Dominican Winter Baseball League Final Series Preview 2011

The Estrellas beat the Gigantes last night in the one game playoff to determine second place in the 18 game round robin playoff in the Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM).  The final score was 3-0 and the game was never really close.  The Estrellas pitching dominated and Eulogio de la Cruz (former major leaguer who just signed with the Brewers) got the win.  Eugenio Velez (Dodgers) and  Argenis Reyes (Indians) led the offensive charge for the Estrellas.  See the game recap and some cool photos here.  There was a great atmosphere, with most of the crowd on their feet the whole game.

Estrellas and Fans Celebrate

The Estrellas go on to face the Toros in a 9 game final series.  The Toros had already advanced to the finals after dominating the round robin in finishing 1st.  This sets up what the Dominican press is calling a "Sugar Series."  See the preview from the only English daily in the country, Dominican Today.  Both clubs hail from the southeast coast of the country, the region that is the center of sugarcane production.

Sugarcane has long been the agricultural base of the country, and it is said that the sugarcane plantations are where baseball first became popular on the island.  Workers on the plantations supposedly played baseball after working the fields, and the game then diffused to the rest of the population.

So, this series has special significance for Dominican fans, particularly for those from San Pedro de Macoris and La Romana, the home of the Estrellas and Toros respectively.  Not to mention the town with the most baseball talent in the world (San Pedro de Macoris) is hosting a finals series.  The first game is tomorrow, Wednesday the 19th.

Juan Francisco plays well, Jhon Floerntino and Eugenio Velez debut

10/28/09 Game
The Gigantes lost again tonight 12-3 to Estrellas from San Pedro de Macoris.

Juan Francisco had 2 RBI as the DH. The dominican baseball guy is going to go ahead and tap him as the preseason MVP of the Gigantes. We'll see if this holds up.  Jhon Florentino got his first playing time of the year starting at 2nd base. He was with the Corpus Christi Hooks last year (my hometown team), so the dominican baseball guy saw him play a lot. This is the Astros AA affiliate. He can play 2nd or 3rd and had a decent year as a spot starter at both positions last year.

Evan MacLane, another import, got the win for Estrellas and improved to 2-0, with a 2.25 ERA in 3 starts. He is in the Cardinals organization and pitched at AAA last year.  Eugenio Velez debuted last night for the Estrellas, and had a triple, double, and 3 RBI. He was with the Giants AAA team last year and played well as a center fielder.

Eugenio Velez in the infield, by Joel Dinda on Flickr