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

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.

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.

Alexander Valdez Player of Week

Alexander Valdez was named player of the week for the Dominican Winter Baseball League for the 2nd week. He is the second player from Escogido to receive the honor.

In 5 games, he was 10-22, with 2 doubles, 2 triples, and 7 RBI.

Alex is in the Oakland A´s organization (though his bio at milb.com says he is with the Angels). He spent last year with the AA Midland Rockhounds in the Texas League and played well starting at 3rd bas most games.

Alex Valdez in 2007 A ball game, by Joel Dinda on Flickr

Andy Marte hits 2 HRs, Gigantes lose to Toros

11/6/09 Game
Last night, the Gigantes lost 4-2, versus the Toros from La Romana. Fernando Abad got the win, and Andy Marte (pictured) hit 2 home runs for Toros. Marte played in 47 games with the Indians last year, and will be playing for fellow Dominican Manny Acta next year.

Andy Marte with the Indians in 2009, by Keith Allison on Flickr

Not much good happened for Gigantes after Erick Almonte hit a 2 run home run in the 1st inning.

Yankees win World Series, Curt Schilling comments on Pedro Martinez loss

Pedro Martinez lost and the Yankees won the World Series Wednesday night. Though most of the country was rooting for Pedro Martinez and the Phillies, the dominican baseball guy concedes that you will find front runners in all sports throughout the world. Asian Manchester United fans in soccer, Spanish Lakers fans...and Dominican Yankees fans. This is also due to the fact that there are a lot of Dominicans in New York. Whenever someone hears the dominican baseball guy is from the States, the first question is "you from New York." Just because lots of Dominicans go to New York, means every American is from there? So, a lot of people celebrated last night with fireworks and booze.

The fact is a lot of the people I have met really know nothing else of the States other than New York, and a lot really do not know where Houston is. There is obviously a portion of the population that is highly educated, but much of the country lacks more than a primary education.

Curt Schilling posted an interview on his blog, and spoke to the trials of Pedro Martinez and Dominican players. The dominican baseball guy thought it was enlightening and speaks to why Dominican players sometimes act differently than American players. Here is excerpt:

I always felt like with Pedro it was how he was treated. I think it would be hypocritical of me to get on that when you’re talking about a guy, and a bunch of guys, you’re talking about Dominican players, who come from a very different environment. I read something he said yesterday or the day before about that Latin players or Dominican players grow up in a world of survival. I’ve been to the Dominican and played winter baseball. While it certainly has changed, it is a very different life there. These kids, it’s baseball, or crime, or an incredibly low … So, they go through and endure things to get to the big leagues that none of us could even dream of. So, I certainly can’t comment to his mindset and mentality as it relates to that. And that’s a lot of what shaped Pedro, and it’s alot of what made Pedro great. I mean, he still had a chip on his shoulder for [Tommy] Lasorda and the Dodgers his entire life. Them trading him was an immense sign of disrespect. It was also one of the stupidest trades in the history of the game.

Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez celebrate Red Sox World Series title, by Ken Curtis on Flickr

Now the Dominican Republic baseball fans will turn to the Dominican Winter Baseball League. It is said that no political protests (or crime in general) happen during the baseball season. While people have been interested in the Winter League, the dominican baseball guy thinks it will take an even more center stage in daily discussions now that the MLB season has ended.

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.

Pedro Martinez to pitch in World Series

Pedro Martinez continues to be the talk of the Dominican Republic. He will pitch tonight for the Phillies, and as always, he had an entertaining interview session yesterday. The National Post has a transcription of the interview here.

It is funny, most Dominicans have no clue that Melky Cabrera (Dominican) was injured, or that Robinson Canó (Dominican) will play tonight for the Yankees. But they all know who Pedro is and most will be rooting for the Phillies thanks to Pedro and his Dominican heritage.

Pedro Martinez pitches for the Phillies, by dbking on Flickr

Luis Durango .483 average, Conner Jackson 2-4

11/3/09 Game
Panamanian Luis Durango continued his hot hitting for the Gigantes and is hitting .483 with 6 walks, and 4 stolen bases. He has been hitting lead off daily and playing center field.

Luis Durango in 2008 with the Padres A affiliate, by SD Dirk on Flickr

Conor Jackson continued to hit as well, after being named player of the week for the first week. He went 2-4 with 2 RBI to push his RBI total to 10 in 13 games.

The Gigantes lost 4-3, and fell to 0-8 on the road, while they are 5-1 at home. San Fransisco de Macoris does have the best fans that I have seen (I have attended games in Santiaogo and Santo Domingo). The atmosphere is better than a lot of MLB miseason games that I have attended. They are really in to the game and cheer loudly, even at times that do not seem to be big moments. But does a home field crowd really make that much of difference (0-8 vs. 5-1)? They need to improve on the road.

Juan Fransisco home run, Erick Almonte and Moises Sierra 3-4

11/1/09 Game
The Gigantes won again to improve to 5-1 at home.

Juan Francisco had his 2nd home run of the year. He has lots of raw power, and kills the ball in batting practice most days. Luis Taveras also had a home run, playing in place of Mark Wagner who has been out with an injury. Erick Almonte went 3-4, as the Gigantes had lots of offense last night. Almonte was in AAA last year and is a leading player for the Gigantes both last year and this year.

Kevin Barker is playing well and had two hits for Aguilas. See my previous posts through the tags below for information on these guys.

Moises Sierra also went 3-4. He plays right field in the Blue Jays organization and spent most of last year with the A-Advanced Dunedin Blue Jays in the Florida State League. He played well last summer and got a promotion to AA late in the season. He has been playing almost every day down here.

Moises Sierra in 2008 with A team Lansing, by Joel Dinda on Flickr