Dominican players in MLB playoffs 2012: NLCS edition

The 2012 NLCS is under way and the Cardinals currently lead the Giants 3-1, and are looking to clinch the series tonight in San Francisco. There are some Dominican players in this years NLCS, but not as many as we have seen in other playoff series.

The Cardinals have a whopping zero Dominican players on their roster, after having one of the top Dominican baseball players of all-time on their roster for over a decade, in Albert Pujols. They do have Miakel Cleto, Victor Marte, and Rafael Furcal on their 40-man roster.

Furcal, the twelve year MLB veteran was a major part of the Cardinals World Series championship last year and a big part of the team this year, as he made his third All-Star game. Also a former Dominican Winter Baseball League player and a Caribbean Series All-Star in 2008, Furcal injured his elbow at the end of August and has not played since.

The Giants have several Dominicans on their active roster for the NLCS. Playing for the Giants will be pitchers Santiago Casilla and Guillermo Mota, and position player Joaquín Árias.

Dominican player Jaoquin Arias is one of three Dominican
players on active rosters in 2012 NLCS, photo by Aunti Juli

Interesting that Árias appeared in 112 regular season games, even though he was not an everyday player. He seemed to be the first pinch hitter off the Giants bench and has continued that role through four games of the NLCS. Thus far, the two year MLB player has appeared in five post season games and has three hits.

Santiago Casilla is in his ninth MLB season, and got his first chance to be an everyday closer this season. With 25 saves on the year and a 2.24 ERA, Casilla was entrenched as the closer until he injured his fingers. The Giants then went with a closer by committee approach, but Casilla could still be called upon to close some NLCS games. So far in the playoffs, he has pitched 4.1 innings and allowed just one earned run.

Guillermo Mota has been a solid mid-inning reliever in the big leagues since 2002. He appeared in 26 games this year with the Giants, and has pitched 1.2 innings in the playoffs and allowed four runs. A 21.6 ERA is not a great start, so I doubt to see him much more unless the Giants are in a bind.

While the Dominican players in MLB playoffs on American League rosters was 16% of all players, in the NLCS only 6% of the players are Dominican natives, way off the overall MLB percentage of Dominican players.

Dominican player of the week: Albert Pujols

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman Albert Pujols was named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending August 5. And anytime a Dominican player gets the player of the week award in either league, he almost always gets the Dominican baseball player of the week here at the Dominican Baseball Guy blog.

It was well publicized that Pujols got off to one of the worst slumps of his career when he joined the Angels this off-season. He seems to have righted the ship since roughly the start of June. It is no surprise that the Angels started playing better ball as soon as Pujols began to hit like he has his entire career. The Angels are now pressuring the Rangers for first place in the American League West and pushing for a wildcard spot. They were five and half games back of the Rangers and just a half game off the wildcard pace Monday.

Last week Pujols batted .424 with five doubles, six home runs, 13 RBI and nine runs scored in seven games played. It was Pujols' 12th career player of the week award and first since joining the Angels.

He is from the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo.

Dominican player of the week Albert Pujols, photo by Marianne O'Leary on Flickr

Dominican player of the week: Rafael Furcal of the Saint Louis Cardinals

There is still one really good Dominican baseball player in Saint Louis, and his name is not Albert Pujols.  Cards fans are perhaps happy to have this other Dominican player this season with the way the two players seasons are going.

Rafael Furcal is by far outplaying Pujols thus far.  This week he played well enough to win the Dominican baseball player of the week.  In five games this week, Furcal hit .667, with 14 hits, 4 runs, 2 stolen bases.  He added a couple walks to up his on-base percentage to .696.

He has been in the big leagues for 13 seasons, and Furcal is off to one of his hottest starts ever.  He is batting .383 with 16 RBI through 33 games.  His on-base percentage is pushing .450.  But, this will never hold up.  His career high average for a season that he played a full work load is .300, which came back in 2006 and 2008.

Furcal is what he is: a well above average fielder and a quality top of the order hitter that also has lots of post season experience, and a World Series title.  While this start cannot hold up, it is good enough for the Dominican player of the week this week.

Furcal is from Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic.

Other Dominicans in week 4: Robinson Cano (.500, 3 2B, HR, 6 RBI) from San Pedro de Macoris.

Dominican player of the week Rafael Furcal with the Dodgers in 2010, photo by SD Dirk on Flickr

Dominican Baseball Player of the Week: Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols is off to a horrendous start this season. He normally would not be in the running for the Dominican Baseball Player of the Week with a one home run performance. But, there were no other Dominican baseball players that had big weeks, and Albert got off the snide with his first home run of the season.

Expect the flood gates to open now. There have not been too many times in the career of Pujols in which he went 28 games and over 100 at-bats without a home run. And the Angels may be coming out of their team slump at the same time. They definitely need Pujols to contend with the Rangers in the AL West.

