DominicanPlayers.com

A new owner for the Dodgers?

2011-09-02T10:40:00.002-04:00

Just reading about the new buying proposal for the Dodgers, just hope they sell the team, the LA Dodgers deserve better

Manny will stay with Dodgers, according to local website

2008-11-12T15:27:00.002-04:00

According to local website Impacto Deportivo Manny Ramirez will stay with LA and will make it official this Friday after returning from Brasil.

"This wednesday was informed to Impacto Deportivo that Ramirez had already decided with the Dodgers", said the local website.

"Ramirez is on vacation in Brasil and as soon as he returns this friday will make his deal official, tha last offer from the Dodgers was 15.0 millions for 2009, 22.5 for 2010 and 27.5 for 2011, but this offer will be improved, why? Manny wants the Dodgers and the Dodgers want Manny".

Well, I personally don't give any credit to this report from this source, sometimes they make big impact with news from Dominican Players because the good relations they have with them, but in this case I'm sure they are wrong.

So the Dodgers are in the playoffs, but for how long?

2008-09-27T10:41:00.003-04:00

The Dodgers finally made it to the playoffs, thanks in some part to Manny Ramirez, but how far will they go this year? will they get another post-season victory so Jose Lima will shut about it? are they any good to compete? or they are here just because they played in the worst division of Baseball? Personally I had lost any hope of the Dodgers getting any series victory.

Trying to Keep up

2008-04-12T11:28:00.002-04:00

I've been away from blogging for a while, a lot happened in my absence, Winter Baseball ended, the mitchell report was on the news, Dominican Republic threatened not to attend the the 2009 baseball classic, yeah right, the 2008 season started, and of course, the Dodgers are struggling... no surprise there.

Need cash, bet against your favorite team.

2007-06-04T16:14:00.000-04:00

What can you say about a country that gambles on everything? From sports to politics, casino and rooster fights.

But gambling in sports is pretty amazing here; you can say that betting in baseball can be a common thing, maybe basketball too, but what about hockey? Or college football? Neither of those two sports are popular here or anyone can practice them here, but they bet on them anyway, how? Well, here in the DR there’s a gambling place or “Banca de Apuestas” in almost every corner of the country.

Even in sports shows they give you hints for bets, 1900 numbers, cell phone text messages, and all kind of things to facilitate your bets.

The difference between bets in the DR or the United States is in the Internet, in the US you have websites like www.betus.com and here you have to go the nearest “Banca” and make your plays, some people go for the safe bet and put their money on one or two teams, but many waste their money on 4 and even 6 teams, sometimes they get very lucky and collect a good amount of money, but in many cases they loose their money.

It’s amazing to see people in the morning reading the sport sections to see if they collected or if they loose, check on the upcoming games to see at what time they have to be on the “Banca” to see the “lines” and place a bet, sometimes making their evening plans counting with the money they will collect.

They follow stats, but not to see how the teams is doing, but to bet against the team on a hot streak.

If you ever had the chance to go the Ballpark in the DR, you’ll see people betting on the next hit, the double, and even on the strike.

Thanks Mr Robinson

2007-04-15T11:22:00.000-04:00

Today is a great day for Baseball, and a greatest day for Latin Baseball players, today MLB celebrates Jackie Robinson day, thanks to him, and for the Dodgers we can enjoy many players from this part of the world.

Just imagine the pressure for him and on the Dodgers on those days, the Dodgers has been always pioneers in baseball, they were the fisrt one the have an academy in the DR, thanks to them today many families make a living from baseball in the DR, thanks to the them, in a big way, the Dominican Republic is the news for the performance of their Dominican Players.

Thanks again Mr Robinson

Dominican Winter League update, 10/23 to 10/28

2006-10-29T11:02:00.000-04:00

A lot of things had happened since my last update, Escogido ended up winning five in a row, started last sunday against Licey and endep up last night against the same team.

October 22, 2006

Escogido 5 Licey 1

Escogido got his 1,450th victory beating Licey 5-1 ant tying the City Champ at 1, Victor Santos got the win and rookie Tony Peguero took the loss, Shane Costa lead Escogido offensive with with 3 hits, including a double, 1 rbi and 2 R, Enrique Wilson, 2 hits, 2 rbi's and 1 R and Joey Votto got 2 hits and a RBI. The only Licey run came by a James Lonet sacrifice fly inthe third inning, scoring Emilio Bonifacio.

Aguilas 10 Gigantes 9 (10 innings)

A error by Wilson Valdez in the 10th episode gave Aguilas a win 10-9 over Gigantes.

Hector Almonte got the win and Dario Veras took the loss, Kendry Morales had a Hr, 2b and a hit for Gigantes, and Luis Polonia had 2 hits.

For Aguilas pitched Fausto Carmona, Jhonny Cueto, Edward Valdez, Claudio Galvá, Jim Warden and Héctor Almonte.

For Gigantes, went to the box Rafael Pérez, Mártinez Franco, Leoncio Estrella, Juan Pérez, Julio de la Cruz and Franklin Pérez.

October 24, 2006

Escogido 6 Estrellas 1

Jorge de Paula pitched six scoreless innings to be the key player in Escogido victory over Estrellas, with the win Escogido took over the lead of the tournament.

Joey Votto and Enrique Wilson were more notables for Escogido

Aguilas 4 Licey 1

A inspired Aguilas team spoiled the season debut of mets Anderson Hernandez and Napoleon Calzado for Licey, with Dereck Lee on the mount and the bat of Alex Fernandez, The team from Santiago scored 4 runs on the first inning against Jose Jimenez, that were enough to beat Licey. Lee retired at one point of the game 11 consecutive batters.

In the Picture Brandon Moss scores one of Aguilas runs.

October 25, 2006

Licey 7 Gigantes 2

Willy Aybay hit a 3run Hr to help Licey end a loosing streak, Felix Pie and Emilio Bonifacio both had 2 hits, for Licey Evan Mclane started the game and Edward Ramirez, Wilton Chavez, Adalberto Ramirez, Jose Nunez and Mark Alexander followed him.

Box Score

Willy Aybar watch the ball for his Hr.

Estrellas 7 Aguilas 5

Estrellas rallied for five runs in the 6th inning to beat Aguilas, Lenin Picota got the win and Agustin Montero the save, Jared Fernandez took the loss.

Jose Reyes and Eduard Roger with 2b and a single, and Joel Guzman got 2 hits to lead the Estrellas offensive.

For Aguilas Luis Polonia got 2 triples and a single, Tony Batista a Hr, Brandon Moss and Tony Pena Jr double and a hit each.

Escogido 6 Toros 3

Nerio Rodriguez pitched 6 innings with 2 ER to lead Escogido to a 6-3 win over Toros.

Escogido scored 2 runs in the 6th inning with a Shane Costa double.

October 26, 2006

Aguilas 11 Toros 7

Aguilas won 11-7 over Toros, Edwars Valdez won and Ricardo Rodriguez took the loss.

The winners scored four runs in the 4th inning, with Tony Pena Jr with a 2run hit.

Licey 6 Estrellas 3

Felix Pie got 3 hits and four rbi's to lead Licey to a victory over Gigantes, Onelis Perez got the win in relieve and Henry Owens the save.

Escogido 10 Gigantes 4

Escogido rallied for six runs in the first inning and ended up beating Gigantes 10-4, it was Escogido fourth win in a row, Freddy Guzman led the offensive, and Argenis Reyes, Angel Pena and Chris Denorfia got 2 hits each.

Polonia tied Manny Mota triples record

Luis Polonia got his 40th life triple in the DWL to tied with Miguel Dilone, and inning later hit his 41 to tie Manny Mota.

October 27, 2006

Escogido 5 Toros 0

Angel Pena hit 2 hr to lead Escogido offensive, it was 5th consecutive win for Escogido, Peter Munro got the win.

Estrellas Aguilas

Three Estrellas pitchers combined to beat Aguilas and Jose Lima had to put his dirty mouth someplace else, Radhamés Liz pitched four innings, Ronny Martinez followed him and Jailen Peguero pitched the last two innings.

Lima pitched six innings with 9h, 3er and a SO.

October 28, 2006

Licey 6 Escogido 4

Arizona prospect, Emilio Bonifacio got a 2rbi single that ended up to decisive to Licey win over Escogido, with the win Licey is half game behind Escogido. James Loney got a rbi double and Felix Pie a 2rbi double.

Licey got a good effort from lefty Carlos Perez, who got the win, Wilton Chavez followed him and Henry Owens got his third save. Ubaldo Jimenez started the game for Licey.

Gigantes 3 Aguilas 2

Jose Capellan made his debut and had a pitching duel with Fausto Carmona for five innings

Toros 9 Estrellas 1

Nelson Figueroa pitched six strong innings and allowed only 3hits, Luis Terrero hit a Hr and a double for 4 rbi's, to help Estrellas beat Toros 9-1.

Matt kemp made his debut for Estrellas.

Licey solo in First, Aguilas lost third in a row

2006-10-22T09:25:00.000-04:00

Do you remember Jose Lima?, well, he's still pitching and he's doing well, last night he pitched 6 strong inning, 2 of them were perfect but had no desition on the game, Licey finally won the game 4-1 in Santiago, home of Aguilas.

Lima only allowed two hits over six innings, had 5 K's and gave only 2 bb, he left the game winning 1-0, it was Lima time on Santiago last night, he looked very strong.

Brandon Moss hit a HR for the only run of Aguilas in the game, for Licey, Felix Pie had a 2 rbi bases loaded double in the ninth and Jose Bautista had a single in the 8th inning to give Licey a 2-1 lead and finally Pie gave them a 4-1 victory over Aguilas, with the win, Licey is in firt place with a 3-1 record.

Estrellas 5 Escogido 1

Pedro Lopez had 3 rbi's and Fernando Tatis, Yes! That's the same Fernando Tatis, is no mistake, went 4-4, Estrellas rallied in the 8th against Astros' Ezequiel Astacio who took the loss, Escogido made 5 errors in the game and hit only 3 hits.

Notes: Estrellas currently have 1,482 lifetime losses in the Dominican Winter League, and can be the first team to reach the 1,500 loss, Estrellas has not won a championship since, hmmm?!, well, I was not born yet, it was in the late 1950's.

Azucareros 5 Gigantes 4

Juan Senreiso hit a 3run Hr to tie the game 4-4 and Eddy Garabito hit a solo shot in the 8th ti give Azucareros a win over Gigantes on Saturday night.

Standings.

Licey 3-1
Gigantes 2-2
Escogido 2-2
Azucareros 2-2
Estrellas 2-2
Aguilas 1-3

Today's games

Licey (Tony Peguero) vs Escogido (Victor Santos), you can listen the game Live at Licey website, maybe you can have a play by play.
Gigantes (Rafael Perez) vs Aguilas (Fausto Carmona) at Santiago
Azucareros (Nelson Figueroa) vs Estrellas (Esteban Yan) at San Pedro de Macoris

All pitchers are probable, all games are at 5:00pm

Dominican Winter League Update, Loney makes debut, hit 3 run HR

2006-10-21T09:14:00.000-04:00

The Dominican Winter League started last Wensday with Licey Beating Escogido, Aguilas won over Gigantes and Estrellas over Azucareros.

