What The Dominican Republic Proved In The World Baseball Classic

Dominican player Jose Reyes led team Dominican 

to World Baseball Classic championship. 

Photo by james_in_to'

Another World Baseball Classic has come and gone, and once again, overall fan interest was hit and miss. In the United States, even the games including the home country were dismissed as nothing more than exhibitions. However, starting with the Dominican Republic’s win over the United States of America, those watching the event could tell how much this competition meant to the small island.

After beating Puerto Rico in the final 3-0, the Dominican Republic capped off the tournament with an 8-0 record. Head coach Tony Pena knew going in he had a strong team, but winning eight games in a row in baseball against the best players in the world is no easy task.

When the United States and the Dominican Republic got together in Miami, the crowd was pro-Dominican. The team played with passion, celebrating runs and strikeouts like Little Leaguers. While some old school baseball fans frowned at this, the team continued to play with passion for their country.

The team played the game, and the tournament for that matter, the way organizers wanted it to be played when it was first developed. Baseball is no longer in the Olympics, so this is the premier international event. The Dominican Republic did not send all of their stars, but fantasy baseball favorites Robinson Cano, Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, and more definitely made sure the team had talent.

After dominating the tournament, the Dominican Republic can officially say that the best baseball is played on their island. People can obviously debate that claim in a number of ways, but they proved it at this moment on the field. If more countries can follow their methods, the World Baseball Classic could rival that of the World Cup in soccer or the Olympics in basketball. It just takes getting the best players to play with pride for their home country.

Can the Dominican Republic Win the World Baseball Classic?

After a semi final loss in the first World Baseball Classic, and a national catastrophe first-round exit in 2009, the Dominican Republic has the pressure of the nation on them to win their first world title in the unilateral national sport. Even Dominican President Danilo Medina recently implored the Dominican team to 'lift up the country' with their World Baseball Classic performance.

Anything less than winning the whole thing will be a disappointment in the country with more MLB players per capita than any country in the world. There were 95 Dominican Baseball Players on MLB Rosters 2012, which was 11% of the league. Virtually everyone in the country has an opinion about baseball, known as 'pelota' or simply 'ball' in the Dominican Republic.

Dominican short stop Jose Reyes talked with USA Today. "The first two Classics were a bit disappointing for us. We had great teams and didn't do much," said Reyes. "This time we want to bring the crown back to the Dominican people."

Dominican native and MLB veteran Moises Alou has been a successful General Manager for Escogido in the Dominican Winter League, and he is heading up the World Baseball Classic team as well. He has replaced the power laden lineup from 2009 with a lineup based on speed and contact. Dominican players like Reyes, Erick Aybar and Alejandro De Aza fit that mold. Even the power heavy players like Robinson Cano, Hanley Ramirez, Edwin Encarnacion, Carlos Santana and Nelson Cruz are more rounded than power players like Jose Bautista and David Ortiz in previous years.

The bookies tend to agree with Alou and the Dominican public. The Dominican Republic is a 3-1 co-favorite to win the World Baseball Classic. The team has backed up this confidence from the public in their two exhibition games, beating the Phillies with 30 hits Tuesday and downing the Yankees 8-2 on Wedensday.

Dominican Republic World Baseball
Classic manager, Tony Pena, is currently
bench coach for the Yankees.

The Dominicans, led by Yankee bench coach and former big league Dominican native Tony Pena, look to build on this chemistry. Their first game is Thursday evening in Pool C in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Team Dominican Republic could even add Adrian Beltre to the All-Star heavy lineup in the second round. "We take a lot of pride in trying to be the best we can. We have a lot of players that play in the big leagues, so we have quite a list of players," Beltre told ESPN. "Coming into the Classic the first time, we thought we'd do a better job than we did as a team. After that, we didn't meet our expectations, and I think the fans and the players were more into it because they know we can do better."

"Every three or four years, they expect us to do well. They look forward to it."

Tony Pena is a legend in the Dominican Republic. Expect him to bring together all the high priced talent and lead them to the final round. On paper they are certainly one of the top two teams, along with the USA. They should see Asian bracket winners Japan and Cuba in the final round.

