Dominican baseball player of the week: Wily Peralta

Dominican baseball player and rookie with the Rockies, Wily Peralta is the latest winner of the Dominican baseball player of the week. Last week he went 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA and 9 strikeouts in 14 innings. Quite a line for a pitcher that made his first start on September 5th.

Peralta got his first call up in April, but the starter has received his first extended action in the last couple weeks. The Dominican pitcher received a slew of minor league awards, but the Dominican baseball player of the week is his first major big league award. He projects as a mid-rotation starter, and should get a chance to compete for a rotation spot next Spring Training with the Rockies.

He grew up in Samana, Dominican Republic, but moved to the capital in order to pursue baseball more seriously when he was just eleven.

2012 MLB All-Star rosters feature 8 Dominican players

The 2012 MLB All-Star game roster were announced Sunday and there are eight Dominican players among the All-Star invitees.

Interesting that six out of the eight Dominican players featured in the All-Star game were voted in by the fans of starters. Out of 18 position starters on the NL and AL squad, that means that 33% of the starters in the All-Star game come from the Dominican Republic. This is a huge number, considering that 11% of MLB players are Dominican.

But, alas the overall number of total Dominicans on the 2012 MLB All-Star rosters is right at the percentage of Dominicans players in Major League Baseball. Eight of a total of around 70 players in the All-Star game are Dominican, which comes to 11%.

Four out of the nine position starters on the AL team are Dominican players, along with one pitcher:

• Robinson Cano is starting for the third strait time and making his fourth appearance overall. He is from San Pedro de Macoris, Republica Dominicana.
• Adrian Beltre is starting for the second strait year and is playing in his third strait All-Star game. Beltre is from the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo.
• Jose Bautista set the all-time votes record last year, only to have that record broken by Josh Hamilton this year.  He is from Santo Domingo too.
• David Ortiz is an All-Star for the eighth time, also from Santo Domingo.
• Fernando Rodney is from Samana, Dominican Republic and is playing in his first All-Star game.

There are two Dominican starters and one Dominican reserve player on the NL squad:

• Rafael Furcal made his third All-Star game in his thirteenth year in the bigs. Not surprising, considering he was named the Dominican Baseball Guy player of the week earlier this season. He is from Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic.
• Melky Cabrera is from Santo Domingo and is appearing in his first mid-summer classic.
• Starlin Castro will play in his second All-Star game in just his third big league season. He is from Monte Cristi, DR.

See all these top Dominican players and the rest of the MLB All-Stars July 10, 2012 on FOX.

Dominican player of the week: Hanley Ramirez

Hanley Ramirez hit .500 with 4 HR and 6 RBI, and that wins him the Dominican Baseball Guy Dominican player of the week award.

Hanley had a down year last year, but has made the transition to third base this season, and he is having a good year at the plate thus far. Ramirez, and fellow Dominican player Jose Reyes have the Marlins in the playoff chase in the National League East.

He is from Samana, an awesome Dominican beach town on the east coast of the country.

Carlos Gomez of the Brewers also received consideration for the NL player of the week award. He is from  Santiago, Dominican Republic.

Dominican player of the week Hanley Ramirez, by SD Dirk on Flick

Dominican baseball players in Opening Day game, Peloteros Dominicanos juegan en el primer dia de la temporada MLB

It is finally opening day and the Reds and Marlins have just kicked off the first day of the MLB season, well not counting that opening game or two played in Japan.

So...you ask...how many Dominican baseball players will be playing in this Opening Day game?

Well the Cardinals start Rafael Furcal, and...crickets.  That is the only Dominican player the Cardinals have on the roster.  That has to be some kind of record, only one Dominican baseball player on the entire roster.  But it is so.  Furcal is from Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic.

The Marlins on the other hand, have a few Dominican players on their roster.  They have Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, and Emilio Bonificio all starting.  And that is it.  Reyes is from Villa Gonzalez, Ramirez is from Samana, and Bonificio is from the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo.

This is a pretty small number of Dominican baseball players represented on these two teams.  It is just below the ten percent mark of last season for Dominican players on MLB rosters to start the year.  We should see the total number of Dominican baseball players on opening day rosters for this season in the next couple days.

Hanley Ramirez is one of several Dominican baseball players to start on opening day,
photo by afagen on Flickr

Dominican baseball player Hanley Ramirez takes his first action at third base for the Marlins, Hanley Ramirez juega tercer base por Marlins

Spring training is getting under way, and apparently the thing to do down around the Marlins campl in Jupiter, Florida was to write about Hanley Ramirez and his move to third base.  Granted, it is by far the most intriguing story for the Miami Marlins thus far.

The Boston Harold put out an article (Marlins’ Hanley Ramirez gets going at third base), as did the the Sun Sentinel (Hanley Ramirez acquaints himself with third base), and even Sports Illustrated covered the story (Ramirez's move to third base may be smoother than expected).

Of course, the reason that this is a story is because the Marlins signed Jose Reyes this past off-season.  Jose Reyes is clearly the better fielding short stop, so Hanley has been tasked with moving to third.

At first, reports were that Ramirez was unhappy and wanted to stay at short stop.  But he has rebuked these claims and Hanley Ramirez says he is happy to play third base for the Miami Marlins.  He made this clear through his twitter account in the last few days too: http://twitter.com/hanleyramirez.