Including last night games we have three way tide in first place with Licey, Escogido and Gigantes with a 2-1 record, and Aguilas, Estrellas and Azucareros with a 1-2 record.

Escogido 6 Aguilas 1

Escogido beat Aguilas last night for two victories in a row against the Santiago team, Enrique Wilson and Shane Costa where notables in Escogido Offensive and Pascual Coco pitched the last four innings to get the victory.

Gigantes 3 Estrellas 2

The game was tide until the 7th inning, but a wild pitch by Rene Minier allowed the go ahead run, Enmanuel Ulloa and Anastacio Martinez got in a pitching match, Dario Veras got the save.

Licey 8 Azucareros 3

James Loney hit a 3 run Hr, went 4-2, with 3 rbi's and a run scored in his first multi hit game in the Dominican Winter League, Timoniel Perez had two rbi's, Dennis Tankersley got the victory, with 6 innings, 2 ER and just 3 hits.

Willy Aybar went 3-2, with 1 rbi and 1 run scored, Felix Pie 4-1, rbi, r.

Ervin Santana went by Licey offices and makes promise that he will pitch this year, also Carlos Marmol and Ubaldo Jimenez.

Francisco Liriano plans to play with Escogido as part of his rehab.

James Loney to play in the Dominican Winter League

2006-10-18T18:17:00.000-04:00

Dodgers James Loney will play this winter with Licey in the season that starts today, he will play first base for Licey, he arrived today, will rest tnight and might play tomorrow.

The Dominican Winter League starts today with Licey looking for his 20th championship, and second in a row, they'll play Escogido in Santo Domingo, in Santiago, Aguilas will play the Gigantes and in San Pedro de Macoris Estrellas will play Azucareros.

More updates in a few moments

Report. Matt Kemp to play in the Dominican Winter League

2006-09-18T21:05:00.000-04:00

According to a report from sports talk radio "La voz del Fanatico" (The Fan voice) Dodgers rookie Matt Kemp will play this winter with Estrellas, a team who has not won a championship since... well, late 1950's.

Good luck to him, playing here will do him very good.

More news when available.

Mondesi's troubles and other news from the DR

2006-08-30T23:25:00.000-04:00

Former MLB player Raul Mondesi and current congressman for his native San Cristobal is jumping from trouble to trouble.

In his first assembly day he gave a declaration that he will play baseball in the winter with Escogido, but he is not playing or training.

Last monday at a local club he was involved with a journalist, the journalist complaints that Mondesi threaten him to "broke his mouth" because of some comments he made in his program.

Mondesi is also accused of not paying the electrical bill in one of his business in San Cristobal.

I guess he we will give us plenty to write about in the next four years.

Night game to start earlier

Due to the new government resolution that not alcoholic beverage can be sold after 12:00pm on weekdays baseball games will start at 7:30pm instead of 8:00pm

Dodgers deals

2006-07-31T16:37:00.000-04:00

The Dodgers had made today before the deadline two deals, first getting Greg Maddux from the Cubs for Cesar Izturis and Julio Lugo from Tampa Bay for prospects/rookies Joel Guzman and Sergio Pedroza.

For me the best deal was to get rid of Odalis Perez, the fact is that his mind is not on baseball, since the winter, when he was traded to Escogido Lions, ask for opening day and then getting lost and never returning, he just made clear that he did not care.

Mondesi to Congress? Willy Aybar Traded

2006-05-24T19:29:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to post this for about 4 days, but elections where last Tuesday and today... we don't know many of the results, anyway, Raul Mondesi was a candidate for congress for his hometown San Cristobal, so his party won and there's a good chance Mondesi will have a seat on the Dominican Congress, what projects you think he'll summit?

In other news Dodgers Willy Aybar was traded in the Winter Leagues from Estrellas to Licey, Estrellas got Tony Blanco from Licey.

Willy will play with his brother Erick in the winter, Willy had seen limited play time with Estrellas.

Who needs them anyway!

2006-03-10T19:34:00.000-04:00

The Dominican team is 2-0 so far in the WBC, the players in the current roster are the one who wanted to play for their country, for their pride or whatever reason they had to do it, the one's that are not on the roster and were invited will regret not playing for the team.

The most recent case is Vladimir Guerrero who because of his cousins dead, who by the way was driving at 200 km/h at the time of the crash decided to withdraw from WBC, then told team officials that he would play, then denied it.

Dominican Players some times forget to shut their mouth, is not the first time Vlad does somthing like this, in fact during the Winter he told Licey several times he was going to play, even asking for ball and bats to practice, eventually he did not play, but Licey won anyway.

I always believe the the best player is the one who really wants to play.

We wanted A-Rod, Manny and Vlad, but thankfully we had Adrian, Moises, Big Papi, Soriano among others, those are the players that the Dominican people should like, not the ones that did not come.

Trying to keep up

2006-02-05T10:58:00.000-04:00

Some old news that you might already knew, writing had been very difficult in the last couple of months, but some interesting happened while I was away.

First Licey won their 19th championship over an superior Aguilas team who had players such as Miguel Tejada, Willy Mo PeÃ±a, Victor Diaz on their rosters, but the bog difference for Licey was the work of two young players, Angels Erick Aybar and Mets Anderson Hernandez, Hernandez started the season on the bench, but eventually gained the 2b position, and at the end of the regular season was replaced by Luis Castillo, who in the last game was hit by a pitch in the right foot and Hernandez took back his position driving a triple that started a winning rally giving Licey a ticket to the Finals to face Aguilas.

Aguilas was the favorite to win the best of five series, Licey won the first game, and then Aguilas won the next two putting Licey behind 1-2, but Licey tied the series and never looked back, one great experience for me was to watch Jose Lima take a beat and arguing with Aguilas Manager Felix Fermin when he tried to pull him out.

Finally Won the series 5-2 and begunarrangementss to travel to Venezuela to avoid last year experience of getting late to the tournament.

So now Venezuela is leading the series after yesterday win over the Dominican Republic.

So, more updates later.

Lima close to deal with Padres

2005-12-12T12:55:00.000-04:00

According to his own words Jose Lima is close to sign a deal with the San Diego Padres, he did not reveal any details like money involved or duration, he gave this declarations during an interview in La Semana Deportiva.

In the interview he also made accusation to the umpires and questioned their work, the Dominican Winter League is working only with local umpires since last season and their authority in the field and has generate many discussions during games.

A little change... Grady new Dodgers manager

2005-12-06T19:54:00.000-04:00

Grady Little was hired as the new LA Dodger Manager

Dominican Winter League update

2005-12-04T09:00:00.000-04:00

The tournament is heating up, Licey and Aguilas are tied in first, Escogido just 2 games behind, and Azucareros and Estrellas fighting for the last spot to the playoffs.

Teams like Licey have their roster filled with promising rookies like Hanley Ramirez at 3B, SS and 2B, Anderson Hernandez at 2B, Erick Aybar at 2B, Felix Pie at CF among others, and the return of veterans like Henry Rodriguez, Willis Otañez and Jose Offerman.

LA Dodgers donate three buses

2005-12-04T08:45:00.000-04:00

The Los Angeles Dodgers donated three buses to the Sports and recreational ministry of the Dominican Republic. The Buses with 60 seats each will be used in several youth programs to develop new talents in different areas, the vehicle are already in Dominican customs and will be available in the next few days.

This is not the first donation from the Dodgers a few months ago they did the same to the community if Guerra, where their academy is located.

Tom Lassorda was representing the team, he also met with President Leonel Fernandez, threw the first ball in a Licey game and was with Hall of Famer Juan Marichal and participate in a golf tournament held by President Fernandez foundation.

Lassorda comes every year to the Dominican Republic where he has many friends and is very popular, he was manager for Licey and Escogido in the 70's.

Furcal a Dodger, his drinking problems and his quality

2005-12-04T08:35:00.000-04:00

Reports from LA and in Santo Domingo shows that Rafael Furcal had agreed to sign with the Dodgers for 3 years and around 40 millions.

Furcal had drinking problems in the past, in fact he was in jail for that, according to some people near him he is done with that (at least DUI, he gets a driver now), but Furcal is an excellent player an very versatile one.

He play in winter at SS, 2B or 3B, depends on where his team needs him, and all of three positions played above average, he played 3B for the national team (Licey) in the Caribbean series here in Santo Domingo, and Dodgers fans will enjoy his hard playing, he always run hard and gives an extra to the team.

Personally I don't like him very much, he played for teams that I hate (Braves and Escogido), but that can not take away from him his conditions as a player.

His drinking problems?

Let's really hope that those days are behind him, he's a good man and a family man, but please!!!!!, I can't stand another distraction for the Dodgers!

Frank McCourt to be honored?

2005-11-10T12:49:00.000-04:00

A lot of lines had been written about how bad are the Mcourts, or how they handling a once proud organization named the Los Angeles Dodgers.

And now he'll be honored in the Latin sport awards next November 14th.

"McCourt will be honored for the efforts of the Los Angeles Dodgers to Dominican Baseball by Campo Las Palmas, operating since 1987.

McCourt will be here with Tommy La Sorda."

The Dodgers donate a bus to the Guerra Community a few months ago.

Of course, they are eliminating a team from the Dominican Summer League and are leasing half Campo Las Palmas. (Tks to Rob for the tip)

So I wonder if the good reporters of the Dominican Republic will ask him some good answers or will just talk to La Sorda... Will they ask him about the GM and Manager search... I don't Think so.

Mondesi will run for mayor

2005-09-14T13:16:00.000-04:00

Yes, you read it!, Raul Mondesi will run for mayor of his hometown San Cristobal, he plans to keep both careers, baseball ans politics.

For now he is a pre-candidate, but he have the money and support from a big member of the party.

Odalis Traded!

2005-08-31T12:33:00.000-04:00

NO, the Dodgers did not trade Odalis, his former team Estrellas Orientales traded him to Leones del Escogido for AAA pitcher Greg Aquino. Odalis demanded a trade after his bid to buy Estrellas was rejected, he was almost dealt to Licey but after rookie Felix Diaz told Estrellas that he was not sure of pitching to them they turned to their second option, Leones del Escogido.

I doubt that OP will pitch this winter, and if he does is not going to be with Licey, thanks god for that, Licey was going to give away a great rookie pitcher for him.

This blog is not over yet!

2005-06-19T22:05:00.000-04:00

It's been almost two months since my last post, I've just been so busy and dealing with a few things, since my last post a lot of things had happened in the baseball world.

The Baseball World Cup, a upcoming disaster for the Dominican Republic.

Next year will be held the famous baseball world cup, every country is making arrangements to have the best posible team, what the DR have done so far? NOTHING... I can imagine biulding a team in December or January on the run, and making the same thing that we did in the last Caribbean Series.

