Hispanic Heritage Month has begun.

This celebratory period runs from Sep. 15 through Oct. 15 because that is the anniversary of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Perhaps no other aspect of Latin American culture has experienced a bigger impacting voice than the sports world. For decades, Latin Americans have made enormous strides in sports. Soccer is, by far, the most popular sport in the Latino community, but others are quickly gaining popularity every day.

Nearly every Latin American territory has had a major influence on the big four sports in the United States. Latin Post celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month by honoring 10 famous athletes who had a big impact on the sports world:

Juan Marichal

Arguably the greatest pitcher of all time, there's not much Marichal hasn't accomplished in his career. He pitched a no-hitter, made the Hall of Fame and pitched one of the greatest games in Major League Baseball history. Marichal is, to this day, the only Dominican-born player in the Hall of Fame. Incredibly, Marichal won the most games of any pitcher in the 1960s.

Other notables include Martin Gramatica, who was a great NFL field goal kicker from Argentina. Field goal kicking is becoming more and more popular as soccer has played a role in that.

Willi Plett, from Paraguay, has the record for most goals of any South American-born player in NHL history with 222.

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