By all accounts he is happily making the transition, and just wants to win.  Manager Ozzie Guillen is probably making the move easier too, by downplaying the severity of such a move and deflecting any possible problems. He is basically coming up with all the reasons the move is great, and hoping that the media (and Hanley) will latch on to one of those positives motives/outcomes.

The Dominican Baseball Guy thinks the move will be great, and Hanley will return to MVP form after a slump and injuries last season.  Hanley is from Samana, Republica Dominicana.

Dominican baseball player Hanley Ramirez, by SD Dirk on Flick

Dominican player Hanley Ramirez OK with switch to 3B, Dominicano Hanley Ramirez esta bien con cambio a tercer base

Everyone knows that Jose Reyes just signed with the Marlins because the Dominican Baseball Guy just blogged about it: Pelotero Dominicano Jose Reyes firma con Miami Marlins, Dominican baseball player Jose Reyes signs with Marlins.

Well, that signing means that the Marlins have two quality short stops.  Early reports were that Marlins incumbent all-star short stop Hanley Ramirez did not want to switch to third base.  That could have been a big problem for the Marlins.

But in the end, all is well in Marlin land.  Hanley hashed it out with new coach Ozzie Guillen and now endorses the switch to third base.  He says all he wants to do is win, even if it is at third base.

So, the Dominican Baseball Guy is excited to see the new all-Dominican left side of the Marlins infield.  From the recollection of the Dominican Baseball Guy, this could be the best all-Dominican half infield of all-time.

Hanley Ramirez es de Samana, Republica Dominicana, and Jose Reyes es de Villa Gonzalez, Republica Dominicana.

Hanley Ramirez, by SD Dirk on Flickr 

David Ortiz mentor to Robinson Cano and other younger Dominicans, David Ortiz es mentor para Dominicanos jovenes

David Ortiz has been an ambassador of Dominican baseball and Latin baseball since he busted on the scene with his first all-star campaign in 2004.  While he has been spreading the word of Dominican baseball to American fans and representing the game for all Dominicans, he has also served as a mentor to up and coming Dominican players.

The Dominican Baseball guy blogged on David Ortiz and his relationship with Hanley Ramirez a few months back.  Ramirez came up with the Red Sox and Ortiz showed him the big league ropes early in his career.

Ortiz has a similar relationship with Robinson Cano.  David Ortiz and Robinson Cano first met at a stadium in the Dominican Republic over ten years ago.  Cano remembers the meeting fondly, and says they have had a tight relationship ever since.  Ortiz gives him advice and even picked him for his team in the 2011 home run derby.

According to Ortiz:

“I look at him like a little brother,” said Ortiz. “It’s great. I really try to get along with everybody around me and since the first time I saw him, I saw how hard he was trying to be a good player and came to be who he is today. I always have open hands for people like that.”

Cano hopes to continue the cycle of good will and serve as a mentor to future young Dominican players.

David Ortiz es de Santo Domingo, Robinson Cano es de San Pedro de Macoris, and Hanley Ramirez es de Samana.

David Ortiz bats with the Boston Red Sox

Dominican player Hanley Ramirez sees David Ortiz as big brother

Hanley Ramirez came up with the Red Sox in 2005 when David Ortiz was in the prime of his career, and Ortiz has been a mentor to the younger Dominican star ever since.  Even though Ramirez only played two games with the Red Sox that year before being sent to the Marlins, the two players built a relationship that has remained strong.  The Dominican Baseball Guy mentioned this relationship during the All-Star game last year.

Ramirez seems to be in the same situation that Ortiz had in 2005: both young Dominican stars in the prime of their career expected to both lead and carry their teams.  So, Ortiz has plenty of advice for Ramirez, and Ramirez seems to be taking much of that advice.  Mainly, stay out of the news and just play your game, leading by example.

Ortiz is from Santo Domingo and Ramirez is from Samana, DR.

Dominican player Hanley Ramirez, by SD Dirk on Flickr

Dominican MLB All Stars

The Major League All Star game is tonight and the Home Run Derby was last night.

Two Dominicans, David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez fought it out in the finals of the Home Run Derby.  What can the Dominican Baseball Guy say about Hanley Ramirez.  Probably the sweetest swing in the game.  He already has a batting title and now he is winning the Home Run Derby.  And he plays shortstop.  But experience won out this time as David Ortiz paced himself.  Hanley is from Samana and Big Papi is from Santo Domingo.  Ortiz counseled a young Ramirez early in his career:

"Hanley is like a son to me. He grew up with us in  Boston" Ortiz said.  "I was all over him, because i knew he had a super talent. I'm really happy for him. He showed what he could do."  

Many young Dominicans have been unable to adjust to cultural differences and pressures of big league play.  Obviously these two have made a swell transition to the MLB.

Here is a preview of tonight's All-Star Game.  And it took me several minutes (an eternity in internet time) to find a list of the current All Star rosters.  The Dominican Baseball Guy was surprised to see that there are 81 All Stars.  Lots of All Stars.  Five out of 20 starters are Dominican, and there are 14 total Dominicans out of the 81 All Stars.  This is 17% of the All Stars, while no other country (besides the United States of course) is represented by more than 2 All Stars.  Of course, Ubaldo Jimenez will start for the NL and he says that he is happy to represent his family and the Dominican Republic in this interview.  Should be a good game tonight, we will see how these Dominican peloterros do.