MIAMI — On April 23, 1939, Álex Carrasquel, a right-handed pitcher for the Washington Senators, was summoned from the bullpen in the fourth inning of a game to face Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees. He was the first Venezuelan-born player to appear in a Major League Baseball game and, since Carrasquel, 461 players born in the baseball-crazed South American country have followed in his footsteps, according to Baseball Reference.
None, though, has been better than a right-handed batter who made his major league debut on June 20, 2003. Miguel Cabrera, a skinny 20-year-old prospect who homered that day and helped the Florida Marlins win the World Series later that season, has been crushing baseballs ever since.