Dominican Republic Beats Venezuela 6-5 in Day Two of Caribbean Series

Kevin Barker hit a home run and had three RBI in leading the Toros de la Romana to a victory on day two of the Caribbean Series.  Venezuelan first basemen Luis Jimenez hit two homers in a losing effort.  Venezuela is represented by the Caribes de Anzoategui.

Kevin Barker continues solid play in winter league action

The starters from both teams had sub-par outings.  Venezuelan starter Amaury Sanit gave up three runs on three innings and Dominican starter Aneury Rodriguez allowed 3 runs in 4.1 innings.  Julio Manon got the save after blowing a save in the first game.

Jackson Melian had a two run homer in the ninth to bring Venezuela within one run, before Manon closed the game.  Wellington Castillo, Jose Constanza, and Michael Martinez each had one RBI for the Dominicans.

Puerto Rico beat Mexico 7-3 in the second game on the day.

Caribbean Series Standings:
Mexico: 1-1
Venezuela: 1-1
Dominican Republic: 1-1
Puerto Rico: 1-1

Kevin Barker: Two Dominican Championships in Two Years

Kevin Barker has been a very successful player in the Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM) the last two seasons.  He is an anomaly that American fans would not expect to see in winter league action.

Kevin Barker (center-left) celebrates a second LIDOM championship

Barker is a 35 year old first basemen that has seen the major leagues in parts of five seasons, most recently with the Reds in 2009.  Add to that, he has played 12 years at the AAA level.  Yet he still chooses to go and play in Dominican Winter League action.  In fact, Barker says (according to lidom.com), "I played in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela, Japan, United States, but the passion as you enjoy baseball in the Dominican Republic is unparalleled."

That quote shows a little as to why veterans would choose to play in the LIDOM.  Barker began his professional career in 1996 after being drafted out of Viginia Tech.  He made the big leagues for the first time in 1999 and has basically played at the AAA level ever since, other than short stints with major league clubs.  Last year, he played in the AAA Mexican League, which is an official MLB league, but the teams are not farm teams of big league clubs.

Barker just signed a minor league deal with the Nationals a few weeks ago, so hopefully we will see him in the big leagues again soon.  In the mean time, he has the Caribbean Series next week to worry about.

Toros de La Romana win 2-1, Gain 3-0 Lead in LIDOM Final Series

Fernando Abad (Astros) pitched 6 innings of no-hit ball and the Toros pitched a combined 1 hitter to take a three games to none lead over the Estrellas in the Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM) finals.  The Toros won 2-1.

Fernando Abad pitches for the Toros

Julio Manon got the save, although he did give up one hit and one run in the ninth, after the Toros shutout the Estrellas through 8 innings.  The Toros first run came on a Ricardo Nanita single in the 3rd inning and American journeyman Kevin Barker added the second run on an RBI single in the 7th.

For the Estrellas, Cuban Alberto Castillo pitched 6 innings and allowed only one run, but that got him the loss.  Michael Martinez (Nationals) had the lone RBI for the Estrellas, when he doubled off Manon in the 9th inning.

Game 4 is Saturday at the Tetelo Vargas Stadium in San Pedro de Macoris.

Toros de La Romana Take Lead in Sugar Series, Lead LIDOM Finals 1-0

Toros de La Romana took a 1-0 lead  in the first game of the 9 game final series, beating over the Estrellas de San Pedro de Macoris 5-3.  The Dominican press is calling this year's finals the Sugar Series (see the Dominican Baseball Guy's last post).  The game took place in la Romana at the Stadium Francisco Micheli.

Raul Valdes (Cardinals) continued a strong winter campaign and pitched a complete game for the Toros.  See an article about Valdes and his future with the Cardinals here.  Puerto Rican Martin Maldonado had a good game behind the plate catching for Valdes and also had an RBI at the plate.  Jose Constanza (Braves) also had two RBI for the Toros and Danny Richar (Marlins) was 3-4 with two runs.  Constanza hit .319 with the Braves AAA team and made the International League All-Star team, and Richar has been very successful with the Marlins AAA team, so the Dominican Baseball Guy expects to see both in the big leagues soon.