Dominican Baseball Player of the Week Albert Pujols is from Sano Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Dominican baseball player Albert Pujols with the Cardinals, by Leoraul Torres on Flickr

Dominican Golf: Albert Pujols to host celebrity golf tournament

Dominican baseball player Albert Pujols is the best player in the game by most accounts. He moved to the west coast this year for the first time in his career. This is a major loss for his old team the Cardinals, and major addition for the Angels. But it is perhaps an even bigger loss for the city of Saint Louis.

His move to Los Angeles will also affect his charitable givings. Albert is well known to be at the head of the Pujols Family Foundation, a non-profit that contributes to families of children with Down syndrome and helps poverty-stricken families in his native Dominican Republic.

Albert is a legend in Saint Louis both for his on-field work, and for his charitable work.

The Pujols Family Foundation has hosted a golf tournament for the last nine years in the Saint Louis area, but this year his annual golf tournament will be taking place in Southern California at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

Albert is excited to host the tournament and all his celebrity friends:

"We are excited to show the people of Southern California what the Pujols Family Foundation is all about," Pujols said in a statement. "This is a great day for the Foundation, and to host our event at a course like Trump National is pretty special."

The tournament will take place on July 26th and all proceeds benefit the Pujols Family Foundation. Visit the charity's website for more information:

Dominican food: Dominican baseball players offer their Dominican food recipes, Comida Dominicana!

Outside Miami and New York, it is pretty hard to find Dominican food and restaurants here in the States.  Most Americans could not even name what items are typical of Dominican food and cuisine.  The Dominican Baseball Guy recently wrote about cultural differences and adjustments that Dominican baseball players face when they come to the United States.

Along with differences in racial classifications mentioned in the previous blog post, the food is a big change for Dominican baseball players arriving in the States.  A common anecdote heard from Dominican players is that they just order chicken for months, until they learn more about the cuisine and learn the language.  Chicken is easy to order, one of the first "food words" that people learning a new language learn, and you can bet that most places serve some sort of chicken dish.  Also, it is the most common meat in the Dominican Republic, so most Dominican players probably prefer it anyway.

But for Dominican baseball players coming to the States, they want a taste of home.  Those that are not in New York or Miami, the only place to get traditional Dominican food is strait from the source, ie from Dominicans cooking in their own homes.  Vladimir Guerrero's mother is known to make some great Dominican food and share with his Dominican teammates.

And even some MLB Dominican baseball players themselves like to cook up their own Dominican food.  A recent cookbook showcases recipes from 20 MLB players, including several Dominican baseball players and their recipes for their favorite Dominican foods.  Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, and Alex Rodriguez are Dominican players that offer recipes.  Perhaps the most prototypical Dominican food dish, beans and rice OR arroz y habichuelas, is one of the Dominican meals found in the baseball cookbook.

All this talk of food makes the Dominican Baseball Guy miss arroz, habichuelas, and chicken.  Other common Dominican foods are yucca, cabbage, mofongo, and several varieties of plaintains.

Typical plate of Dominican food: rice, beans, chicken, and maybe a salad and noodles if you are lucky,
photo by Puroticorico on Flickr

Dominican baseball player Albert Pujols arrives at Spring Training, Pujols llega para "Spring Training"

The great Dominican baseball player Albert Pujols arrived at Angels camp Monday.  He arrived at spring training on the first day with pitchers and catchers.  ESPN outside the lines ran a feature story on their mid-day broadcast.

Pujols met his new teammates, made some comments to the media, and got a workout in.  It is a big change for Pujols.  He is leaving behind a great network in Saint Louis that included family and friends, his non-profit organization The Pujols Family Foundation, and a legion of the best fans in baseball. 

Albert is excited and hopeful about the move.  "I can't go back and feel sorry. Now, it's time to move on," Pujols said. "That was an old chapter in my life. Now, it's time to open a new one."

The Angels are looking to return to form and challenge the Rangers out west this season.  They spent over $350 million this off-season.  Albert says the whole goal of everyone in the Angels organization is to win the World Series.

Dominican baseball player Albert Pujols is from Santo Dominigo, Republica Dominicana.

Dominican baseball player Albert Pujols, by Leoraul Torres on Flickr

Manny Ramirez talks Albert Pujols new contract with Angels, Manny Ramirez habla sobre Pujols contrato con Angels

And so the world of Manny turns.  And whatever he says, people (like the Dominican Baseball Guy aka DBG) will listen.  Manny Ramirez retired from baseball in April, yet the DBG has found a way to blog about him four times since August.

First, Manny said he will play in the Dominican winter baseball league.  Then he was jailed for domestic disturbance in Florida.  Then Manny Ramirez reiterated the fact that he plans to play in the Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM) for the 2011 season.  And finally, MLB says that he cannot play in the LIDOM because he still has an MLB suspension to serve and LIDOM is affiliated with MLB, so he must serve that 50 game suspension before he can play in LIDOM.

