THE LURE OF BIG MONEY IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES HAS LED TO AN INFLUX OF . . . LATIN GLOVERS; NUMBER OF LATIN AMERICANS IN BIG LEAGUES GROWING RAPIDLY.

Byline: Eric Noland Daily News Staff Writer

A sports-mad young man in the United States might indulge his passion through a variety of options: soccer, basketball, baseball, football, golf, roller hockey. Not to mention Nintendo.

In the countries of Latin America, the choice is seen to be a bit narrower. Usually, it is baseball or . . . a continuing life of lean economic prospects for him and his family.

As a direct result, professional baseball in this country is finding that more and more of its top players and prospects are hailing from the islands of the Caribbean, northern Mexico and the northern portion of South America.

The Dodgers exemplify the trend. Not only has their major-league roster this season featured 11 players from Latin America, but 104 of the 237 minor-leaguers they had under contract at the start of the year - nearly half - were natives of those regions.

The influx is being chronicled throughout the major leagues. Latin Americans made up 17 percent of Opening Day rosters. This was up from 8 percent of 40-man rosters just 10 years ago.

It appears American kids are being beaten at their own game.

National pastime? National passe-time might be more appropriate.

``If things keep going the way they are, yes, (an even greater Latin American presence will be seen in the future),'' said Jose Freire, who teaches Spanish and coaches soccer at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys and has broadcast baseball to South America for the last quarter-century. ``It's cheaper. Is it good or bad for baseball? I don't know. But as long as there is free agency and the high bonuses (for signing American draftees), it's going to be very difficult for the United States to grow their own players.''

Baseball officials concur. ``I would say it's getting stronger and stronger because the draft is so unpredictable, and the cost of finding players through the draft is more expensive,'' Charlie Blaney, Dodgers vice president of minor-league operations, said of stateside talent hunting. ``You get your best bang for the buck in signing players from Latin America.''

Interviews with the players who have ascended to the Dodgers' big-league roster indicate why. In a word: opportunity.

Whereas a boy in the United States might play different sports seasonally, and play primarily for fun, baseball is seen as a primary vehicle to prosperity in the developing countries below our southern border. The kids may dabble in soccer and basketball and other sports, but it is to baseball that they bring steely-eyed determination and drive.

``In high school, I was a good athlete. I could do whatever anybody asked,'' said Dodgers pitcher Ramon Martinez, who grew up in the Dominican Republic. ``I could run forever, and I loved to play basketball. I was a good rebounder, some shooting. If I ever decided to go to basketball, I would have done well. I could have made it.

``But at a young age, you have to make a decision. Basketball, you play for fun. Baseball, I dedicated more time to it. You can make a good living, help a lot of people. You can take care of your whole family.

``Dominican players have to make that decision early.''

Clearly, many are. The Dominican Republic, which shares an island in the Caribbean with Haiti, would fit comfortably inside the borders of West Virginia. It has roughly the population of New Jersey.

And yet there were 57 players from that nation on Opening Day rosters throughout the major leagues. Baseball also counted 28 players from Puerto Rico, 20 from Venezuela, eight from Mexico.

The Toronto Blue Jays led the game with 10, but the Dodgers were close behind with six.

And over the course of the year, the Dodgers have had 11 Latin Americans on their active roster: Martinez, Raul Mondesi, Pedro Astacio, Wilton Guerrero and Nelson Liriano from the Dominican Republic; Ismael Valdes, Antonio Osuna, Dennis Reyes, Juan Castro and Karim Garcia from Mexico; Roger Cedeno from Venezuela.

Baseball experts cited multiple explanations for this trend, the central factor being the potential riches that the game is seen to offer in these countries. As such, the athletic talent is not splintered to multiple sports; it is funneled into one.

``How many sports would Mondesi play if he grew up in this country?'' Friere said. ``If I'm a coach and I see him walking by my classroom - those legs, those hips - I say, `Come here,' and he would be a running back.''

Probably. And Guerrero would be a point guard. Cedeno a wide receiver. (``That's what everybody says, that that's what I would play,'' he admits.) Valdes a quarterback. Castro a soccer midfielder.

But those options are never given the slightest consideration.