Valdes pitches a complete game

For the Estrellas, former big leaguer and minor league veteran Buck Coats scored a run on an Edward Rogers single, and Edwin Bellorin had two RBI.  Coats was later ejected in the third inning, in an interesting scene that saw Coats (a ten year veteran of the minor leagues) arguing with a fellow American umpire in a Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM) playoff game.  LIDOM has both American and Dominican umpires work most games, because it is thought the American umpires do not have ulterior motives in regards to favoring certain teams.

Coats exits as his manager continues the argument with the home plate umpire

The incident goes to show that these games are very important for everyone involved.  For many of these players these are the biggest games and the most intense atmosphere they have had the chance to play in, and this is true for veteran Americans like Coats and Kevin Barker of the Toros.

Game two is tomorrow night in San Pedro de Macoris.

Dominican Republic Wins Caribbean Series

The Dominican Republic, which was represented by Escogido, won the Caribbean Series 2010. They went 5-1 in the 4 team double round robin tournament against the winners of the Mexican, Venezuelan, and Puerto Rican winter leagues.

The Dominican Winter Baseball League has the story here, but this is in Spanish. Or see it in English at the MLB Winter league site here. There are also a few other highlights and stats at the MLB Winter League site.

Caribbean Series 2010 All-Tournament Team

Mets OF prospect Fernando Martinez won MVP

Player, position, team
Kevin Barker, 1B, Dominican Republic
Pablo Ozuna, 2B, Dominican Republic
Vinny Castilla, 3B, Mexico
Angel Sanchez, SS, Puerto Rico
Armando Rios, RF, Puerto Rico
Jesus Feliciano, CF, Puerto Rico
Fernando Martinez, LF, Dominican Republic
Edwards Guzman, C, Puerto Rico
Raul Padron, DH, Venezuela
Raul Valdes, LHP, Dominican Republic
Nelson Figueroa, RHP, Dominican Republic
Efrain Nieves, LH reliever, Puerto Rico
Peter Parise, RH reliever, Puerto Rico

Several Dominicans or players from the Dominican team made the all tournament team. Juan Francisco, the Dominican League MVP, also had a good tournament. The Dominican Baseball Guy has said it before, Juan Francisco is going to be a good or really good MLB player, probably this year. Hopefully Kevin Barker gets some more big league time too, as he has put up numbers in AA, AAA, and the top winter leagues. Both these guys are in the Reds organization. And yes that is 42 year old Vinny Castilla who spent 16 years in the big leagues, still playing in his home country in the winter league.

Kevin Barker Player of the Week

Kevin Barker had a pretty amazing week. In 5 games and 17 at bats he had 6 runs, 8 hits, 3 home runs, 9 RBI, and 6 walks. I have posted a couple times about Barker in the Dominican Winter Baseball League this as he is having a good year (follow the tags to see other posts about him).

He is a member of the Louisville Bats (Reds) contigent, of which there are at least 5 players and their manager participating in the league this winter. The Reds farm system looks pretty stocked, as all these players are playing well.

Kevin led the bats in average and home runs last year, so we should see him with the Reds soon. Here is the official press release photo from the league:

Alexi Casilla, Kevin Barker HRs

11/9/09 Game
The Gigantes lost on the road...again. Alexi Casilla hit a solo HR for their only run.

Alexi Casilla with the Twins in 2008, by Keith Allison on Flickr

Kevin Barker had a HR and two walks for Aguilas, and has played well with a .324 average in 18 games. He is in the Reds organization and is one of many Louisville Bats playing down here. American Cole Armstrong has played well in two games for Aguilas as well. He spent last year with the White Sox AAA team, the Charlotte Knights.

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