Latino ball players featured in TV special

TV special to focus on Royals' Latinos
Spotlight comes during Hispanic Heritage Month
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com, 09/15/09

DETROIT -- More than one-third of the Royals' current roster, 13 of 35 either active or disabled players, were born in Latin American countries.

So it's a logical step for FOX Sports Kansas City to have a pregame special centering on the Royals' Hispanic players. The "Royals Live" or "Los Reales en Vivo" program will be aired at 5:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday prior to the Royals-Tigers game.

"It was nice to be able to sit and talk to these guys about their lives and backgrounds," said host Joel Goldberg. "That sometimes gets lost in the shuffle because we tend to gravitate toward the American guys. It's nice to put the spotlight on the Latino guys."

In addition to the 13 Latin-born players, the Royals' group includes U.S.-born David DeJesus and Mike Aviles, whose families are from Puerto Rico. Other representation comes from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba and Panama.

DeJesus is the spokesman for the Guadalupe Center in Kansas City, the longest-continually operated Latino organization in the country, which will be featured in the piece. General manager Dayton Moore will talk about the Royals' Dominican Academy, and Royals Hall of Famers Paul Splittorff and Frank White will discuss their favorite Latino teammates.

The show comes during Hispanic Heritage Month.