``Basketball is the No. 1 sport in America now,'' said Mike Brito, a native of Cuba who scouts Mexico for the Dodgers and is best known for discovering Fernando Valenzuela. ``You go down through Los Angeles and see a kid bouncing a ball. Kids here talk about all the money they (the NBA stars) are making, how they all want to be Michael Jordan.

``In Mexico, they all want to be Vinny Castilla. Pretty soon there will be more and more. I predict there will be a big amount of Mexican players in the major leagues.''

Former Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda, who has traveled extensively in Latin America since stepping into semi-retirement last year, notes that the burgeoning TV exposure of major-league baseball in the region helps spark interest, and the 12-month summer provides an opportunity to indulge it.

``They play all year 'round,'' he said.

It's not hyperbole. They do. A major-league scout just back from the Dominican Republic said privately, ``I was going to games on school days at 9 o'clock in the morning and watching teen-age kids play.''

Dodgers coach Manny Mota shakes his head at the reality. He operates the Manny Mota Youth League in his native land and tries to stress education and discipline. ``I want them ready for life if they don't make it,'' Mota said.

And yet, although his league gives the kids November, December and January off, ``maybe they play in another league. They still practice,'' Mota said. ``They take baseball very seriously.''

Baseball skill is best refined through hours of repetition and game action, said the scout, who noted that such opportunity often does not fully exist in America's inner cities, much less its suburbs, where parents often urge well-rounded sports exposure. College programs, meanwhile, are seen as geared more to immediate victory than to development, such that pitchers are often worn down and rough-edged talent is consigned to the bench.

In Latin America, the pitching prospects are often on developmental programs administered by American pro academies by mid-teen years, while the position players, no matter the conditions available, pick up grounders and hack at fastballs till they drop.

Castro, growing up in northern Mexico, certainly did. ``It was school, eat, homework, then go play baseball,'' he said. ``We had a lot of matches.

``I played on fields with rocks, just clumps of grass here and there, no backgrounds (fences). When I came here and saw the Little League fields, I couldn't believe it.''

If young American ballplayers - fine facilities or no - are gradually being overtaken by their cousins from the south, it probably shouldn't be surprising.

Blaney noted that when a youngster in the Dominican Republic is signed to a minor-league contract for $700 a month ``that's usually as much as their family makes for a whole year. All of a sudden, they've arrived.''

Freire expanded on the point: ``In many of these countries, it's all about opportunity. You get a Mondesi cutting sugar cane for $1 a day and you tell him there's a chance he can make $1 million playing baseball. What are you going to do?

``Or a Wilton Guerrero living in a house with no water, no electricity. You tell his family about the kind of living he can make playing baseball. This is his only escape from that.''

``These guys,'' he added, ``worked harder than American kids to get here. They came from neighborhoods where just being alive was something special.''

Now, in a game that was once the express domain of blue collars and bluebloods alike in America, Latin Americans are increasingly becoming something special here.

LONG LIST

There have been 11 Latin American players on the Dodgers' active roster this season.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

P Pedro Astacio (Hato Mayor)

IF Wilton Guerrero (Don Gregorio)

P Ramon Martinez (Santo Domingo)

IFNelson Liriano (Puerto Plata)

OF Raul Mondesi (San Cristobal)

MEXICO

IF Juan Castro (Los Mochis)

OF Karim Garcia (Ciudad Obregon)

P Antonio Osuna (Sinaloa)

P Dennis Reyes (Higuera de Zaragoza)

P Ismael Valdes (Victoria Tamaulipas)

VENEZUELA

OF Roger Cedeno (Valencia)

CAPTION(S):

Drawing; 2 Photos; Chart

DRAWING: (Cover--color) The number of Latin Americans in the major leagues has doubled in 10 years. . . . . . With big money as a lure, the trend will continue.

Jorge Irribarren / Daily News

PHOTO (1--color) Ramon Martinez, Raul Mondesi, Pedro Astacio; Ismael Valdez

Photo Illustration: Daily News

(2) Jose Rubio of Mexico wears the numbers of his favorite players on his face - No. 13 Antonio Osuna and No. 25 Juan Castro.

Associated Press

CHART: LONG LIST (see text)