Land’s revealing and descriptive collection of Dominican youth and the sport of baseball was captured during a fall 2011 week-long immersion in San Pedro de Macoris, known worldwide as the “cradle of shortstops” and hometown to dozens of major league baseball players.

“I traveled to the Dominican to discover how the country was consistently able to churn out baseball superheroes. The more I observed, the more I understood. This is a culture that plays ball the way people breathe. Baseball is not just a game or a national pastime to them. It is a way out. It is life. Survival. Hope.”

The Dominican Republic is widely considered one of the most prolific hotbeds of professional baseball talent in the world, having produced hundreds of mainstays on major league rosters over the past several decades. According to Major League Baseball (MLB), the Dominican Republic boasts more players (95) born outside the U.S. on 2012 MLB Opening Day 25-man rosters/inactive lists than any other nation.

“I wanted the shape of the book to be the same size as a base on the field. I used classic red baseball stitching to bind the book together, which is evident on the spine and inside spreads.”

ABOUT THE BOOK: “Nacido Para Jugar Béisbol – Born to Play Baseball,” is a 12”; square custom bound 112-page collection printed on beautiful uncoated Mohawk paper. The book visually illustrates how essential baseball is to the fabric of life for youth growing up in the country and reveals the immense hope the sport offers to Dominicans – especially to many living in modest and challenging circumstances. Land’s images convey the depth and simplicity of the country’s singular obsession, as youth are captured playing the game literally everywhere – streets, beaches and empty fields - with homemade equipment like make-shift bats (tree branches) and improvised fielding gloves (winter mittens).