Latino and Hispanic Athletes Continue to Join the Millionaires Club

As a youth, the Hispanic quarterback of the University of Southern California Trojans idolized Palmer. Palmer won the Heisman Trophy and a lucrative contract with the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals. As a successor to USC's high profile leadership throne, Sanchez would explode to the top of the Latino marketing heap if he can achieve as much as Palmer.

The numbers of Latinos from the 20 Latin American countries, and United States citizens of Hispanic descent, involved in athletics are growing by leaps and bounds. And so are their pocketbooks and economic clout.

Some of the facts are: the number of Latino players in the NBA has grown from one in 1979-'80 to 14 in the 2007-'08 season; more Latinos than other ethnic group regularly watch sports events; from July, 2006 to July, 2007 Latinos accounted for one of every two persons joining the United States population; the names Garcia and Rodriguez appear in the top ten of most common surnames in the U.S.; the buying power of U.S. Hispanics is $862 billion, a figure that in fiscal 2007 topped the economies of all but nine countries; Spanish-language broadcasts were heard in America's heartland, Oklahoma, last year and that market is growing rapidly.

Many top athletes of all races and ethnic groups give back to the communities that raised them. They create camps for prospective future athletes and raise funds for charities on every level. Donated and invested funds from athletes pour into national institutions such as hospitals, disadvantaged children's organizations, and foundations for everything from country-wide environmental clean-up to local endeavors to improve community awareness.

Latinos reach the Major League baseball diamond much more often than they appear in other sports. They stand tall in baseball's Top Ten statistics. American League baseball Cy Young award winners in the last 10 years have included five Latinos. Seven of the last 10 American League MVPs were Latino.

There is a dark side to this rush to riches by Latinos. There are borders to cross to get to the roads paved with gold. There are temptations in which money speaks the loudest. Documents are sometimes falsified where age is concerned in order to expedite the trip to the money tree. Fifteen Venezuelan and 45 Dominican baseball players have been suspended from the Major Leagues since January for violations of the league's drug policies.

Here is the numbers crunch. The top 30 Latino millionaires (by annual million-dollar income and including endorsement deals) are:

(30) Pedro Martinez -- baseball (New York Mets) -- $12 million, (29) Carlos Silva -- baseball (Seattle Mariners) -- $12.2, (28) Carlos Guillen -- baseball (Detroit Tigers) -- $12.2, (27) Carlos Lee -- baseball (Houston Astros) -- $12.7, (26) Manu Ginobili -- basketall (San Antonio Spurs) -- $12.9, (25) Mike Lowell -- baseball (Boston Red Sox) -- $13, (24) Miguel Tejada -- baseball (Houston Astros) -- $13.2, (23) Ivan Rodriguez -- baseball (New York Yankees) -- $13.2, (22) Rafael Furcal -- baseball (Los Angeles Dodgers) -- $13.2, (21) Adrian Beltre -- baseball (Seattle Mariners) -- $13.6, (20) Alfonso Soriano -- baseball (Chicago Cubs) -- $13.7, (19) Jorge Posada -- baseball (New York Yankees) -- $14.1, (18) Aramis Ramirez -- baseball (Chicago Cubs) -- $14.2, (17) Magglio Ordonez -- baseball (Detroit Tigers) -- $15.2, (16) Vladimir Guerrero -- baseball (Los Angeles Angels) -- $15.2, (15) Mariano Rivera -- baseball (New York Yankees) -- $16, (14) Juan Pablo Montoya -- NASCAR (Chip Ganassi Racing) -- $16, (13) Tony Romo -- football (Dallas Cowboys) -- $16.2, (12) Bobby Abreu -- baseball (New York Yankees) -- $16.2, (11) Albert Pujols -- baseball (St. Louis Cardinals) -- $16.5.

Top Ten Latino Millionaire Athletes

No.1 --- Ronaldinho -- AC Milan soccer --- $35.4 million
No.2 --- Alex Rodriguez -- New York Yankees baseball --- $35 million
No.3 --- Lionel Messi -- FC Barcelona soccer -- $33.7 million
No.4 --- Manny Ramirez -- Los Angeles Dodgers baseball -- $22.5 million
No.5 --- Johan Santana -- New York Mets baseball -- $20.7 million
No.6 --- Carlos Zambrano -- Chicago Cubs baseball -- $20.2 million
No.7 --- Ronaldo -- AC Milan soccer contract expired in June -- $19.7 million
No.8 --- Kaka -- AC Milan soccer -- $18.9 million
No.9 --- David Ortiz -- Boston Red Sox baseball -- $17 million
No.10 - Carlos Delgado -- New York Mets baseball -- $16.5 million

What does the future hold? Is the growth getting out of control? Are too many millions being handed out without real prospect for return? Are huge responsibility and unaccountable millions disproportionate?