A sports discussion can entail many topics, but geography usually does not top the list.

This was not the case, however, during the “Latin American National Pastimes: Soccer vs. Baseball” lecture held last Tuesday.

“I am teaching a sports geography class this fall, and I was asked by a member of the Latino Heritage Month Committee to give a presentation on Latino Baseball. From there, we expanded it to pastimes in baseball and soccer, and tied it into the geography theme of my class,” said Jim Davis, a geography professor.

Davis, who led the lecture, divided Latin American pastimes into three regions. He broke the pastimes into the Caribbean, Central America and South America. He also went on to explain that the Caribbean is dominated by baseball, South America is dominated by soccer, and Central America is a mixture of both sports.

According to Davis, the reason for the separation is unclear.

“I am struggling myself to figure that out,” Davis said. “In terms of the difference between the two, it is still a mystery to me why there is such differences between similar cultures. Traditionally, they would have played the same game. The Dominican Republic and Argentina are no different in terms of the way they were colonized,” Davis said.

Davis also showed the influence of Latinos in Major League Baseball throughout history. Latin baseball players ranging from Roberto Clemente to Pedro Martinez have played in the MLB, but Davis says that Major League teams have only begun to scratch the surface of talent in Latin America.

“Latin Leagues have such great talent coming out, and the major leagues are starting to see that. Teams are also starting to spend more money to scout the Caribbean winter leagues and the Caribbean World Series because there is such talent that was largely hidden up until the 1960s and ’70s,” Davis said.

As for soccer, Davis shared with the audience his experience with the World Cup last year while in Berlin for studying abroad.

“It was incredible to see some of the stadiums that were built for the games, to see the pre-tournament hype that was surrounding it, and how the European culture is so different compared to our attitude towards soccer and the World Cup,” Davis said.

Regardless, his motivation for leading this lecture was simple. “I am a big sports fan,” Davis said. “I respect the guys that pioneer the early days like Clemente, Dave Concepcion, and Tony Perez.”