Well, I Promise to post more often, thanks to those people who have e-mailed me, some encouraging me to keep writting and some other to insult me or some of my countrymen.

See you soon...

Mondesi strikes back

2005-04-22T18:57:00.000-04:00

Now Raul Mondesi is suing Mario Guerrero for 1.7 millions seeking moral and mental repairs made by the Guerrero lawsuit.

Guerrero never presented any evidence, he always claimed that it was a verbal agreement.

I'm sure this will end Mario Guerrero crazy pursuit of other peoples money

Raul Mondesi favored by Dominican court

2005-04-21T12:55:00.000-04:00

A Dominican court ruled in favor of Raul Mondesi ruling out Mario Guerrero lawsuit of the infamous 1% of Mondesi earnings.

Now Mondesi can focus on baseball, and Mario Guerrero can look somewhere else to try to gain his money.

This will clear the way to other lawsuit's including Geronimo Berroa who Guerrero took his apartment and some other values.

Odalis bid rejected, Sammy will operate Estrellas

2005-03-15T20:33:00.000-04:00

Odalis Perez bid to buy Estrellas Orientales, the team from San Pedro de Macoris was rejected by the Dominican League, Odalis was offering US$ 1.0 million to buy the team. Instead the LIDOM (Liga dominicana de beisbol) decided to give the operation of the team to a group of businessman led by Domingo Dauhare, who is the Financial advisor for Sammy Sosa, so Sammy's money will be running the team next year.

Estrellas have a bunch of talent in their roster including Dodgers prospects Joel Guzman, Willi Aybay, Odalis Perez and Agustin Montero.

Regarding Sosa, he was critized for not being able to make more contribution to his home team, but now with Sosa's money and the apparent new sponsor for the team, the biggest beer company in the world will make things very interesting since Estrellas has not won a championship since late 60's.

Cuban players arrested while pursuing the American Dream

2005-02-24T21:18:00.000-04:00

Eight cubans where arrested near the Dominican Border with Haiti and three others, including two American citizens where also arrested for trying to introduce the players to the United States.

According to El Nacional Story they used mostly Haiti and the Dominican Republic as a bridge to introduce the players to the United States.

Cuba, Cubans and Cubas

2005-02-24T20:55:00.000-04:00

Cuban baseball players sometimes are over rated, as amateurs they have all the scouts all over them.

Kendry Morales was considered a national hero in cuba, as a rookie he set several records in 2002, playing for Industriales had 352 appearences at the plate, 60 runs, 114 hits, 21 hr's, 82 rbi's and 46 extra base hits, he also played at third, first, right field and pitched.

Now Kendry is a traitor in Cuba, all records he set have an asterisk, this according to some Cubans I talked with here.

Morales is stuck in the Dominican Republic with some visa problems, the Angels are making arrangements to make him a Dominican Citizen, but it seems that is a little hard due to the way he came to the DR.

But if you think Kendry is in some kind of trouble think twice, Alay Soler, a fellow cuban is here without a passport, his former agent, Joe Cubas was suspended by the players association for confiscating his passport.

According to three baseball sources who independently confirmed the information on condition their names not be used, shortly after Cubas negotiated a three-year, $2.8 million contract for the 25-year-old right-hander last summer, he confiscated Soler's immigration documents and refused to return them until the player paid money the agent said was owed him. Soler disputed the claim, saying Cubas was asking for 15 percent commission -- more than three times the normal rate, and contacted the union, which sided with Soler.

A Dominican in Iraq

2005-02-13T21:17:00.000-04:00

We always say that everywhere in the the world there is a Dominican, and Iraq is one if them.

99% of my readers, regulars or the one who came and never enter again are from the United States of America, and many of you have a relative or a friend fighting in Iraq, well i have one now, is Huascar Blanco, and he have a blog that he writes from somewhere in the middle of the desert.

He is a Yankee fan and came from the Dominican Republic as many Dominicans looking for a better life.

I read his blog everyday, and some days he don't post, and I get a little worried about him, I don't know him personally, and probabily will never meet him, he's a nice guy, a brave guy, just as any who's fighting in that war.

So please, even if you are against this war visit his blog and if you can drop him a e-mail.

And Huascar, be safe and go home soon...

Odalis Perez wants a new team

2005-02-12T22:46:00.000-04:00

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Odalis Perez wants a new team, but don't think
he wants out of LA, he wants to buy Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican
Republic.

According to some reports Odalis is offering US$ 2.5 millions for the team
and is seeking advice to get into the Baseball Business.

Estrellas has not won a championship in almost 40 years, the team is
located in San Pedro de Macoris, home of Sammy Sosa, Alfonzo Soriano and
former players George Bell and Alfredo Griffin among others.

Odalis is supposed to team with other people from San Pedro de Macoris to
buy the team, he plays with Estrellas in the winter, but he did not played
this season and stayed practicing and resting his left arm to be in shape
for spring training.

Dominican President got together with the players

Leonel Fernandez, Dominican president spent time with Dominican players to
wish them good luck in the upcoming season, among the players were Jose
Offerman, Julio Lugo, Octavio Dotel, Neifi Perez, Jose Guillen, Aramis
Ramirez, Guillermo Mota, Manny Mota, Albert Pujols, Alfredo Griffin,
D'Angelo Jimenez and Odalis Perez.

The President wants to use Baseball and the players as tool for tourism.

Estadio Quisquya to be renovated

Old Estadio Quisqueya will be renovated looking to host MLB games, the seat
will be upgraded from 20,000 to 33,000, the field will renovated, roof for
the bleachers and a hotel will be build around the stadium.

Angels owner talked to the president when Vladimir Guerrero won the MVP and
they talked about bringing the Angels here for practices next year, of
course, that's far away from happening.

Happy first anniversary to me!

2005-02-09T19:42:00.000-04:00

Today, Dominican Players the Blog is one year old, this blog started inspired by the work of Jon at Dodger thoughts, I have to thank him for his support and also Rob at 6-4-2, they helped me in the first days of this project.

I started to write by accident, creating the blog I did not know what name to give the project, I Finally named it Dominican Players.

Thru the season 2004 I tried to cover news and comments about Dominican Players in MLB, some days I only had a few visitors, but other days I had hundreds, specially when Rob or Jon linked to my blog.

receiving mails and comments had been a great experience, knowing that people read what you write is a very satisfying feeling.

When posting, I always make sure not to hurt my credibility, recently I posted about Bartolo Colon weight and I was the center of a controversy in the Angels Forum, Some questioned my credibility and even when posting in the forum they had doubts, It was and awkward feeling for me, It was the first time I saw my name and reputation in jeopardy in a public place.

I've received many satisfactions from this work, the biggest one was writing for Baseball America and Article about Angels prospect Erick Aybar, I had to go to Estadio Quisqueya and make an interview to him, I had butterflies in my stomach, it was my first interview, I was supposed to make a few more interviews but first the bureaucracy to obtain a press credential here and later getting sick prevented me to accomplish that, I thank Kris Kline for giving me the opportunity and for trusting me, the interview might never be published but I felt really good about it and I hope next winter season I can do some work for them as well.

Other satisfaction was to received mails from reporter of the LA Times (not Simers), the OC Register and MLB.COM about my work, knowing these guys read me is great.

Recently my work is on 360ThePitch, I'm covering the NL WEST with a weekly report.

I know I have to improve my English writing, so I'll take English writing and grammar classes soon, also I'm taking a web design class, and by Blog can be reach now in www.dominicanplayers.com, so soon you'll have a different web site.

Thanks you all for your support, I hope I'll improve everyday to make this site better.

Random Thoughts

2005-02-09T19:28:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since my last post, between lack of time and computer/Internet problems had kept me away from posting.

The Caribbean have new champions, Congratulations to Mexico, they played better and deserved the title.
Spring Training is around the corner, here in the DR everyone is giving the Giants as favorites, good, will the same as 2004.

About the Dominican Winter League schedule...

The league have to change the schedule in a way that the final day is at least 3 or 4 days from the start of the Caribbean series, this year the DR had to make the team in just hours, that combined with the airport incident prevented the team to have a better series, not taking away any credit from Mexico.

This week I'll be away in some company projects, so don't expect any posts unless something really important happens.

Dominican team stuck in the Airport

2005-02-01T08:40:00.000-04:00

The Dominican team that is supposed to play Puerto Rico today is still at
the airport waiting to a ride to Mazatlan, Mexico. Apparently the agency
overbooked the play or the players wanted to bring some relatives in the
plane, so the team as this moment is in the airport wainting to fly to
Mexico.

The agency sold 120 seats, the championship was decided on Sunday night,
and on Monday several fan and relatives call to make reservations, but
theplane was full, and at the airport they demanded to be included in the
plane, but regulations prohibited them to overcharge the plane.

Apparently the problem came when the team arrived and wanted to bring some
relatives and fans with them.

At this moment they are making arrangements for a new plane.

More to come later.... posted by e-mail

Aguilas new Dominican Champions!

2005-01-30T20:51:00.000-04:00

Aguilas Cibaenas won 7-1 and obtained their 18th championship tying with Licey.

Congratulations to all Aguilas fans and to their players.

Licey was 1-3 behind in the series but ran out of gas.

Jose Guillen, worth waiting, led Licey victory over Aguilas

2005-01-30T10:47:00.000-04:00

Jose Guillen always said that he wanted to play for Licey, fans kept waiting most of December, finally he plays but a wrist injury kept him from playing the final games of the semi-finals, he shows up for the finals, and he's playing to his potential, last night he was 5-3, with a 3-run Hr and 5 rbi's to lead Licey to a 12-8 victory over Aguilas and forced a decisive game 7 today at 5:00pm at Estadio Cibao, home of Aguilas in Santiago north of Santo Domingo.

Yesterday's game was full of alternatives, with both teams changing the lead several times, but Licey with the Guillen's 3-run hr in the 7th inning broke a 8-8 tie to give his team a lead they'll never lose again.

Estadio Quisqueya was full from side to side and in the streets, bars and colmadones everyone was watching the game.

Carlos Perez despite allowing to earn runs in the 7th gave Licey relievers a rest, Jorge Sosa, the closer, pitched 2.1 innings the night before, and Yhency Brazoban was out of roster for some unknown reason.

At the beginning of the series everyone was giving Aquilas as the big favorite, but after Guillen and Luis Castillo joined the team it is a different perspective, now they can compete with Aguilas, suddenly Licey remebered how to use the bat.

Jose Lima came in relieve last night, but had to shut his big ugly smile after giving 2 hits to the two batters he faced

Tonight's game

Julian Tavarez against Juan Cruz, every available arm will follow them.

Licey still alive, spoiled Aguilas celebration plans

2005-01-29T11:07:00.000-04:00

Aguilas was planning to celebrate last night, everything was set on the street of Santiago, and if you looked at Licey record in Santiago 1-9 before last night you should have reasons to prepare your celebration, they were counting with Bartolo Colon to lead them to victory, in a game with lots of alternatives Licey won 10-9 over Aguilas to extend the series to Santo Domingo.

