one of few women in the field of major league baseball. Literally she and her position grew together. With an accumulative body of training as immigration and assimilation development program director for Dominican players, this affiliation would position her to professionally work for the LA Dodgers from 1992-2008. It’s an amazing story and best told by Luchy herself. Her accomplishments are too numerous to mention however they have earned her international respect, and through nurturing her own company, Athlete Live Management Group since 2008, this hot blooded Latina, as she calls herself, continues to help mak
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The famed Baseball visionary delivered a resounding message about the history of the Dodgers and the Dominicans leading into a lively and spirited conversation about how Luchy came t
Posting systems are used in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Posting system in a nutshell and without going into detail comes about if a player is good enough to come to the US from an Asian country. The player tells the team that he wants to come to the US. There is a closed auction and all of the major leagues bid on this player. The commissioner office says, the Boston Red Sox won the bid for such ‘n’ such player, as Artie put it. Then the Red Sox offer to negotiate the contract with that individual player. They also have to pay his te
Luchy graduated for the University of the District of Colombia, and has professionally taken care of everybody from the major league office in NY to Peter O’ Reilly and Vince Scully down to the lowest level minor leaguer and she does it well, says Artie.
Luchy taught these boys, her boys as she calls them, how to bathe, read, write and make as safe of an adjustment from their home in the Dominican Republic to Los Angeles. Her undying commitment to serve a country acting as translator, going on to taking a position with the Dodgers and growing into her own company, Athlete Live Management Group since 2008, keeps her on all the way
The Dominican Republic has more Major League Baseball players than any of the countries outside the US. Players Jose Garcia, Ricardo Rodriguez, Pedro Martinez and Raul Mondesi are a part of an elite group trained at the Dodgers Camp near Santa Domingo of where at least 35 players have come from.
Luchy and Artie are two of a kind and together have supported players like Adrian Beltre who Artie says with confidence that Beltre, at age 32 is still one of the best baseman alive. Luchy’s compassion comes from a natural collection of experiences with five other brothers and sisters who grew up for many years without the benefit of
The journey to freedom and success require people with big hearts, and that are much bigger than the island of the Dominican Republic. If life gives reward for these special hearts that can muster up enough strength and courage to match the world’s fastest moving baseball let it be said that Luchy Guerra and Artie Harris are indeed two such hearts beating at the same pace, and living for the one cause.
For more information on UCLA Latin American Institute, Caribbean Studies Institute and the UCLA International Institute contact LATINAMCTR@INTERNATIONAL.UCLA.EDU or www.international.ucla.edu.
all photos taken by Osiris Munir.
© Osiris Munir 2017
All Rights Reserved.
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