Pool: C — San Juan, Puerto Rico
First Dominican Republic game: Thursday, March 7 — vs. Venezuela

Infield: Robinson Cano, Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, Leury Garcia, Miguel Tejada
Outfield: Nelson Cruz, Alejandro de Aza, Eury Perez, Ricardo Nanita, Moises Sierra

Starters: Edinson Volquez, Wandy Rodriguez, Sam Deduno
Bullpen: Fernando Rodney, Santiago Casilla, Octavio Dotel, Jose Veras, Jose Valverde
Catchers: Francisco Pena, Carlos Santana

For more information on the tournament see the official World Baseball Classic site.

9 Dominican players on World Series rosters

Anyone that has ever visited the Dominican Baseball Guy blog knows that Dominican players have figured prominently at all levels of Major League Baseball in recent years. The total number of Dominican baseball players on MLB rosters 2012 was 11% this year. That number has remained steady and grown in recent years, and it holds up in the playoffs for the most part.

This year there are nine Dominican players in the World Series out of a total of 50 players. The total 18% of players coming from the Dominican Republic nearly doubles that regular season percentage. Further, according to Latino Voices on the Huffington post, 22 Latino will play in the World Series. Nearly half of the World Series players come from Latin America!

And that means the Dominican Republic and Venezuela for the most part. The two countries are the Latin baseball power houses of the MLB. USA Today and the New York Times felt the need to point out the banner year for Venezuelan players in the World Series, as there are also nine Venezuelan players, including the recent triple crown winner Miguel Cabrera. And they failed to mention the equal number of Dominican Republic baseball players in this year's World Series.

Dominican players have featured so prominently in both the regular season and the playoffs in recent years, that perhaps major publications do not see it as newsworthy that their are a lot of Dominicans in the World Series. Last year there were eight Dominican players in the World Series. Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, and Manny Ramirez, among other Dominican players, have dominated on the biggest baseball stage of them all.

Dominican natives have summed up what it means to have their countrymen competing on the biggest stage. A librarian in San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic said years ago that "we root for whichever team has more Dominicans. They remind me of players that I have seen in my own town, so we want them to do well and represent our country."

Juan Uriste, another Dominican baseball fan from San Francisco de Macoris told the Dominican baseball guy through email that "Dominicans are following the series closely as always, but we don't know who to root for because both teams have several Dominican players each."

Dominican baseball player Ramon Santiago could
feature prominently in 2012 World Series,
photo by Keith Allison on Flickr

They have their choice of the Tigers who feature six Dominicans on their active roster: Jhonny Peralta, Al Alburquerque, Joaquin Benoit, Octavio Dotel, Jose Valverde, Ramon Santiago. Or, the Giants who have pitchers Santiago Casilla and Guillermo Mota, and position player Joaquín Árias on their World Series roster.

Pretty incredible that a country of just 15 million people could put that many players in the World Series, compared to the 300 million people and the 25 or so American players competing. The percentages are simply astounding.

Dominican players in MLB playoffs 2012: NLCS edition

The 2012 NLCS is under way and the Cardinals currently lead the Giants 3-1, and are looking to clinch the series tonight in San Francisco. There are some Dominican players in this years NLCS, but not as many as we have seen in other playoff series.

The Cardinals have a whopping zero Dominican players on their roster, after having one of the top Dominican baseball players of all-time on their roster for over a decade, in Albert Pujols. They do have Miakel Cleto, Victor Marte, and Rafael Furcal on their 40-man roster.

Furcal, the twelve year MLB veteran was a major part of the Cardinals World Series championship last year and a big part of the team this year, as he made his third All-Star game. Also a former Dominican Winter Baseball League player and a Caribbean Series All-Star in 2008, Furcal injured his elbow at the end of August and has not played since.

The Giants have several Dominicans on their active roster for the NLCS. Playing for the Giants will be pitchers Santiago Casilla and Guillermo Mota, and position player Joaquín Árias.

Dominican player Jaoquin Arias is one of three Dominican
players on active rosters in 2012 NLCS, photo by Aunti Juli

Interesting that Árias appeared in 112 regular season games, even though he was not an everyday player. He seemed to be the first pinch hitter off the Giants bench and has continued that role through four games of the NLCS. Thus far, the two year MLB player has appeared in five post season games and has three hits.

Santiago Casilla is in his ninth MLB season, and got his first chance to be an everyday closer this season. With 25 saves on the year and a 2.24 ERA, Casilla was entrenched as the closer until he injured his fingers. The Giants then went with a closer by committee approach, but Casilla could still be called upon to close some NLCS games. So far in the playoffs, he has pitched 4.1 innings and allowed just one earned run.

