Major League Baseball's Top 20 Latinos by Country

For Latinos living in the United States, party time continues.

Last week, the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month began.

It's the period to recognize the contributions of Hispanics to the United States and to celebrate Hispanic heritage and culture. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon B. Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on Sept. 15 and ending on Oct. 15.

Every year Hispanic Heritage Month begins on Sept. 15, the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on Sept. 16 and Chile on Sept. 18.

As a very proud Latino in this country, I have to acknowledge that one of the most notable contributions to the nation’s history is baseball itself, and by now many of you baseball fans really know the turnout of Latinos in Major League Baseball history.

It is very true that baseball is the national pastime, but it also must be recognized that no matter where you look, there is a Latino star on most teams.

I recently wrote my opinion of the best nine All-Time Latinos for each franchise. This time I want to bring you whom I consider the top 20 Latinos by country in Major League Baseball History.

They are:

CUBA

Rafael Palmeiro
Tany Pérez
Tony Taylor
Bert Campaneris
Yunel Escobar
Cookie Rojas
Zoilo Versalles
José Canseco
Leo Cárdenas
José Cardenal
Minnie Miñoso
Tony Oliva
Camilo Pascual
Mike Cuellar
Livan Hernández
Orlando Hernández
Pedro Ramos
Luis Tiant
Rolando Arrojo
José Contreras

MÉXICO

Erubiel Durazo
Adrián González
Beto Avila
Jorge Cantú
Alfredo Amezaga
Rubén Amaro
Vinny Castilla
Aurelio Rodríguez
Karim García
Fernando Valenzuela
Enrique Romo
Joakim Soria
Teddy Higuera
Yovani Gallardo
Ismael Valdes
Esteban Loaiza
Rodrigo López
Ismael Valdes
Sid Monge
Armando Reynoso

PUERTO RICO

Iván Rodríguez
Santos Alomar Jr.
Javier López
Jorge Posada
Benito Santiago
Orlando Cepeda
Carlos Delgado
Roberto Alomar
Mike Lowell
Edgar Martínez
Roberto Clemente
Carlos Beltrán
José Cruz Sr.
Juan González
Rubén Sierra
Bernie Williams
John Candelaria
Eduardo Figueroa
Javier Vázquez
Guillermo Hernández

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Tony Peña
Felipe Alou
Albert Pujols
David Ortiz
Juan Samuel
Alex Rodríguez
Tony Fernández
Hanley Ramírez
Miguel Tejada
George Bell
Pedro Guerrero
Vladimir Guerrero
Manny Ramírez
Sammy Sosa
Juan Marichal
Pedro Martínez
Bartolo Colón
Joaquín Andujar
José Rijo
José Mesa

VENEZUELA

Baudilio Díaz
Eduardo Pérez
Andrés Galárraga
Miguel Cabrera
Manny Trillo
Luis Aparicio
Chico Carrasquel
David Concepción
Ozzie Guillén
Omar Vizquel
Carlos Guillén
Bobby Abreu
Tony Armas Sr.
Richard Hidalgo
Magglio Ordóñez
Wilson Álvarez
Freddy García
Francisco Rodríguez
Johan Santana
Carlos Zambrano

Let's not forget the greats from Central America, such as Nicaragua's Dennis Martinez and Panama's Rod Carew, Ben Oglivie, Carlos Lee, and Mariano Rivera; and the great shortstops from Colombia, Orlando Cabrera y Edgar Renteria.