5 Dominicans to play in Korea Baseball Organization in 2011

The eight teams in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) have signed 16 foreign players for the upcoming 2011 season, and 5 of the imported players are Dominican.  Like many lower tier sports leagues throughout the world, the KBO has a limit of 2 foreign players per team.  The Dominican Winter Baseball League limits it's teams to 5 foreign players at one time, and other sports leagues such as Major League Soccer also have limits on foreign born players, so this is a common practice designed to ensure that local teams have a majority of local players.

Thanks to True Stories of Korean Baseball for the list of foreign players.  Here are the Dominican players scheduled to appear in Korea this season:

Radhames Liz, P El Seybo, Dominican Republic

Ramon Ramirez, P Puerto Plata

Aquilino Lopez, P Villa Altagracia

Julio DePaula, P Santo Domingo

Oneli Perez, P Bonao

Radhames Liz and Ramon Ramirez both have big league experience.  And The Dominican Baseball Guy has seen several of these players show up in the Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM).  They all have some experience in the LIDOM and Ben Jukich, another player on the list, also spent the whole 2009 year in the LIDOM with Aguilas.

Interesting that they are almost all pitchers.  A lack of quality arm strength in domestic players leads the teams of the KBO to import pitchers with 90 mph stuff.

Radhames Liz in 2010 spring training with the Padres, by SD Dirk on Flickr

Juan Francisco Breaks out, David Herndon Gets Win

10/25/09 Game-
The Gigantes had lots of offense tonight winning 13-5.

Juan Fransisco had a breakout night, going 2-4 with a homerun, a walk, and 4 RBI. Fransisco is in the Reds minor league system and spent time with their AA and AAA affiliates last year, playing well at both levels. He also had a short stint with the Reds and performed well in 21 at bats. Last year he had a huge year with the Gigantes (.360, 11 HR, 34 RBI) (remember the season is around 50 games plus the playoffs). 

Fransisco is the fourth member of the AAA Louisville Bats that I have seen pop up in the Dominican Winter League this year. The others are Ben Jukich, Craig Tatum, and Kevin Barker. I have yet to mention Barker, but he is near the lead in average, and had a big year with the Bats last year, leading them in average (.285) and home runs (22). The Bats manager, Rick Sweet, is also down here managing the Aguilas. I saw an interview the other night and Rick Sweet mentioned that he played in the Dominican Winter League 32 years ago. Sweet must have had some influence in bringing these three imports to the Aguilas.

David Herndon got the win for the Gigantes, after 1.1 innings, and no runs allowed in a relief appearance. He improved to 2-0 on the season.

Craig Tatum, by Chris J. Nelson

Dominican Winter Baseball: San Francisco de Macoris still shut down over strike, Lima Time

10/20/09 Games-
The Gigantes travel to Santo Domingo tomorrow to take on Licey. This is a blog about Dominican baseball, but the Dominican Baseball Guy is an anthropologist and cannot help but comment on society and culture. San Fransisco is still shut down, the strike should end tomorrow.

It is a really bad situation, especially at night. Groups of armed men and boys have taken up posts around the city, regulating traffic, and there is not enough police presence to effect these groups. They are basically doing whatever they want, especially at night.

 Luckily, The Dominican Baseball Guy knows the right people (who are also armed) so have not been effected; however, it is still a scary situation going through roadblocks of armed civilians. Everyone must realize, this is the situation Dominican prospects grow up in, and things such as this are not extraordinary.

The Dominican Baseball Guy is safe and in the capital, heading to Gigantes vs. Licey tomorrow.

Last night, Diory Hernández had a homer, double, and single, and Brennan Boesch had a homer and two singles, both for Escogido in a win over the Estrellas. Hernandez was with the Braves AAA team last year and hit .319 in 204 at bats as a short stop. Boesch, an American import for Escogido had 28 homers and 93 RBI for the Tigers AA team last year. He is is huge (6'6'', 210). Look for Boesch to have a big winter league.

In the other game, American catcher Craig Tatum had an RBI in a 4-1 for Aguilas over Licey. Tatum was with the Louisville Bats in the International League last year, and it looks like Manager Rick Sweet brought him, along with pitcher Ben Jukich to play with Aguilas. Jose Lima (yes that Jose Lima) pitched three innings of shutout ball to start the game for Aguilas, but did not get the win. Timoniel (Timo) Pérez had a double for Licey. Yes, that ex-MLB player Timo Perez who played in the Mexican Summer League last year.

Jose Lima with the Dodgers in 2004, by Malingering on Flickr

Dominican Winter Baseball: Aguilas beat Gigantes, Erick Abreu and Ben Jukich pitch well

10/16/09-
The Aguilas scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to defeat los Gigantes 5-3. The Aguilas took the lead for good with two runs in the bottom of the 7th. The Gigantes were held to just four hits. The Aguilas took the lead 3-0 in the bottom of the 4th. However, Estarlin de los Santos hit a single that drove in two runs and another run scored in the top of the 5th to tie the game.

Estarlin de los Santos had a good game for the Gigantes. He had the base hit that drove in two runs, and made several good plays at short stop. He showed off a very strong arm on one play and turned a couple double plays. He is in the Twins organization and had a pretty good year last year (.290, 1Hr, 23 RBI), mainly with the high-A Fort Myers Miracle. However, his value is clearly as a defensive player as he hit last in the lineup last night. He is from San Pedro de Macoris on the soutern coast, which is known as "The Cradle of Shortstops," producing Rafael Belliard and a number of other short stops.

Erick Abreu had a good game. He spent most of last year with the AA Corpus Christi Hooks. He had a very good year as a mid-game/set up reliever posting a 2.06 ERA in 27 games and 47 innings. I am from Corpus Christi and got to see him play a few times this summer. Last night he pitched 3 innings of shutout baseball in relief of starter Fabio Castro, a Blue Jays farmhand.

With the Aguilas, Ben Jukich pitched four innings of 2 hit, no run ball, and then was inexplicably taken out between the 4th and 5th ininnings. At first I thought it was a double switch or something, but there was no reason that I could see. He must have been on a pitch count or something.

Ben Jukich in 2006, photo by Joel Dinda on Flickr