Guillermo Mota has been a solid mid-inning reliever in the big leagues since 2002. He appeared in 26 games this year with the Giants, and has pitched 1.2 innings in the playoffs and allowed four runs. A 21.6 ERA is not a great start, so I doubt to see him much more unless the Giants are in a bind.

While the Dominican players in MLB playoffs on American League rosters was 16% of all players, in the NLCS only 6% of the players are Dominican natives, way off the overall MLB percentage of Dominican players.

Dominican players in MLB 2012 playoffs: ALCS edition

Look for Dominican player Robinson Cano 
to be major factor in the 2012 ALCS. 
Photo credit: Keith Allison on Flickr

The ALCS is here, featuring the Yankees and the Tigers, and as usual there are a number of Dominicans players in this version of the league championship series.

The Yankees have Robinson Cano, Rafael Soriano, and  Alex Rodriguez. Does he count? That subject has been broached time and time again here at the Dominican Baseball Guy and I say no, he is American not Dominican.

Already a Dominican legend half way through his career, Cano was a pre-season MVP candidate here at the Dominican Baseball Guy and he did not disappoint. Cano got went to his third strait All-Star game and should see his third strait Silver Slugger award. He was in the top-12 in the AL in average, home runs, and RBI. This could be his year to get the MVP of the ALCS is he can get some clutch hits.

Rafael Soriano is a haus at the back end of the Yankees bullpen. After Mariano Rivera went out with an injury, Soriano came in and did not miss a beat. He ended the year with 42 saves and a 1.17 WHIP. He also threw more than one strikeout per inning on the year. If he gets a chance to save some games he will do it at a very high percentage.

The Tigers feature six Dominicans on their active roster: Jhonny Peralta, Al Alburquerque, Joaquin Benoit, Octavio Dotel, Jose Valverde, Ramon Santiago. While they do not have the star power the Yankees have, they certainly have the numbers with six Dominican players out of their 25-man active roster.

Jose Valverde is another Dominican haus closer at the end of the Tigers bullpen. Throwing only a fastball and a splitter, Valverde epitomizes a power closer. He had the third longest saves streak ever back in 2011. Even though he blew a save last round, look for Valverde to be perfect if he gets any save opportunities.

The Tigers Dominican infielder Jhonny Peralta is little known for having been an everyday player over eight seasons. He actually played in the playoffs back in 2007 with the Indians...they made the playoffs that year? He made his one and only All-Star team last year with the Tigers, but was down from those numbers this year. But he is just the type of journey man player that could show up big in a playoff series.

The other Tigers will be coming off the bench, and should not factor in a major way.

The Yankees also have Dominican players Ivan Nova, Zoilo Almonte, Eduardo Nunez, and Melky Mesa available on their 40-man roster. And the Tigers have Luis Marte on their 40-man.

Total, that comes out to eight Dominican players out of 50 on the ALCS active rosters, and 13 Dominicans out of 80 on the total rosters. Or 16% of the players in the ALCS are Dominican natives.

Dominican baseball player of the week: Wilin Rosario

Rockies rookie and Dominican baseball player Wilin Rosario is the latest winner of the Dominican Player of the Week here on the Dominican Baseball Guy blog. I dare you to write a sentence that has more derivations of 'Dominican baseball' than that last one.

The Dominican Rosario has a slew of minor league awards, but this appears to be his biggest award while playing in the big leagues. He was a Futures Game selection twice, a post-season and mid-season all-star in the AA Texas League, and won a few other minor league awards. The Dominican Baseball Guy got a chance to see Wilin Rosario play while he was in the Texas League.

He was considered a top-100 prospect at the start of the 2011 season. After six years in the minors, he made the jump from AA to the majors at the end of last year, and has never looked back. He has been an every day player for the Rockies this year, and has home runs and a .274 average, while playing the most important position on the field, catcher.

Last week, he hit a ridiculous .448, with 13 hits, 2 home runs, and 5 RBI. He should be the starting catcher for the Rockies for many years to come.

Dominican baseball player Wilin Rosario is from Bonao, Dominican Republic.

Dominican baseball player Wilin Rosario playing catcher at the Texas League All-Star game,
I promise he is there, photo by monstersweare on Flickr

Dominican beisbol player Engel Beltre plays for Spain in WBC

In a scene only seen in those strange citizenship rules of international sports, Dominican beisbol player Engel Beltre is playing in World Baseball Classic qualifiers for Spain. Even though Beltre is from the Dominican Republic, and grew up in his home country and in the United States, at least one of his grand parents was from Spain, so he can represent them in the WBC. For that matter, virtually the entire Spain team is from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, or the United States.