Bartolo Colon is getting Bigger!

Apparently Bartolo Colon has not been working out this winter, he looks like a softball player, his belly looks like is going to blowout his uniform and the letters will explode with every movement he makes, I think weight problems will shorten his career. For a picture click here.

Erick Byrnes Living la vida loca

Oakland's OF Erick Byrnes is having a great time here in the Domininan Republic, he's not doing any different things that Dominican Players do, but he's really struggling in the game, here's Eric outside of a Santo Domingo night club.

Eric has been a great player for Licey in the last 4 seasons, but in the finals he seems to forget how to hit, but he's not the only one in Licey.

Mario Guerrero still after Mondesi

2005-01-29T11:01:00.000-04:00

New team for Mondesi and and a new payment stop for him, Mario Guerrero notified the Atlanta Braves to retain Mondesi salary for the 2005 season, Raul recently signed a one-year deal with the Braves.

This will go on and on until they reach and agreement, Mondesi had said that he will not pay a cent to Guerrero.

Guerrero in the meantime now is having written agreements with the "players" he's training.

T.J. Simers read this blog

2005-01-27T15:38:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Terry for the tip....

This blog was mentioned in today's T.J. Simers column , he must had read Jon or Rob for sure, to save you the trouble here's what he wrote:

SEVERAL PEOPLE e-mailed to say that Licey, the Dominican winter league team, released Dodger catcher David Ross, and according to a Dominican players' blog, Ross was not popular with the Licey fans after going four for 29 with one home run and nine strikeouts. Paul DePodesta loves him, though.

It's Lima time all over again, National invite Luis Polonia to spring training

2005-01-27T14:46:00.000-04:00

It was Lima time in Santiago last night, Lima allowed only 1 er in 6.2 innings, a homerun to Jose Offerman.

Miguel Tejada hit a homerun to tie the game and Aguilas made another 7th inning rally to beat Licey and take commando of the finals 2-1.

Luis Polonia invited to Spring Training.

41 years old Luis Polonia was invited to spring training by the Nationals, he'll try to make the team as a left handed pinch hitter, the truth is that Polonia despite being 41 still got something left in his bat.

The news according to Polonia and Jose Rijo who is now working with the Nationals.

Dominican Winter League playoffs

2005-01-26T19:38:00.000-04:00

The two teams everyone expected are in the Playoffs, Licey got his ticket the last day of action when they won 4-0 over aguilas in Santo Domingo, by winning Licey eliminated Estrellas from the finals.

So the finals started on Monday, the first 6 innings were a pitching duel, it was a close game until Aguilas had a 12 run 7th inning, so Aguilas won 14-4.

Licey took the lead when Miguel Tejada error led to 2 runs, but then Aguilas tied it when Carlos Perez who was un-hittable in the regular season and round-robin gave a Hr with a man on base to tied the game, then it was batting practice for Aguilas.

On Tuesday Juan Cruz pitched 7 innings, Felix Rodriguez the 8th and Jorge Sosa closing to give Licey a 3-0 win over Aguilas and to even the series.

Ronnie Belliard hit a bases loaded single that clear the bases, Jose Offerman running at first base score when he ran like he was in the mid 20's again.

Jose Guillen was in the line up as a DH after missing the last couple of games with a sore wrist, he was hitless with a SO and grounded twice into double play.

So tonight will be Lima time in Santiago against Ramon Oritz who is 0-3 so far.

Aguilas in, Licey still fighting to get into the finals.

2005-01-21T17:57:00.000-04:00

If Licey wins today against Estrellas will get into the finals, if they loose they'll have to play Aguilas tomorrow, and a combination of a Licey defeat and a win by Estrellas will lead to a tie, and who'll play Aguilas in the finals will be decided in a extra game.

Licey is loosing as I write this 3-0 against Estrellas, Pedro Astacio is pitching for Estrellas and Ramon Ortiz for Licey.

David Ross released.

Dodgers catcher David Ross was released yesterday, he struggled at the plate and behind the plate, he was not popular at all with Licey Fans.

I'll have more updates later, I have this terrible flu that had kept me in bed for 2 days.

Call Raul a liar, it's easier

2005-01-14T19:19:00.000-04:00

First let me point out that I'm not defending Raul Mondesi, I'm defending the source of that story, Mr. Enrique Rojas, I don't know Mr. Rojas in person, only from his work on TV and other media. He's a writer for Espndeportes.com and a AP stringer for the Dominican Republic, every sport news that come out of the DR is because of Enrique.

Yesterday's story from AP stated that Mondesi had a deal with the Braves, but a Braves spokeman denied it, then Rob said the he lost his mind, and Jon compared him with Darryl Strawberry, of course, with a big difference. They had their reasons, Mondesi has not help his cause at all.

So today the Braves are announcing the Raul Mondesi deal.

So I ask my self, who's to blame? Raul for telling to soon, or the Spokeman for not knowing what he's saying?

I've posted several news here that at the time were unknown in the U.S. Media, the source of course, AP and Enrique Rojas, like when he was going to sign with the Angels.

But is easier to blame the complicated player and the reporter from the small country instead of the spokeman for the big team.

Attn: Angels GM... Bartolo Colon to play, Vladimir to re-join Licey

2005-01-13T13:05:00.000-04:00

Can someone please tell the Angels GM that Bartolo Colon will pitch with Aguilas this coming Sunday against Licey, and that Vladimir Guerrero is taking batting practice and might re-join Licey at least for the final games of the playoffs.

Colon is going to make his 2004-2005 debut on Sunday against Licey at Estadio Cibao in Santiago.

Last year Anaheim did not gave permission to Colon to pitch, but this year did. I just hope the GM knows about this and don't make a fool of him self again by denying knowledge of this.

Vladimir Guerrero can grab a bat, and is using it!

Vladimir will play at least for the last games of the playoffs, according to a article on today's Listin Diario.

Licey was 0-4 in games that Vladimir played, let's hope if he plays that the team doesn't go in the loosing track again.

His agent in the DR gave those declaration before leaving to LA with Guerrero, he said that the Angels were told of the injury situation and that the players is 85% ready.

I almost forgot how much I hate Lima

2005-01-08T11:43:00.000-04:00

It was Lima time at Estadio Cibao in Santiago last night when Jose Lima and Aguilas beat Licey 4-3.

Lima was a pleasant surprise for the 2004 Dodgers and I was beggining to like him and at one point I liked him, but to be honest Lima is a very annoying person, specially if he's pitching against your team and in national television grabbing his genital and yelling to fans "aqui hay cojones" among other pretty words.

Back to the game, he pitched a great game and Aguilas won over Licey 4-3 and Licey lost for the fisrt time in the playoffs.

This was the only game of the night, today Licey and Aguilas will meet againg but in Santo Domingo and on Sunday in Santiago.

He are the standings so far:

Licey 4-1
Aguilas 2-1 *
Gigantes 2-2
Estrellas 0-4

Aguilas have 2 suspended games pending to play.

Alex Rodriguez donations, he messed up again!

2005-01-07T10:45:00.000-04:00

Alex Rodriguez came to the Dominican Republic, home of his parents, not his country to donate $50,000.00 in the name of UNICEF for educational purposes in Yaguate, a poor town of San Cristobal, south of Santo Domingo. link (Spanish)

Alex gave a beautiful speech of how Dominican he is, that he loves the country and blah, blah blah, but suddenly he looked back and pointed to the Dominican flag and he said " I love this...." Looking at the flag and then approaching someone near him and asking "how do you say flag in Spanish?" , then he said "I love the big Dominican flag, the biggest of the country" said A-Rod.

After the ceremony was over and the National Anthem was played he stood for a couples of seconds apparently not knowing the National Anthem was over.

Apparently he was supposed to give a press conference but left the place in an SVU and the press was left with the mics on their hands, so was the Gillete company who have a campaign here with Alex.

I think is a good gesture from Alex to donate to the poor here in the DR, it's also great that he came and played golf at Casa de Campo, but please don't come here to rub in our faces your 50 grand while you donate to the University of Miami US$ 3.9 millions to support a poor university in a poor country like the US.

Alex have to stop this nonsense of trying to be nice to Dominicans, he's not Dominican no matter what he says, he does not feel like one, he does not talk like one, just see the example, 50,000 vs 3,900,000 that tells you all.

For me he's not Dominican, I know he does not care of what I think or many others in this country.

He's a great player, he must be a great person, but not a great Dominican, so please stop trying to act or pretend to be one, no one will judge you for that.

Vladimir Guerrero getting better, should be back in play soon

2005-01-06T10:47:00.000-04:00

Vladimir Guerrero is getting better, he can now grab and throw the ball, but his not taking batting practice yet.

Odalis Flying to LA, the big mouth is on again

2005-01-06T10:34:00.000-04:00

Odalis Perez is flying today to LA (Dodgers, not copy cat Angels) to take the physical and sign the contract according to his own words in a interview he gave to Hoy news paper.

He can just don't know how to shut his mouth

" We're going to be part of a team now that can win, because the people who was not making contributions is gone" said Perez after a training session in Estadio Quisqueya prior to Estrellas-Licey game.

So the people who doesn't make contribution left? Adrian Beltre? Jose Lima? Steve Finley? Alex Cora? Shawn Green? Well, apparently Odalis lost his mind.

He values the signing of Jose Valentin? I agree with Jeff Kent, but Jose Valentin? Give me a break!!

No regrets to Omar Minaya for not traveling to the DR to meet him. Well what can he do about it?

Licey won again, David Ross the hero

2005-01-06T10:11:00.000-04:00

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Licey is now 3-0 after defeating Estrellas 6-3 in Estadio Quisqueya, David Ross hit a 3 run Hr in the 4th inning and rookie pitcher Eddy Ramos survived a shaky first inning alowwing 2 runs, he allowed just 1 in the remaining of his outing.

The David Ross Success.

Entering the playoffs the Licey pitching staff was the biggest concern, with a regular starting pitching staff that had only Manny Aybar with success in the regular season, the bullpen was not ok, but after Ross took over in the finals games of the regular season and in the playoffs Licey pitching staff has been very good, the starting pitching has allowed just 4 er in 16 IP.

Ross in the at bat that he hit the HR received an standing ovation from some fans after hitting a foul ball, but behind in the count 1-2 hit a big hr over the right field wall, flying over a Ad in the wall.

I hope he continues hisgood work behind the plate so he can go to spring training in great shape.

Kendry Morales back in line up.

Kendry Morales, Los Angeles Angels of AAAAAhnaheim prospect is back in the line up since Monday night, Tuesday night, he hit and rbi double and a hit.

Gigantes 7 Aguilas 6

Jose Reyes hit an 2 rbi single in the 7th, he went 5-4. Miguel Tejada and Tony Batista hit hr's for the loosing cause.

Around the Dominican Winter League

2005-01-05T18:26:00.000-04:00

The Dominican Baseball League is looking for a taker for Estrellas,
the team is under the league administration, Estrellas made the
playoffs unlike Escogido that missed it for the second straight
year.

