They were their own Major League, young kids and adults lined up to see their people play, to see fellow Dominicans just like them take the mound and swing the bat. It gave a poor country a sense of pride, a sense of belonging. Even today many people feel tightly connected to the sport. As a cultural icon of the Dominican Republic, baseball holds a strong presence in the country. Surrounded by impoverished neighborhoods, these baseball stadiums of the larger Dominican cities are routinely maintained. Owners of big businesses like sugar refineries funded the construction of these fields, and benefit from the games. Games in these stadiums attract major crowds and a sense of community can be observed. Like their American counterparts, these "latinized" games exude free-spiritedness, social cohesion, and festivity from the fans and players alike. In the Dominican Republic, baseball players are regaled as sports heroes and function as role models to their fan base. This idolization is covered by the media more so than in the United States. The Dominican Republic is a developing country, struggling with poverty. In a 2016 CIA estimate, it was shown that 30.5 percent of Dominicans live below the poverty line. In addition, the CIA estimated in 2016 that unemployment of the Dominican Republic was 5.5 percent. With poverty costing many Dominicans a chance to get a higher education, many look up to the great success of those who make it to the MLB, KBO, and NPB. Causing many young Dominicans to see the sport of Baseball as a way to leave the poverty behind, and find a new meaning. Because of this, children begin playing organized baseball as early as six years old, and compete with others in leagues with the hopes of being recognized by baseball scouts. Some argue that the perception of baseball as economic salvation is in reality detrimental to the youth of the Dominican Republic. For each time a Dominican succeeds, it intensifies the efforts of thousands of other Dominicans, motivating them to give up on education, concentrate solely on training for baseball, and ultimately fail at being signed overseas. After Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba and the subsequent U.S. blockade, scouts of the majors turned their sights towards the Dominican Republic. Posed with the opportunity to acquire quality talent at a reasonable price, major league teams established "working relationships" with Dominican professional teams. Since the 1950s, all 30 MLB franchises have established baseball training academies in the Dominican Republic that are tasked by their respective teams to condition and prepare young Dominican prospects for a chance at further developing in the United States.