Kansas City Royals: Celebrating success off the field

Kansas City Royals beat writer for MLB.com, Jeffrey Flanagan, released a story recently that praised individuals in the Royals organization for their successes off the baseball field.

Jeffrey Flanagan has a knack for story telling, and the Kansas City Royals are phenomenal at giving him good things to report. Fourteen players at the Royals Dominican Republic Academy received their high school degrees recently.

With players from the Dominican Republic who go to the Academy, they typically drop out of school around age 13 or 14 to try and get signed. So, having an inaugural grad class is an amazing feat.

“It was a formal graduation ceremony that our players and 68 other Minor League players took part in,” Jeff Diskin, the Royals cultural development director, said. “They all passed the federal high school exam to earn their high school degrees.”

Though many wish it could last forever, baseball careers ultimately come to an end at one time or another. Not only does it help players to be moving in the right direction when their playing time comes to an end, but it also promotes trust in the organization.

“We’re just trying to develop the whole player so they can feel good about themselves,” Dayton Moore said. “It creates a confidence and trust between the player and the organization.

The history of the Academy dates back to 1986 when it was established. It has since moved locations a few times, but now they reside in Guerra, where they have been since 2012.

Though just 14 players graduated this time around, the facility houses 72 total athletes. That leaves room for more players to build off the off the field success of their fellow teammates and work on furthering their education.

Some of the names Flanagan shared in his article who graduated are infielder Rubendy Jacquez, left fielder Neyfi Marinez, right handed pitcher Leandro Mendez, and shortstop Enrique Valdez. Both Marinez and Mendez graduated with honors.

“The Royals have invested in these players as people and as baseball players, Diskin said. “All of our players share one very important thing in common…baseball.”