Licey could have a outfield full of stars with Vladimir Guerrero in
Right, Jose Guillen in left and Oakland's Eric Byrnes in Center.

The Shell company gave yesterday their annually awards "los
dominicanos primero" (Dominican first), these awards are given
every year to the Dominican Players in recognition of the work done
during the season.

The ceremonial was dedicated to hall of famer Juan Marichal.

Tony Batista signed a 2 year 15 million contract with a team in
Japan, maybe he'll loose some weight with the training they have
there.

Oalands Eric Byrnes claims that playing in the winter had helped
him in his major league career, this is the fourth time here for
Byrnes.

Julio Franco is 46, but he can hit, he had 2hr in the first game of
the playoffs.

Dominican Winter League Playoffs update

2005-01-05T17:52:00.000-04:00

I had a really great post yesterday but blogger ate it! Now I have to do it
from scratch, and since the company I work for no longer have Internet, at
least for us mortal employees I have to post by e-mail

The Playoffs are on in the Dominican Winter League.

On Sunday Gigantes beat Estrellas 4-3 with Jose Reyes the more notable in
the winning cause, Julio Franco hit 2hr and 3 rbi for the lost cause.

In Santiago, the game between Licey and Aguilas was suspended due to
rain.

Monday January 4 2005

Licey 4 Gigantes 0

Manny Aybar pitched 6 scoreless innings and allowed only 1 hit with 7 SO.
Timo Perez went 4-3 and made a spectacular catch in CF.

Damian Moss took the loss for Gigantes.

Blackouts and flying objects in San Pedro.

In San Pedro de Macoris, home of the most MLB players in the world went
crazy on Monday night, behind four blackouts and a questionable call at
first base when Luis Polonia was called safe and later Miguel Tejada hit
a 3run HR the fans went wild and begging throwing bottles and all kind of
objects to the field.

The game was later suspended with Aguilas leading 8-0 in the 4th inning.
The game will continue the next available game.

Last night the game at San Francisco between Aguilas and Gigantes was
postponed due to rain, now Aguilas will have to play 18 consecutive
games, 3 against Licey this weekend.

In San Pedro, Licey won 8-1 over Estrellas when the Licey offensive waked
up hitting 4 homeruns (Jose Offerman, Eric Byrnes, Manny Martinez and
Ronnie Belliard).

Luis Martinez, who was the player involved in the Vladimir Guerrero
trade, was the loosing pitcher, and Atlanta's Juan Cruz won allowing 3
hits in 6 IP.

Vladimir Guerrero was in not in roster because his nursing a bad nail, he
injured while diving for a ball and got aggravated during batting
practice.

Baseball, blackouts and flying objects

2005-01-04T19:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the second date of the Dominican Winter League playoffs or Roundrobin.

The first day, on Sunday the Licey-Aguilas was suspended due to rain and in San Francisco Gigantes beat Estrellas 4-5. Julio Franco for the loosing cause was 4 out of 3 with 2hr and 3 rbi's, and remember Franco is 40 something (his real age is a mystery).

Licey 4 Gigantes 0
Santo Domingo, Estadio Quisqueya.
WP: Manny Aybar 1-0
LP: Damian Moss 0-1

Manny Aybar pitched six inning of only one hit off the bat of Julio Ramirez. Timo Perez was 2-1, with to BB and 3 R, Eric Byrnes 4-2, with 1 2B and a hit, and D'Angelo Jimenez had a good night with the bat ending a really bad slump.

Licey have a MLB Team.

Licey a really offensive team, in the outfield they have Timo Perez, Erick Byrnes and Jose Guillen, Vladimir Guerrero is nursing a finger he got hurt diving for a ball in the OF.

Carlos Peña 1b
D'Angelo Jimenez 2b
Cristian Guzman SS
Ronnie Belliard 3b
David Ross C

in the bench they a few other MLB players and former MLB.

The game with the flying objets.

In San Pedro, home of the most MLB players in the world the lights went out 4 times, yes 4 times, a disputed call in first base and the blackouts led to a fans protest and that almost forfeit the game for Estrellas, the home team.

Julio Franco had to address the fans to try to calm them, the game was 8-0 in favor of Aguilas and it was postponed due to Electrical problems in the stadium.

The Adrian Beltre side of the Story, the Dodgers are not being honest with their Fans

2004-12-29T19:56:00.000-04:00

Adrian gave an interview to Listin Diario while he was training here in Santo Domingo.
It's amazing and intriguing how the Dodgers did not wanted him back, for a moment it looks like a bad decision, only time will tell. Here's a little translation on what Adrian spoke in the interview.

"I have a big commitment with Seattle. They gave me all that money so I can be one the key players of that team, I'm willing to take the challenge and the best I can."
He said that he visited the city before signing and he and his wife Sandra liked the city.
They promised to build a winning team.

"They are keeping their promise, they got Richi Sexson and are behind Odalis Perez and some other pitchers". He also noted the presence of Ichiro and Boone."

He cared more when fans chanted MVP! Than actually winning the MVP

Bonds was the MVP, Adrian was second. "Barry Bonds deserved the award" said Beltre "awards are not important for me, I liked the chorus of MVP! MVP! Better, that was really great."

He was 24 hours away of being a Red Sox

Apparently the Yankees are not the only ones being affected by the Dodgers, according to Beltre
since the end of the season he was wanting for a real offer from the Dodgers, but it never came, while other teams made big offers, one of them was the Boston Red Sox who gave him a 24 hour deadline to make a decision or they will signed Renteria, and that was the final decision, so instead of Edgar Renteria Boston could have Adrian Beltre now.

"The Dodgers were always my first option, It never crossed my mind leaving LA, but I was not sure if they wanted me, they did not handle things well, I did not see a real interest in keeping me."

"I don't understand what were their reasons to make such decision, an effective communication never took place, in a meeting I noticed that they did not have the intention to hire me, they had the rights and the time to negociate with, but they never did".

"while teams like Detroit, Boston and Seattle had their offers, the Dodgers never sat in the table to talk to me, they did made an offer, I stayed longer in LA waiting for an offer, because I did not wanted to traver to the Dominican Republic and then go back to LA".

He was wainting until December for an agreement with the Dodgers, putting other teams on hold.

"we always called to the Dodgers, but they never answered". "At the end they offered me a 9 million offer, but the smaller offer I got from other teams was 12 millions".

The Dodgers are not being honest with the fans, why don't they say the truth, they did not wanted Adrian back, they have other plans, or they can afford it. Is not that hard.

Dominican Winter League update: Escogido out, Estrellas in

2004-12-28T13:15:00.000-04:00

The last spot for the playoffs was decided yesterday when Estrellas won over Gigantes and Escogido lost to Aguilas, also Licey lost to Azucareros but it was already in the playoffs.

David Ross and Erick Byrnes debuts.

Yesterday loss for Licey marked the debuts of Dodgers David Ross and A's Eric Byrnes, Licey also expecting Jose Guillen, Guillermo Mota, Luis Castillo (These two waiting for Florida OK to play) and Jose Jimenez.

Odalis Perez and Alfonzo Soriano near playing with Estrellas.

Both players are training and are near to be playing with Estrellas for the Playoffs.

Miguel Tejada debut delayed due to stomach problems.

Miguel Tejada asked Aguilas fans to forgive him for not playing yesterday against Escogido, he was sick and could not made trip to Santiago.

Lead by Example

2004-12-27T13:28:00.000-04:00

Miguel Tejada opened a full baseball complex in his native city of Bani, he invested millions of pesos to give kids a place to play and develop their skills as baseball players.

Miguel is a role model, not only in the baseball field he's a aggressive player even playing here with Aguilas, but out of the field too, you've never read or heard of Miguel involved in an incident.

Miguel is a player worth watching play, I'll look forward to see him play in the playoffs.

An other good example is Salomon Torres, had just started a new academy as well in San Pedro de Macoris, Salomon had not earned as much money as Miguel Tejada, but his making his contribution.

Other players such as Bartolo Colon, Rafael Furcal among other are making contributions as well.

Sammy Sosa have a foundation in his town that helps children and and pregnant women.
Ramon and Pedro Martinez are making big contributions as well.
Juan Guzman have a foundation too.

It's good to see that Dominican Players are caring for their communities.

The day I met Luchy

2004-12-27T13:05:00.000-04:00

Luchy Guerra is not an ordinary employee for the Los Angeles Dodgers, she's like a mother to many Latin American players in the organization.

I met her a year ago at Estadio Quisqueya, she was here for a special celebration at Campo las Palmas, I had read of her over the Internet and I wanted to meet her, so the opportunity came at a game in Santo Domingo.

In those days Dodgers new owner had given his speech, they were rumors about the hiring of Paul Depodesta and that he was going to replace all the scouts.

We talked about Dodger baseball and how much she loves the Dodgers, she was out of Internet connection, so she was no aware of Dodgers news, the rumors among other things.

We talked for about 20 minutes, it was a great experience for me, I had met a Dodger whom I proud of.

I knew she was a great person for comments and reports on her, but this year I discovered how great she is.

I was attending a baseball game, ordering a pizza, suddenly I feel someone behind me, it was Luchy smiling coming to say hello to me, a guy she saw a year ago in a Stadium full of people, and she remembered me, that meant a lot to me. and she was like two sections to my right, pretty far away.

She must see lots of people when she comes here, but not only she remembered me, she also remembered my name.

Today the LA Times have a story on Luchy.

I'm sure you have already read it, it worth reading it.

David Ross to play in the Dominican Winter League

2004-12-22T22:50:00.000-04:00

David Ross, catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers will play with Licey in the Dominican Winter League.

He will make his debut next Monday against Azucareros del Este and will be in roster for the beggining of the playoffs.

Licey.com

2004-12-20T13:44:00.000-04:00

From left, Henry Rodriguez, Israel Alcantara and Vladimir Guerrero waiting for BP

2004-12-20T13:43:00.000-04:00

Vlad in Blue!, of course, not Dodger Blue, is Licey Blue.

Vladimir joined Licey, but Escogido Won

2004-12-19T09:36:00.000-04:00

Saturday night was the much anticipated debut of Vladimir Guerrero with Licey, he always said that he wanted to play with Licey, his childhood team, well, It was true.

His debut marked the second time a reigning AL MVP plays here, first was Miguel Tejada, now is Vlad.

Every player wanted to talk to Guerrero, even Escogido's players, he gave a show in batting practice, fans all over the city came to the stadium to watch him play, me, I watched on TV.

Vladimir kept his word and played, he was in RF watching his teammates commit 6 errors, and stay hitless until the 7th inning.

He was 0-2 but make a great catch reaching his shoes for the ball and then throwing to second to make a double play.

The Game

Escogido won 5-1 behind a Licey poor defense and strong pitching from rookie Ezequiel Astacio

What's the plan now Mr. Depodesta

2004-12-17T11:50:00.000-04:00

Dodgers fans deserved better, Dodgers fans deserve a strong message from Dodgers front office and their plans with the team.

