Dominican Nicknames

Nicknames are very common in this country, everyone has them, and generally goes by their nickname. With that said, the commentators on TV and the announcers at games end up giving out lots of nicknames to players.

All baseball fans know Dominicans David Ortiz (Big Papi), Manny Ramirez (Man Ram), Alex Rodriguez (ARod), and Pedro Martinez (Petey).

Thus far the Dominican Baseball Guy has said that Juan Francisco is known a ¨El Diamante¨ (The Diamond) and Dario Veras is known as ¨El Flaco de Oro¨(The Golden Skinny Guy). Of course Dario´s nickname makes a lot more sense in Spanish.

I spent last night in the press box with the announcer for los Gigantes and learned a knew nickname. Israel Paredes (the Announcer for Gigantes) has been calling Luis Durango La Maquina (The Machine). All these nicknames fit the players really well. Durango is leading the league in steals, and when he runs he does it like a machine. He plays center field really well and has a pretty good average. The Dominican Baseball Guy earlier guaranteed that we will see him in the Majors within 2 years, and he has done nothing to make me doubt this. Interestingly, Durango is Panamanian, and counts as an import in the Dominican Winter League. Durango was with the Padres AA team last year, check out the labels to see other posts on him.











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More nicknames to come, just check out the nicknames tag.

Dominican Winter Baseball League teams play to win

One thing that the Dominican Baseball Guy came to realize during the game last night is that the teams in the Dominican Winter Baseball League play to win...period. Even though it features mainly players trying to make their way to the big leagues, there is no thought given to "developing" players. The players that give the teams the best chance to win play on any given night.

So, the Gigantes (and other teams) play guys that are at the end of their careers just as often as they play younger players. That is why we see Jacob Cruz (37 years old) starting and Dario Veras (37 years old) closing games.

After watching lots of minor league games, this is refreshing to see. When games (at any level) are played just to win it makes the action much more enjoyable. No thoughts are given to what this guy will do in 3 years, we need to sit this guy so this other guy can play, etc. I also think this is a better atmosphere for players to get experience, if they can get on the field. And it is surely a better situation for managers to gain experience.

Juan Franciso and Wilson Betemit Homer, Jose Capellan get win

11/10/09 Game
Juan Francisco and Wilson Betemit both homered and the Gigantes improved their home record to 9-2. Jose Capellan got the win for Gigantes over Estrellas from San Pedro. After playing in just 20 games with the White Sox lst year, Betemit has played well. In 9 games with the Gigantes he has 3 HRs, 2 doubles and 6 RBI.

Dario Veras got his 4th save on the year.

Dario Veras, by Dominican Baseball Guy

Mark Hamilton HR, Alexi Casilla debuts, Lots of big leaguers playing

11/7/09 Game
There were two really good games over the weekend in San Fransisco de Macoris. On Saturday, Mark Hamilton hit a two run home run in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game. The Gigantes won in the 10th over Aguilas. Hamilton hit .308 last year in the Pacific Coast League with the Cardinals affiliate. He has 2 HRs in the Dominican Winter Baseball League so far. Alexi Casilla (Twins) also debuted on Saturday.  Here are some photos from the game from the Julian Javier Stadium in San Francisco de Macoris, all courtesy of the Dominican Baseball Guy:

Erick Almonte

Erick Almonte

Lucas Montero

Joel Peralta

11/8/09 Game
The Gigantes won another game in extra innings at home on Sunday. Alexi Casilla singled, then came home on a double from Wilson Betemit in the 10th.

The level of play is really starting to pick up as the season continues. Sunday's game featured 11 players with big league experience: Eric Young Jr., Conor Jackson, Argenis Reyes (Mets), Jaime Hoffman (Dodgers), Diory Hernandez (Braves), and Willis Otanez for Escogido, and Alexi Casilla, Wilson Valdez, Juan Francisco, Wilson Betemit, and Dario Veras for Gigantes.

Jose Capellan gets win, Tobi Stoner hard luck loss

11/4/09 Game
The Gigantes improved to 6-1 at home (0-8 on road). Luckily, this was the first of 4 strait home games.

For Gigantes, Juan Francisco had 2 RBI, Wilson Betemit had a solo home run, and big leaguer Wilson Valdez (Mets in 2009) scored 2 runs. Jose Capellan (Astros, AAA Round Rock Express last year) got his first win after 6 shutout innings, and Dario Veras (who is going for the all time saves record) got his 3rd save. Dario is know as el flaco de oro (the golden skinny guy).

Wilson Valdez with the Mets in 2009, by Keith Allison on Flickr

Conor Jackson had 2 more hits for Escogido, and Tobi Stoner (2-1) got the loss, though he pitched 7 innings and gave up only 1 earned run. His ERA is 1.13 in 24 innings. He could be starting for the Mets soon.

Tony Pena Jr. Gets win, Fabio Castro Pitches Brilliantly in Loss

10/27/09 Game-
It was a really good game last night in Santiago. The Gigantes lost 4-3 in 10 innings.

Tony Pena Jr. got his first win in Dominican Winter League after pitching a scoreless 10th inning for the home side. He is known as TJ. He is the son of former big league catcher Tony Pena and was in AA and AAA with the Royals affiliates last year.

Dario Veras had a chance to close it in the 9th and add to his career save total (he is close to setting the career saves record, see previous post). He got two outs quickly, then got MattCarson to foul a ball off directly behind home plate. Strangely, Mark Wagner whiffed on the foul ball. The very next pitch Matt Carson hit a home run to tie the game.

Mark Wagner catching in 2008, by Justin D. Henry on Flickr

The Aguilas won the game in the 10th after moving some runners around and getting a ground ball, with which Juan Carlos Perez beat out a throw at the plate.

The Gigantes squandered a brilliant performance by Fabio Castro. He pitched 7 innings of 1 hit ball and did not allow a run. This guy is good. In 3 games he has 3 no decisions, 16 innings pitched, and a 1.69 ERA. He started 25 games for the Blue Jays AAA team last year (Las Vegas 51s), and put up modest numbers.

Dominican Winter League: Gigantes triumph, Dario Veras gets first save

10/22/09 Game-
Gigantes won 3-2 tonight. Mark Wagner had a homer for the second strait game. Fabio Castro pitched 6 innings, allowing no runs, but Enerio del Rosario got the victory. Castro was with the Las Vegas 51s in the Pacific Coast League last year. Del Rosario pitched in all three levels of the Reds minor league system. In 44 combined appearances, his ERA was under 2.00. He could be a possible closer going forward for the Reds.

Dario Veras got his first save of the season. He is going for the all time career save record in the Dominican Winter Baseball League (89). He has 65 as of this save, and will need a very good year to get the record this year. He is an interesting story. He is 35, and has spent the last few seasons in the Mexican AAA League. He made 53 appearances with the Padres and Red Sox from 1996-98, but never made it past AAA after this. He has been closing games in the Dominican Winter League for the last few seasons.

Estarlin de los Santos had another hit, extending his hit streak to 5 games to start the season.

Dario Veras warms up for Gigantes, by Dominican Baseball Guy