Beltre is one of the seemingly unending pipeline of Rangers prospects. The team protected him from free agency by placing him on their 40-man roster, but he is not with the team. He had a great year in double-A for the Rangers, and won the Texas League player of the month award for July.

It is hard to get on the field with the big league club though. Beltre is a center fielder with a plus arm and fielding ability, and hits for power and average and has plus speed. Despite this, he has a pretty good player in center ahead of him in Josh Hamilton.

In any case, Dominican beisbol player Engel Beltre should see a big league field in the next year or two, whether with the Rangers or another team.

Dominican beisbol player Engel Beltre will play for Spain in the World Baseball Classic,
photo by mikelachance816 on Flickr

Dominican player Robinson Cano denies PED suspension rumor

Dominican player and Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano along with his agent, Scott Boras, yesterday said there was no truth to rumors of Cano being suspended for performance-enhancing drugs. Boras, told The New York Daily News that the rumors were false. He had traced the allegation to a rumor that originated in the Dominican Republic, a reporter in the U.S. and a rival agent.

Hard to stop a 'rumor' originating from the Dominican Republic. The rumor mill and oral communication in general is one of the top forms of communication in the Dominican Republic. I have often told people that are trying to contact Dominicans in the Dominican Republic to just go down there and start asking people. If you know what city a Dominican person is in, then I bet you can find them in half a day just by asking the first people you come across in whatever Dominican city you may be in.

But the 'U.S. reporter and the 'rival agent' obviously lack integrity if they were involved in this rumor in any way.

Cano has never really been suspected of performance enhancing drugs. His numbers have been consistently awesome since he was in the minor leagues and there is nothing in his injury history to suggest PEDs.

That was not the case last month, when Dominican player Melky Cabrera got busted for PEDs and suspended 50 games. Cabrera was in the midst of his best year ever, and coming in his seventh full-time big league season, the jump in stats were an anomaly that may have suggested PED use.

Cano's friendship with the fellow Dominican baseball player Cabrera fueled the suspicion that Cano could have failed a PED test. But it appears that the rumors were entirely false, and Cano hopes to focus on making the playoffs this season with the Yankees.

"You can't control what people say," Cano told the New York Daily News. "There's a lot of negative stuff out there and I can't control that. I have to stay above that."

Dominican beisbol player of the week Robinson Cano, by Keith Allison on Flickr

Dominican baseball player of the week: Wily Peralta

Dominican baseball player and rookie with the Rockies, Wily Peralta is the latest winner of the Dominican baseball player of the week. Last week he went 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA and 9 strikeouts in 14 innings. Quite a line for a pitcher that made his first start on September 5th.

Peralta got his first call up in April, but the starter has received his first extended action in the last couple weeks. The Dominican pitcher received a slew of minor league awards, but the Dominican baseball player of the week is his first major big league award. He projects as a mid-rotation starter, and should get a chance to compete for a rotation spot next Spring Training with the Rockies.

He grew up in Samana, Dominican Republic, but moved to the capital in order to pursue baseball more seriously when he was just eleven.

Dominican baseball legend Manny Ramirez done, say it ain't so

It appears that Dominican baseball legend Manny Ramirez is finally done with baseball. Apparently he has found peace out of the game, after appearing in 17 games in the A's minor league system this season. He left the A's affiliate in June, after not receiving a call up to the big league squad.

Ramirez is living in a gated community outside Miami, and is happy to be enjoying life with his wife and kids. And he gives much credit to his newly found faith in God. From Jorge L. Ortiz and the USA Today story, "I feel good. My family's good. Thanks to God, I have a peace I'd never had. I have an incredible peace."

Like many former athletes, he is focusing on his family and his kids.  "Sometimes I miss it, but I try to fill that void by taking my kids to their basketball games, their baseball games, taking them everywhere."

Manny continues about his evangelical faith: "If the Lord says that's it, they're not going to open the door for you, I would say, 'Thank you Lord for the opportunity you gave me,'" he said. "He controls the situation." 

Please Lord, for the sake of the Dominican Baseball Guy and fans of Dominican baseball everywhere, tell Manny to go play in the Dominican Winter Baseball League this year!

Manny Ramirez is from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Dominican baseball legend Manny Ramirez, photo by Keith Allison on Flickr