Those fans who buy tickets need an answer, those like me who pays DirecTV MLB extra every year just to watch them play, we need to know.

Plan A failed, so was plan B, C, now what?

We are expecting more from you.

Me, I'm just a guy far away from Dodger Stadium who once was there and maybe never will come back (too expensive to go there).

But for those who goes there every year, They deserve better.

Dodgers did not tried hard enough

2004-12-17T10:52:00.000-04:00

Adrian Beltre signed with the Mariners, not the Dodgers, the team who signed him and watched him struggles at times.

"the Dodgers did not shown much interest in me" said Beltre in an interview with El Caribe (free registration required).

"I feel happy, I gave a lot of thought because of the amount of money involved, but I hope and trust in god that everything will be OK"

Dodgers offered only 9 millions per season.

"Seattle were more interested than the Dodgers", "the Dodgers offer was around 9 millions and that's was their final offer, they want to look like they don't have any money".

"Boston offer was near 13 millions, but they signed Renteria first"

Well it seems that the Dodgers are the new Royals.

Report: Adrian Beltre signed with M's

2004-12-16T18:10:00.000-04:00

According to Peter Gammons Adrian had agree on terms with the Mariners.

More on that later.

Pedro is a MET

2004-12-13T17:38:00.000-04:00

Pedro Martinez was signed by the New York Mets to a 4 year deal worth of 52
millions.

Good luck to him...

Posted by e-mail

Vladimir Guerrero to join Licey

2004-12-12T08:34:00.000-04:00

Apparently Vlad had spoken to Licey GM and will play with Licey beginning December 18th against Escogido, according to Licey.com, also Jose Guillen and Erick Byrnes will play on the 14th and 26th.

So licey will have for the Round Robin (Playoffs) the Following team:

1B Calos Peña (Detroit)
2B Luis Castillo (Marlins) No confirmation on him yet
SS D'Angelo Jimenez (Reds)
3B Ronnie Belliard (Indians)
C Brandon Masters
OF Vladimir Guerrero / Jose Guillen / Erick Byrnes

Bench:

Timo Perez, Henry Rodriguez, Izzy Alcantara, Erick Aybar, Hanley Ramirez among others.

Pitching:

Juan Carlos Cruz, Manny Aybar, Wilton Chavez, Felix Diaz, Guillermo Mota, Felix Rodriguez, Yency Brazoban, Francis Beltran among others.

But Aguilas will have Miguel Tejada and Tony Batista, Willy Mo Peña among others.

So it will be an interesting playoff.

Pedro showed no respect

2004-12-12T08:07:00.000-04:00

A few days ago the Boston organization came to the Dominican Republic to celebrate the second anniversary of the academy, to show the world series throfy, but I believe the main purpose of the trip was to talk to Pedro Martinez about him returning to Boston.

Pedro is always asking for respect, respect from the media, from the fans, from other players and from the front office.

Last week he showed no respect for John Henry, Larry Lucchino and Theo Epstein by talking to them in his "outside office" in the airport just moments before getting a plane to Miami to attend a wedding.

He could ask for a office inside, even the ambassador lounge and I'm sure the government will let him use it, but he preferred to embarrassed the visitors and him self.

So I ask my self. Where's the respect he's always claiming? Did he show any to them? They were here in behalf of many Boston fans who want Pedro to be back in the team, people who payed to see him pitch.

He showed his real class, his real education.

He showed us the REAL Pedro.

Here comes Vlad! Rumors about Pedro

2004-12-07T23:05:00.000-04:00

Vladimir Guerrero was in Licey practices today, took a few swings and ran laps, according to some unnamed sources he's willing to play, he was attending the game and was given an standing ovation when was announced his presence, and that he's training to get in play.

Kendry "hard hands" Morales, was playing 1B for Estrellas, he got a K and made 2 errors at first, 1 fielding a ground ball and the other attempting to pick a throw.

Well, I hope for Rob's health this would not be El ladron II for the Angels.

Red Sox owner visit and Pedro's Rumors.

Tommorow is the first anniversary of the Red Sox Academy in the DR, and the organization have a press conference (more on that later), the rumor is they'll announce Pedro's signing there, they also bring the WS trophy, first time we'll have this in our country.

Without a doubt Boston is the most popular team in the DR now.

Juan Gone!

Juan Samuel was fired as Escogido manager yesterday, Mike Guerrero took his place, Mike is the son of ex toronto scout Epy Guerrero, relative of Mondesi friend Mario Guerrero.

Here they come!

As december gets older more players are getting in, for Licey we had DÁngelo Jimenez, Ronnie Belliard, Timo Perez, Oh Henry, Carlos Peña, and soon we'll have Guillermo Mota, Luis Castillo, Francis Beltran, and maybe, just maybe, Vladimir Guerreo and Jose "Cancer"Guillen.

Gigantes have already Pedro Feliz, Dodgers Antonio Perez and Duaner Sanchez is coming real soon.

Escogido have Neifi Perez, who by the way will assist and/or help the new manager, tommorrow "El Borracho" AKA Rafael Furcal will make his debut, and I almost forgot, Escogido is in last place.

Aguilas will see on December 26th Miguel Tejada, Willi Mo Peña and Ex-dodgers prospect are already playing, Miguel Batista will enter as a closer real soon.

Boston Hanley Ramirez of Licey is out day by day with some kind of back injury.

Lima and Mondesi traded for each other

2004-11-29T18:30:00.000-04:00

Jose Lima was traded Aguilas for Raul Mondesi, the trade is pending aproval
by the Dominican League.

Mondesi is currently playing this season and Lima said will play as soon as
he signs.

Guillen traded to Expos

2004-11-19T17:15:00.000-04:00

Guillen was traded to the Expos for Juan Rivera and Michael Izturis, Cesar
little brother.

Guillen talked to his former manager to clear things up.

Jose Rijo agreed to became pitching coach for Washington too.

More to come later...

Update: apparently he's working a multi year deal, no time and/or money on that yet. He also will play with Licey december 1 or 2.

Royals scouting Mondesi, Mario Guerrero still after him

2004-11-16T13:07:00.000-04:00

The Royals are scouting Raul Mondesi, this according to news report from Santiago (no link so far), according to the report Manager Tony Peña is interested in having Raul in his team in 2005 but are watching him very close his fitness conditions.

Mario Guerrero, Mondesi worst nightmare is charging again, according to clave digital Guerrero had summited a petition to court asking Las Aguilas to retain Mondesi salary in the winter.

Mondesi lawyer said that this will not proceed because Dominican constitution does not allow salaries to be retained because of a civil lawsuit, only for child support, said Raul attorney.

"Nothing had changed" said Mondesi, "I don't have any agreement with Guerrero, he had never taught me anything, there's no contract signed by me to prove that" added Raul.

"I will keep this case until the final consequences, but I'm not giving him a cent of my money"

Mondesi had earned nearly 65 millions in 12 seasons with Los Angeles, Toronto, Yankees Arizona, Pittsburgh and Anaheim.

Ramon is free! not yet...

2004-11-15T20:56:00.000-04:00

Angels declined to exercised 2005 option on Ramon Ortiz, he got a 100,000 buy out.

Ramon Ortiz plans for the Winter.

beginning today's game he will in Licey bullpen until is in shape to join the rotation, I'm sure he'll make a good effort in order to get a contract.

Last year he did not play, apparently Anaheim denied permission to play in the winter.

Update: He's not free yet, Anaheim have until december 20 to offer him arbitration.
he was to pitch last night from the bulpen but instead was talking to his agent about the team desicion.

Aguilas Flying high, Licey in second place, Escogido in last place

2004-11-14T11:38:00.000-04:00

In Santo Domingo at old Estadio Quisqueya Licey beat Escogido 2-0 with half stadium empty in a Saturday night with a cold weather for the Dominican standards.

Manny Aybar pitched 6 strong innings to earn the win, and the Carlos Perez, yes the same Perez pitched 2 scoreless innings striking out 4, Carlos in 9 innings had only allowed 1 er.

Luke Allen drove in the only two runs of the game with a double in the third inning.

Licey is struggling with the bats lately, today the play Aguilas in Estadio Quisqueya.

Detroit offered contract to Carlos Perez

Detroit is offering him a two year deal, is a minor league deal with and invitation to spring training, he's pitching here out of the bullpen but plans to get into the rotation soon.
Maybe his road back to baseball is from the bullpen, let's see.

Aguilas in First, flying high

Aguilas beat Gigantes last night 9-1, continuing their dominance in the tournament, and soon they will receive new players like Willi Mo Peña.

Another disappointment week in the Dominican Winter League, Lima to the Padres?

2004-11-09T09:16:00.000-04:00

According to Jose Lima he have offers from seven teams, being the San Diego Padres the best offer, Lima is in the US waiting to sign a contract. Last week he said that he was negotiating a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, now apparently he had a good offer from the Padres.

I'll hate to see any Ex-Dodger like Lima signing with the Padres, but it will a good choice for him being the Padres stadium a pitcher friendly park, well, let's hope Lima resign with the Dodgers for the right price of course.

The Dominican Winter League.

Aguilas is playing a very good baseball, in fact they are 10-2, loosing their only two game to Licey.

They have a very good lineup of veterans and good roockies, things might change when other teams like Licey see their veterans come to play in the second half of November, but right now Aguilas are cruising the league, and the other teams are really struggling to survive.

Dodgers in the Caribbean

Several Dodgers players are in the Dominican winter league.

Cody Ross was released by Escogido due to poor performance.
Yhency Brazoban with Licey was their closer, in the first games he was OK, but suddenly became the Yhency we did not see with LA, last week he blew a 1-0 lead against Escogido, surrending a 2-hr to Atlanta's Wilson Betemit.

Prospects Willy Aybar and Joel Guzman are playing with Estrellas.

Oh Sammy! Shut up please.

2004-10-31T10:11:00.000-04:00

Rob at 6-4-2 links to a story about Sammy recent comments to Hoy on his intentions to stay a cub and his plans to keep playing.

Who does Sammy think he is? is he bigger than the rest of his teammates? Is he bigger than the great city of Chicago?, I'm beginning to think that in his mind he sure thinks so.

The Cubs had the chance to win the wild card, but they blew it, I'm not saying it was Sammy's fault, it was the whole team fault, but they must play as a a team, Mr. Sosa in the last game left earlier, and lie about it, that's an insult to his teammates, fans and the team.

If he was injured he must stayed in the dugout, at least for respect to his fans.

In the interview he complains about been dropped to #6 in the batting order, well Sammy you were in a slump, he complains about the fans booing him, well, wait until next season if you're stlll a Cub and you will hearing some serious boos.

Sammy's upset with Dusty Baker, some fans and the press, for what, for telling the truth?

Sammy admits that he did wrong in leaving before the game was over, but he never thought it will cause so much trouble.

