NL Wildcard Game Features Two Dominican Pitchers

The last week of the regular season got the Dominican Baseball Guy excited for baseball again. As, a Rangers fan we have had some tough years in the playoffs, and this year was no different. After making it to a wildcard play-in game they lost to the Devil Rays. I am not a fan of one wildcard team, so I think two is rather ridiculous.

Play 162 games to let a wildcard team sneak in and get hot, beat a team like the Mariners in their record wins year of 2001 have to play a wildcard team? But as a fan of a team that just sneaked into the wildcard play-in game, I must say I loved it. It was an exciting week no whether your team was playing or not.

And then as a fan of Dominican baseball I get this treat last night. Two Dominican starting pitches: Francisco Liriano versus Johnny Cueto. Johnny Cueto told MLB.com what the game means to him and his country:

I want to tell my people in the Dominican Republic to follow this game. "There are two Dominicans on the mound. I want to give advice to all the youth in the Dominican that you have to work hard and to continue working hard to do things like this.

Francisco Lirano dominated, and the Pirates won easily. His up and down play has been well followed here at the Dominican Baseball Guy. A true natural in my opionion. A near Cy Young and Rookie of the Year sweep in 2006 before getting hurt in August. He never really recovered from Tommy John surgery...until 2010 really. An entire missed season (2007) and two bad years.

Then in 2010 he returned to the Dominican Republic to play Winter Ball. He had an insane winter season, leading Escogido to the championship and then pitched well in the Caribbean World Series. It was cool having a guy of his magnitude playing daily in the Dominican Winter League that year. But he was still erratic.

After another Cy Young-worthy year in 2010 he had a down year in 2011 and 2012, and then signed with Pittsburgh for this year. And everything seemed to click -16-8 and a 3.02 ERA. And last night in the NL Wildcard game was one of the good nights. His slider was as good as it has ever been, with Reds batters swinging at it in the grass two feet from home. Vintage Liriano, allowing one run in seven innings.

The Reds scored another run in the 8th, but they were never really in it. Andrew McCutchon was doing his thing running all over the bases. He had two hits and two walks. It seemed like he was on the bases all night. Marlon Byrd had two RBI and Russel Martin had two homers. The game was over by the 4th inning the way Liriano was pitching.

The other Dominican pitcher did not fair too well. Johnny Cueto was said to have been rattled by the raucous Pittsburgh crowd. To which manager Dusty Baker said at the post-game presser: "he did not get rattled he just couldn't hit his pitches. He played in the Dominican Winter League and all that, and if you have been down there you know how intense those games are."

Interesting side note. I love that quote. Baker insulting the reporter by implying that he has never been to a Dominican Winter League game at the same time as brushing off his questions as ridiculous.

In the end it was all Liriano. "We had the expectancy to win," Andrew McCutchen said to the AP. "When he showed up with his suit on, that got me hyped up."

Dominican pitcher Francisco Liriano with Twins, photo by Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar on Flickr

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Rijo charged with money laundering in the Dominican

Dominican native and former big league pitcher Jose Rijo has been charged with money laundering in the Dominican Republic. He has been charged with laundering money for 'alleged' drug trafficker Avelino Castro. Prosecutors did not arrest Rijo, but ordered him to remain in the Dominican Republic.

The drug trafficking issue in the Dominican Republic has not been spotlighted as it has with the Mexican drug cartels of the 2000s or the Columbian cartels of the 1990s. But the fact is those same cartels actually ship their product through the Dominican Republic on the way to New York and the East Coast.

So, drug trafficking and organized crime are major problems in the Dominican Republic. Law enforcement in the Dominican Republic is undoubtedly more poorly funded and less organized than even Mexico or Columbia. The conditions are ripe for drug gangs to take advantage of the lack of law enforcement.

Murders, kidnappings, and bribery are the norm in the Dominican Republic, and even law enforcement officers are often caught up in the cycle of drug violence. Dominican news channels spout out stories of prosecutors being killed and police officers being bought off. And with the lack of law enforcement infrastructure (such as forensics teams) almost non-existent, many of the crimes go unsolved or are not investigated at all.