"If I'd imagine this, I'd play, even that I was not in conditions to play" said Sammy in the interview. Sosa told the reporter that he felt too tired at the of the season. (he's not the only one)

"I thought that this would not be an issue due to my story with the team and the kind of player I am"

Dominican Winter League: Week 1

2004-10-30T21:07:00.000-04:00

Now that baseball in the US is over, let's focus on what's going on in the Caribbean, the tournament just started, just six game had been played, teams are playing with lot's of rookies, seems like watching AA baseball, here's a look of what's going on here.

Santo Domingo teams Licey and Escogido are playing like they if they did not want to win at all, with few regulars on rosters but lot's of prospects.

Licey have a combination of Erick Aybar (Angels) and Hansley Remirez (Red Sox) in 2B and SS, Ramirez allready have 2hr in the season and had played solid defense along with Aybar, in CF they have Cubs prospect Felix Pie, a speedy batless player so far.

Carlos Perez, ex-Dodger made his debut, trying to come back to major's next year, he pitched a 2 quality innings a couple of nights ago.

Raul Mondesi debut

Aguilas fans were surprised last night when Raul Mondesi was included in the roster and played, apparently he want's to show he can still play, can he?... let's see how many game he plays before he quits the team.

Standings as October 30, 2004

Aguilas 5-1
Gigantes 3-3
Azucareros 3-3
Estrellas 3-3
Licey 2-4
Escogido 2-4

Dominicans and US Elections

2004-10-29T22:22:00.000-04:00

Interesting story about Dominicans role in the upcoming elections in the US, and also the story have a link to my blog, thanks to Yahaira Castro for putting a link to my website and also to Mr. David Montero an Associate Producer at FRONTLINE/World.

Please visit the story above.

Pedro and Big Papi

2004-10-29T13:18:00.000-04:00

I haven't post in a while, I have so much to write, first Boston reversed the curse and finally won a a world series, celebration here was big, seemed like a local team had won a championship, Boston is definitely the favorite team for Dominicans.

Our winter league is entering it's first week and looks like we are watching single A baseball so far, too many rookies but some interesting prospects to watch, more on this later.

Dominicans in the post season.

For all the Dominican haters out there the three MVP's were given to Dominican Players, in the Division Series both the American League and National League were won by David "Big Papi" Ortiz and Albert Pujols, and then the MVP in the World Series by Manny Ramirez, what a great performance by those three guys.

Pedro and Big Papi

When Curt Shilling pitched such a good game many journalist here were expecting another bad outing by Pedro, they were counting on the Cardinals beating Pedro.

That day my wife told me during breakfast (in wish he steals from the morning newspaper) that he wanted Pedro ti win, that everyone was expecting him to lose, that he deserves to win to shout many mouths. This from a person who rarely watch a game on TV, I know so little about baseball, well, she was right, Pedro won and he threw a great game.

David Ortiz did not have a great world series but all the damaged he caused to NY will be remembered for years.

The Dominican Flag!

How proud I was watching Pedro and David holding our flag and dedicating this win to us, to those who followed them all year.

Alex Rodriguez recent comments about his nationality

2004-10-22T18:31:00.000-04:00

He’s mad at us because we questioned his comments, he’s mad because he just answered a question that Fox made to him, he said that Fox asked him his name, team and place of born, and of course he answered them.

He placed a call to Mr. Leo Corporan, Sport Editor of El Nacional, a local newspaper and here’s what he said:

“They did not asked me how I felt, they just asked where I was born” said Rodriguez to Mr. Corporan and remembering that his parents are Dominican and he’s more Dominican then a Platano.

In his conversation he revealed that he will bring aid relief for the poor here, and this was an old plan and have nothing to do with the recent controversy.

He placed the call just minutes before living New York (I don’t know if it’s a private plane or a commercial plane), he said that he heard about the issue regarding his comments but he wanted to focus on his game (Apparently he was focus on an other thing).

Here’s a little bit of the conversation between A-Rod and Leo Corporan:

Leo: Explain to me the situation?
Alex: it’s simple, they asked me three questions, Name, position and place of birth.
Leo: It was Fox who made those questions?
Alex: Yes, that’s what I want to explain, I spoke to David Ortiz and the other guys and they don’t understand the big deal about it.

Well, that’s all true, he did not say anything new, I still does not consider him Dominican, I still believe he will play for USA and not us if the world cup took place, but enough if this, he’s American, people have to understand that, but he can’t claim that Fox made the questions, thay asked the same question to Many Ramirez and he answered “I’m from the Dominican Republic” that being said, Good luck Alex, and please stop with this A-Rod Nationality thing, it’s clear, you’re are not what you said. It’s how you feel.

Link

A-Rod nationality.

2004-10-16T08:37:00.000-04:00

In the first game of the Yankees-Red Sox series each player introduced themselves with name and origin.

Bernie Williams, CF, Puerto Rico
Jorge Posada, Catcher, Puerto Rico
Derek Jeter, SS, United States

Then came Alex Rodriquez turn, the kid from NY who many journalist here call Dominican, the one who claimed that he's Dominican several times, then he said "Alex Rodriguez, USA"

Yes that's right, USA not Dominican Republic, that felt like a thunder for many people here some journalist, they're trying to hang Alex for telling his feelings, his true feelings, what's the big deal about that? He was born in NY, he got his education in Miami, he was drafted in the USA.

I'd always considered him as a American player, not a Dominican Player, he's a great player, a super star, but he's not our super star.

I'm sure he cares for this country, his mothers country, he have many friends here, but let's be realistic, he's a business man, and for him is better business being from the USA.

So let's stop crying about it, he's not Dominican, he's as he told millions, Alex Rodriguez USA.

But don't be upset, we have many great players and people around the world who take their Dominican roots proudly, Oscar De la Renta, Gold medalist Felix Sanchez, and may others who makes us proud.

And in case the world cup takes place he will place for the USA, but we have Adrian Beltre and many pitchers to take him out.

So to A-Rod, good for you to finally came out and saying that you are from the USA. Finally...

With tears in my eyes

2004-10-10T09:38:00.000-04:00

I used to hate Lima, he was averything I hate in a human being, arrogant, loud and played for teams I hated.

But suddenly the Dodgers signed him as a non roster player, he won a spot in the team, I still hated him, but things began to change, he begin to win games, to bring energy to the Dodgers dogout, and again to win games.

Last night, watching first the Twins-Damn Yankees game with some friends at home and later the Dodgers game, seeing Dodger Stadium, a place I remember like if was yesterday, a place that I might not go again in my life, watching Lima pitching there in a playoff game, giving the Dodgers their first victory since 1988 was a wonderful thing, now I'll have to eat my words.

But watching this morning paper, and see Lima praying after the final out and screaming to who knows what made me almost cry.

This season I watched the Dodgers like never before, I even wrote about them, I'm still excited about last nigh, still looking for stories about last night, still watching sportscenter and Southern California Sport Report.

Well, let's hope Odalis get some Energy from Lima tonight, Dodgers fans deserve that...

Carlos Perez trying again, and again

2004-10-09T15:36:00.000-04:00

Carlos Perez, who's still enjoying Dodgers money in his town, fishing and having a blast in the Caribbean is looking to makea a comeback this year to the Dominican Winter League with Licey, I don't want to see that man near the stadium, he's one of the many reasons the Dodgers are attached to those stupid contracts, I know is not his fault Kevin Malone gave him a big contract, but he does not belong in Baseball anymore.

Dominican Winter League update...

Baseball is around the corner, teams had started practices with rookies and wasted veterans, of course all the good players will star playing in mid November, let's take a look at the teams.

Licey (Defending champions)

Will not have Guillermo Mota and Luis Castillo this winter because the fish won't let them play.
Angels prospect Erick Aybar will play at SS, let's hope he stays all season with the team and not like last year early exit.

Miguel Tejada will play in the Winter!

a part of me is angry because my team will have to face him in the playoffs, but Miguel is a player who gives a 110% in the field.

The truth about Guillen...

2004-09-27T17:17:00.000-04:00

The Dominican Republic is a place where everything you do or say goes public, and if you're a ball player your chances are that your life will be mouth to mouth.

Well, according to a reporter who spoke to another Dominican Player in the Angels who spoke with him told what really happened with Guillen, according to the source Guillen after he was taken out of the game threw his helmet at the Managers feet, later sat in the corner of the dogout shouting in Spanish, but he did not remember Mike's know Spanish, he played here with Licey, and he was a catcher, catchers must know Spanish, well the thing did not stop there, Scioscia confronted Guillen telling him he was the Boss and he make's the decisions on the team, then Mr. Guillen threw his glove at the managers feet again, then took a shower and left the stadium.

This episode did not went well with players, according again with the source, the manager ask for management support, he got it so Guillen was suspended and probably concluding his days with the Angels.

Think positive, Think Blue

2004-09-25T10:08:00.000-04:00

Think Blue

The Dodgers might win the Division, maybe they'll loose, but last night was a big step forward, this is a team fighting for a post-season spot should do. beat the team behind you.

Today I'm sleepy at work, staying up until 1:30 in the morning, loosing sleep time, but it was worth it.

Once again Think Blue

This season is not over yet!!!

2004-09-23T16:50:00.000-04:00

Sorry Rob, the season is not over yet, until then we'll have to watch every Dodger game hoping for a miracle, we'll suffer until the Dodgers are officially out, I know that and you know that.

I know It's frustrating to have a lead and see it go away slowly every game after every game.

But I believe in Dodger Blue, I believe this a different team from other years, This is a fighting team, a team with C o j o n e s.

I refuse to think things will be over, that the Dodgers are not going to the playoffs, I want to shut every people here rooting for Felipe and the Giants, I can't leasen to the Radio and hear people talking about how great Barry Bond is.

This year is going to be different, October 4th you'll be writing on the possible matchups for the playoffs, Dodgers fans deserve that, we don't deserve another October without baseball.

I'm with Jon, we'll rise...

This Blog is back!

2004-09-20T08:49:00.000-04:00

After a few weeks without posting for some reasons I'm back in the the blogosphere, I was a difficult time for me and my family, moving in the Dominican Republic is not that easy, then came Jeanne, who caused very big damage to the east and north coast of the Island, including Armando Benitez home in San Pedro de Macoris.

Well, back to baseball having almost a week without internet, cable and Directv I find the Dodgers only 2 1/2 games ahead of the Giants, but this weekend series against Colorado was a little encouraging, two comebacks wins becoming 5 runs deficits it's a good thing.

But the Padres believe the Dodgers are more lucky than good, this according to some players from the Padres.

Not to take anything away from them, but I definitely don't feel like they're the best team in the division," said Lawrence, Sunday's starter.

"But that's why you play the game ---- the best team doesn't always win. If that was the case, they'd give the trophy to the Yankees every year and call the season."David Wells expressed a similar sentiment after pitching in Saturday's game, claiming that Jeff Weaver is Los Angeles' only "legitimate" starter.

"They've been getting lucky," Wells said. "They're the comeback kids. You have to give credit to their offense."We know we have a better team than the Dodgers.

They've just been winning at the right time. That's why they're where they're at. It's frustrating to all of us that we are where we are."