There are good law enforcement officers and prosecutors in the Dominican Republic. They just lack the infrastructure and man power to maintain the type of law and order we are used to in the States and other western countries. What drew prosecutors to the Rijo case was the fact that Avelino Castro was 'allegedly' involved in the kidnap and murder of Dominican journalist Jose Silvestre.

Rijo signed with the Yankees in 1980 and debuted with New York in 1984. He was the MVP of 1990 World Series with the Reds and made one All-Star team. Rijo last pitched in the Majors in 2002, rounding out a 14 year big league career. Interesting to note that he won the Reds Joe Nuxhall Good Guy award twice, and he is in the Reds Hall of Fame. Wonder if they can take those back?

He is from San Cristobal, Dominican Republic.

Dominican pitcher Jose Rijo, member of the Reds Hall of Fame, charged with
laundering drug money in the Dominican Republic, photo by zeejaydee on Flickr

Dominican pitcher Pedro Borbón passes away

Pedro Borbón, a Dominican pitcher that won two World Series titles with the Reds passed away at his home in Texas on Monday. He was a member of the bullpen on the Big Red Machine championship teams of 1975 and '76.

Borbón led the majors in appearances from 1970-78 and is still the Reds career leader in appearances with 531. He had a career 3.52 ERA in 593 appearances. He was the consummate set-up reliever before there were even set-up guys in baseball.

The Dominican Baseball Guy really did not know much about Borbón as a player. He is best known to myself and my generation for appearing in the movie Airplane. Main character Ted Striker is heard thinking "Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbon...Manny Mota...Mota...Mota." The funny thing is that Manny Mota and Borbon never actually played on the same team, and both were Dominican baseball players. Just another quirk of the hilarious movie.

After hearing more and more about Borbón, it is obvious that he was one of the top releivers of his generation, not just a cultural icon from the movie.

The Dominican pitcher Borbón was from Santa Cruz de Mao, Dominican Republic.

Dominican pitcher Pedro Borbón was a two time World champion with the Reds

American baseball players learning Spanish to communicate with Dominican teammates

It is pretty well known that most MLB teams have expanded their cultural immersion and English classes for Dominican and Latin baseball players, both in the Dominican baseball academies and stateside.  Major League Baseball and the Dominican Republic just signed a deal to further enhance the education of Dominican prospects.  The Astros have a program to teach Latin players English and the Brewers have a cultural immersion program for Latin and Dominican players.

Programs such as these are becoming the norm.  The Dominican Baseball Guy would estimate that at least three-quarters of all MLB teams now have similar programs.

One Cincinnati Reds player is trying to reach out to his Latin and Dominican teammates in the opposite direction.  Joey Votto is learning Spanish and communicating with his Latin teammates in their native language.  Votto thinks this builds camaraderie and brings him closer to his Spanish-speaking teammates.  Before he learned the Spanish basics, Votto did not have much a relationship with some Latin teammates.

The Reds have taken an additional step and offered free language software to anyone in their system.  The Padres have a similar offering for their players and coaches that want to learn Spanish.

"It's nice that they want to learn and understand what we're saying," Votto's Venezuelan teammate Miguel Cairo said. "It creates a better atmosphere and better clubhouse when they know what we're saying."

Off-field chemistry almost always helps with the on-field product, and communicating in Latin players native language shows an effort to build chemistry both on and off the field.

2010 National League MVP Joey Votto is learning Spanish, photo by Geoff Livingston on Flickr

Dominican Player of the Week: Juan Francisco of the Atlanta Braves

The Dominican Baseball Guy has awarded Juan Francisco of the Braves as his Dominican Player of the Week. Juan hit .375 with three home runs last week, and got some votes for player of the week in the National League.

It is no secret Juan Francisco is one of the favorite players of the Dominican Baseball Guy.  He was playing with the Gigantes del Cibao in 2009, the year I followed the Gigantes for the entire Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM) season.  That year he won the MVP of the Dominican Winter League, and he also won it in 2009.  He was either at the top or close to the top of the LIDOM in home runs, RBI, and average in both of those years.

He had a slower year this past off-season in the LIDOM.  As he has gotten closer and closer to securing a regular big league gig, his playing time in LIDOM has gone down.  He had played in 81 big league games going into this season for the Reds, but they decided to trade him this off-season.