Felix Sanchez to throw first pitch at Dodger Stadium

2004-08-31T19:02:00.000-04:00

Apparently the Dodgers are pretty confidence they'll make the playoffs (God I hope they make it!) that they've invited Gold Medalist Felix Sanchez to a ceremony in Dodger Stadium and to throw the first pitch in the post season.

This according to a radio report here in Santo Domingo in "La Voz del Fanatico"

2004-08-27T07:18:00.000-04:00

Less then 48 seconds to Glory, our first Gold Medal in the Olympics...

Gold fever, Felix Sanchez runs for the Gold

2004-08-26T10:02:00.000-04:00

Today in Athens Felix Sanchez is looking to give the Dominican Republic it first Olympic Gold Medal when he runs in the 400m hurdler today at 3:30pm (Eastern time), hopefully will our first gold and second medal overall, in Los Angeles in 1984 we got a bronze in Boxing.

Some people will take credit from this medal because Felix was born in NY and was developed in UCLA, well, they got a point. But he's wearing REPUBLICA DOMINICANA in his uniform, he does not speak a very clear Spanish, but to me he's more Dominican than Alex Rodriguez, if the world cup of baseball took place, I'm sure A-Rod will play for the US.

The success that Felix Sanchez is having assures me that we have the talent, but we lack of proper preparation for our athletes, take MLB as an example, a team take a kid and they convert him into a MLB Star.

When Olympic athletes from any other country are training for the Olympics full time, our guys are struggling to receive money for proper nutritional needs, it's hard to go to a training session with an empty stomach.

Good luck Felix, 8 millions Dominicans will be watching you today!!!

Good friday, a day to remember

2004-08-21T10:49:00.000-04:00

August 20th was a day to remember for Dominican Players who are making noice again and are leading several offensive categories.

Dodgers 3 Braves 2

Adrian Beltre hit two homeruns, one in the 9th inning against Jhon Smoltz (I guess Gagne is not the only one giving runs), and later in the 11th hit another one to win the game, those two were his 37th and 38 of the year. El mambo de Lima pithched well again giving up 1 run in 7 innings.

Anaheim 5 Yankees 0

Ramon Ortizm the same Ramon who struggle early pitch like the man the Angels wanted to see all year, 4 hits and 0 runs in 8 innings not bad for a pitcher they were willing to trade away for cash. Good for Ramon, he and Anaheim needed that win.

Boston 10 Wisox 1

Oh Manny, grand slam, he was in slump, if he gets hot look out, he's a hitting machine, great night for him and the Red Sox, specially that the dumb empire lost his game against the Angels, I hope my good friend Sarah is happy with last night victory.

Cubs 9 Astros 2, Slumping Sammy hits another one

Apparently what Sammy needed was to bat in the number five spot, I hope he gets hot and they catch San Francisco in the Wild Card, Moises Alou hit one two...

Adrian spoke, and it was loud...

2004-08-21T09:51:00.000-04:00

Apparently there's too kind of loud talkers in the new Dodgers dogout, one is Jose Lima who talks loud, too loud for my taste, the other is Adrian Beltre who's now talking very loud but with his bat.

Early in the season he was complaining about his demotion in the batting order, at that time I wrote Adrian, shut up and play at the time that he had no right as Rob agreed too.

As for today Beltre is leading MLB with 38 Hr, not bad for a guy who is playing hurt, so from now on Adrian you can talk whatever you want...

Dominican Republic defeats the USA

2004-08-18T12:25:00.000-04:00

Today in Athens the Dominican Republic made history by defeating the US Voleyball team
3-2 in the 2004 Olympic games.

For us, a third world country is a huge victory to defeat the United States of America, it's our first time in the Olympic games for the Voleyball team.

This victory means a lot for us, the hard work is paying now.

For the media in the US is just a setback for the American team, not a success for the Dominican Republic, well, get used to that, we're getting better every day in many sports, take baseball as an example...

GO Dominican Republic...

Update:
I know it's hard for the US team to loose from a little country, but to booed the Dominican team after the end of the game, that's too low!!!

The trade and Guillermo Mota age

2004-08-04T17:16:00.000-04:00

Everybody had talked about how the Dodgers loose by trading the best setup man in Guillermo Mota, but had anyone wondered if Guillermo is really 31?

Not to offend any of my fellow Dominicans, but I believed that counting out Moises Alou and a few no Dominican Player is really the age they show in the Books. Just do a little exercise and watch a picture of Jose Mesa and tell if he really looks 36? i don't think so.

Only a few years ago MLB had stablished controls to avoid false documentation, but can you imagine an scandal on Miguel Tejada's age? or Sammy Sosa?.

Back to the trade I think the deal will pay off this year and in the future for the Dodgers, I really liked LoDuca, but baseball is not an one man game.

My LoDuca Bubble Head

2004-07-30T17:00:00.000-04:00

Dodgers Stadium was my first visited baseball stadium in the US, it was my Honeymoon and I drove from San Francisco to LA just to attend a Dodger game.

I went to the gift shop to look for some Dodgers stuff, 2002 was the season we all began to knew Paul LoDuca, so instead of buying a Shawn Green bubble head or a Eric Gagne T-shirt I bought a LoDuca Bubble head, he was the player I admired in that roster, the little guy that gave everything for his team, the one who got hit very bad and stayed in the game, that was the kind of player the Dodgers needed, I still have the bubble head in my house, today rumors are sending Paul to an other team, no matter team LoDuca is headed he will stay in my Family Room.

Welcome to the Jungle

2004-07-23T10:21:00.000-04:00

This is not about Eric Gagne when entering the game for another save, this is about the current situation of my country.

In the national Zoo a man tells a little black kid who is in a field trip to the zoo.

Hey kid, where is your father? He should be here with the monkeys (The kid is poor and Black), so the kid answers "you know what, you should be a comedian", this was a dialogue between our President Hipolito Mejia and a Little kid.

That was only one of his sarcastic and racist remarks, for four years Mr. Mejia had given us bad jokes after bad jokes, we got tired of his jokes so in May 16 we voted him out of the presidency.

His government is due next August 16, but of course they are not doing nothing for the country except stealing everything they can, give pensions to people that never attended work, anyway the country is in the middle of a energy crisis, the hospitals are not working at nights, they are not doing any surgeries, and the Health Minister is saying that there's nothing wrong with our public hospitals.

Thanks god that me or my Family does not need to attend a public hospital.

So please Mr. Mejia, stop the stupids jokes, everytime you open your mouth is to say something really stupid.

Once again forgive me for posting this in a blog that is supposed to post news about baseball, but I had to get this out of my mind.

Dodgers prospects maybe will play in the Dominican Winter League

2004-07-20T17:45:00.000-04:00

The Escogido Lions will have as an special assistant Mr. Rene Francisco who is Director of International Baseball Operations, that means that any available prospect or minor leaguer will play here with Escogido, that's good because they'll play in Santo Domingo.

Last year a couple of Dodgers minor leaguers played with Estrellas, none was productive.

Let's see if the Dodgers are willing to send prospects to play here or to the Arizona instructional league, in 1988 the last World series won by the Dodgers was the year the LA team broke relations with Licey, since that both Dodgers and Escogido are into loosing seasons, will this be the year of Dodgers and Escogido? Let's see...

Jason over Juan, Random Thoughts

2004-07-19T11:19:00.000-04:00

When Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta traded for Jason Werth many people questioned the move, now Werth in the 19 games he had started is batting 365, 6hr and 17 rbi, but the most important thing is the intesity he shows in the field, in yesterday game he robbed Alex Cintron a double by charging the ball and making a strong throw, he's the kind the player the Dodgers needs not a Mediocre player with an superstar attituded like Juan Encarnación, some times the DL can benefit a team, I say give Jason the opportunity to play every day and bench Encarnación, every time Werth is in the game he gives a 100%, not like Juan.

A whole different season for the Dodgers

Last season the Dodgers went thru a season that no one wants to remember, this year this far it looks different, I know is early and the Dodgers swept the worst team in the NL but let's look at some issues that are a whole different from last season.

In Fridays game we won after a terrific outing by Randy Johnson, yes the Dodgers made the runs after he left the game, but last year could be a 3-2 result in favor of the Diamondbacks, but Shawn Green hit a grand slam that no one exprected.
In Saturday game Guillermo Mota blew up a lead, last year was a guaranteed loss, but thios year was a HR by the bench in the name of Robin Ventura. Remember last year bench?
In Sunday's game the Dodgers had a career game by Cesar Izturis and Jason Werth, Cesar hit a 3 run HR, last year in the same situation he likely would have hitted a groudball or something similar.

The upcoming trades for the Dodgers

So far the Jason's trades have worked for the Dodgers, so when the GM says that he's talking to several team and is waiting for the right deal I believe him if we consider the results of the Jason's deals, of course the Milton Bradley is not what we expected but he's young and will get better, is not like the Dodgers gave Franklin Gutierrez for this year version of Jeremy Burnitz.

So my expectations on this year trade deadline are high, I think this year the Dodgers will get an impact player.

So the Dodgers have a bright future, at least I see it that way.

The Mondesi dilema continues

2004-07-17T13:21:00.000-04:00

Mario Guerrero who warned the Anaheim Angels not to pay Raul Mondesi because of the lawsuit the he won against Mondesi.

This according to Diario Libre in this Saturday edition, let's see if the Angels will do the same the Pirates did and Raul reaction if they retain his salary.

Dominican winter league update

2004-07-16T17:12:00.000-04:00

Here's a little update on the next winter league here.

Miguel Tejada said will no play with Aguilas. Too bad and good in the other hand, the fans will miss him, but the other teams will not.

The league reduce to 5 imported players, well, that's too bad, in recent years we only get rejects or prospects that are to way low to play in this league.

Escogido Lions changed owners, the owner for the last ten or more years handed the team to Mr. Julio Hazim, that's not bad except that Mr. Hazim owns the company that do comercialization for the tournament, he said he resign and handed the company to his son, yeah right!

The season will began october 22...

Dominican players Conquered the All Star show

2004-07-14T09:37:00.000-04:00

I've been distant from blogging since last week, lots of work and trying to sell our apartment has held me from posting, but great things are happening for Dominicans.

First 11 Dominicans were in the All Star game (I'm counting out A-Rod) and the most voted player was Alfonso Soriano.

The Home run derby was won by Miguel Tejada, who broke a record of 15 HR in a round held by another Dominican Albert Pujols.

The MVP was Alfonso Soriano.

7 out of 9 of the AL runs were produced by Dominicans, Manny Ramirez (2), David Ortiz (2) and Alfonso Soriano (3).

3 out of 4 of the NL runs were also produced by fellow Dominicans Sammy Sosa (1) and Albert Pujols (2).

In the pitching department no Dominican Player was involved in the game.

In other news Dominican Republic defeat Puerto Rico and won the Gold medal in CentroBasket, a tournament of the Caribbean and Central America, so we beat them in Baseball in the Caribbean Series and in their Best Sport too.

Beating Puerto Rico is better than sweeping the Giants!