His power is his calling card.  Juan is one of the best guys to see in batting practice.  Kids line the outside of the stadium waiting for him to hit them balls, which they will use to play at their own games and practices.  During games, the stadium always stopped for Juan Francisco, aka "El Diamante."  Not sure where the nickname came from, but during that year the announcers started calling him "The Diamond of Bonao."  Francisco is from Bonao, Republica Dominicana.  I saw him hit one shot in San Francisco de Macoris at the Julian Javier stadium that I swore went over the lights.  We all lost it in the lights, and people were saying "he hit it to the moon."

Lots of people say that he is a below average fielder and that he strikes out a lot.  And he does.  But the Dominican Baseball Guy still thinks he is going to be a star, as I predicted two years ago when I first saw him play in Dominican Winter League action.  I think his power and his clutch play will be enough to outweigh deficiencies elsewhere.  He won a lot of games for the Gigantes that season with late inning heroics.  And, after all, I cannot go back on my prediction now.

The only other Dominican player to receive votes in the player of the week race in either league was Rafael Furcal of Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic.

Dominican player of the week Juan Francisco bats in the Midwest League in 2007, photo by Joel Dinda on Flickr

Dominican baseball player Johnny Cueto to open season for Reds, Dominicano lanza por Rojos hoy

As the Dominican Baseball Guy writes Dominican pitcher Johnny Cueto has opened the season for the Reds, as their ace.  Thus far, he has a 0.00 ERA...through 3 innings...

Cueto had a 2.34 ERA in 150 plus inning last year, and has improved every year he has been in the big leagues.  He thinks he is ready to be the ace.  The Dominican Baseball Guy agrees.

According to Marc Sheldon and MLB.com:

Cueto, a native of the Dominican Republic, did not speak English publicly and was initially uneasy with the adjustment to life at the top level of the game. He missed home cooking, among other things, and gravitated to fellow Dominicans on the team like Volquez, who became his best friend.

These are exactly the kind of issues that MLB team cultural education programs are trying to address, as with the Brewers cultural development program for Latin and Dominican players.  Johnny Cueto is not alone among Dominican baseball players in "missing home cooking."  As the Dominican Baseball Guy just blogged, lack Dominican food is one of the big adjustments that Dominican players have to make  as big leaguers.

Only a few teams have cultural development programs where players learn things like English, and how to adjust to culture shock of new food.  The Dominican Baseball Guy would venture to guess that the Reds did not have one at this time (please correct me if I am mistaken).  So, like other Dominican baseball players, Cueto learned the ropes of the big leagues, and the "American Culture," from fellow Dominican Edinson Volquez who had already been through the same process.

Dominican beisbol player Johnny Cueto is from the famed San Pedro de Macoris, Republica Dominicana.

Dominican baseball player Johnny Cueto will open the season as the Reds' ace,
photo by Wknight94

Dominican Coco Cordero hopes to remain Cincinati Red, Coco Cordero quire quedarse en Cincinati

The Dominican Baseball Guy has been a big fan of Coco Cordero since he busted on the scene with the Texas Rangers around 2000.  He truly made his mark with the Rangers in the 2004 season in which he went 49 or 54 in save chances.

That season he set the all-time save record for a Dominican pitcher in one season.  He broke Jose Mesa's Dominican record for saves in a season that year, and should pass him for the Dominican record of all-time MLB saves.  Cordero is currently 14th on the all-time list with 319 and Mesa is just 2 ahead of him.  Mesa is of course remembered by the Dominican Baseball Guy as a great closer on those classic Cleveland Indians of the mid-1990's, but also as having one of the most classic "lost in translation" names in MLB history: Joe Table.

Cordero sees Mesa as a role model and sees him often, as they both make their permanent homes in Santo Domingo, DR.  So, breaking Mesa's records are a major milestone for Cordero.

According to the recent article the Dominican Baseball Guy just cited above, Cordero has no plans after his contract expires this year or next: he is playing to win a World Series this year.  But as the title says, he would love to stay in Cincinati.

Coco is a nickname, and his real name is actually Francisco.  He has gone by both throughout his career.  Coco is from Santo Domingo, DR and Mesa is from Azua, DR.

Francisco Cordero pitches for the Reds, by FujiMatt on Flickr

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