So, as always, Manny Ramirez is in the news, even if he is not playing.  And when Manny speaks, the Dominican Baseball Guy listens.  The latest is that Manny Ramirez praises the Angels for signing Albert Pujols.  O really?  Thanks Manny for chiming in.  Here is the quote from ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com:

"He deserves that contract; he is the best slugger in history. The numbers speak for themselves," Ramirez said during an interview with ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com.

Manny Ramirez batting practice with
the Dodgers, by  pvsbond on Flickr

Wow, some humility from Manny.  The DBG always thought that in Manny's mind he was the best slugger in history.  Some amazing analysis from Manny, 'the Angels were smart to sign Pujols.'  He may have a career as an analyst in the future.

Well that ends another entry of as the Manny turns.  You will always be the favorite slugger of the DBG, even if Pujols is better than you Manny.  Here's hoping your latest comeback attempt is successful, so the DBG can see you play a few more times.

Manny Ramirez es de Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana.

Pelotero Dominicano Jose Reyes firma con Miami Marlins, Dominican baseball player Jose Reyes signs with Marlins

Jose Reyes has been a favorite of the Dominican Baseball Guy in recent months.  See all the Dominican Baseball Guy's post on Dominican baseball player Jose Reyes.  The Dominican Baseball Guy predicted that he would end up a Marlin just last month.  And of course the Dominican Baseball covered the release of his regaaeton album in August.

So, the latest is that Reyes signed a six year $106 million dollar contract with the Miami Marlins.  Wowza!  The Dominican Baseball Guy remembers back in the day when those were ARod or Pujols numbers.  But Jose Reyes?  The Dominican Baseball Guy loves Reyes, but this seems a little much.  O well, he is going to team with Hanley Ramirez to make one of the greatest all-Dominican half infields of all-time.

And the Marlins are also pursuing the great Dominican baseball player a.k.a "The Machine" a.k.a. Albert Pujols.  That would give them perhaps the best three Dominicans to ever share the infield together.  Needless to say, the Dominican Baseball Guy is intrigued with this possibility.

Reyes is from Villa Gonzalez, Republica Dominicana and Pujols is from Santo Domingo, DR.

Jose Reyes' last hit with the Mets, by slgckgc on Flickr

Dominican baseball players in World Series, Dominicanos en el serie mundial

The World Series is upon us today.  That means it is time for the Dominican Baseball Guy's list of Dominican baseball players in the World Series.

Last round, the Dominican Baseball Guy's index predicted one of two league championship series.  The Cardinals had more Dominicanos than the Brewers did, and they won the series. In the ALCS the Rangers had one fewer Dominican players than the Tigers, but managed to win the series. They only had one less Dominican than the Tigers, so that explains the Index not predicting it correctly.

Enough about last round. Here is the list of peloteros Dominicanos in the World Series:

Texas Rangers: Neftali Feliz, Alexi Ogando, Adrian Beltre, Esteban German, Nelson Cruz
Saint Louis Cardinals: Octavio Dotel, Rafael Furcal...and o yea, some guy named Albert Pujols

So there were no changes to either team regarding the Dominican baseball players.  In total there are 8 Dominican baseball players in the World Series, 16% of all players.

According to the Dominican Baseball Guy's Dominican Baseball Index the Rangers should win this thing easily as they have 5 Dominican baseball players to the Cardinals three.  But wait, one of the Cardinals Dominicanos is Albert Pujols, aka the machine.

Should be good series, as always.  The Dominican Baseball Guy is excited to see all these jugadores de beisbol Dominicano play, and he is also excited to see if the Dominican Baseball Index holds up.  But most of all he is rooting for his loved Texas Rangers and Nelson Cruz.

Dominican baseball players in ALCS and NLCS, Peloteros Dominicanos en los finales de MLB

Time to announce the list of Dominicans baseball players in the league championship series this year.  Last round, The Dominican Baseball Guy's Dominican Baseball Index proved accurate once again.  The teams with the greater number of Dominican baseball players won in three out of four series in the 2011 divisional round of the Major League Baseball playoffs.

We will see if it proves accurate for the league championship series.  Here is the list of Dominican baseball players in the second round of the playoffs:

Texas Rangers: Neftali Feliz, Alexi Ogando, Adrian Beltre, Esteban German, Nelson Cruz
Detroit Tigers: Jose Valverde, Al Alburquerque, Alex Avila, Wilson Betemit, Jhonny Peralta, Ramon Santiago
Saint Louis Cardinals: Octavio Dotel, Rafael Furcal...and o yea, some guy named Albert Pujols
Milwaukee Brewers: Carlos Gomez

The Brewers were the only team to overcome the huge odds of the Dominican Baseball Index in the first round, and they will have to do it again this round, as they have only one beisbolista Dominicano on their roster. The Tigers lead the way this round with six Dominicans on their roster.

Overall there were no changes involving the Dominican baseball players. There will be 15 Dominicanos playing in the league championship series, 15% of the 100 total players.

Cardinals Albert Pujols profiled on 60 Minutes

The incredible Albert Pujols was profiled on 60 Minutes last Sunday.  The piece covers his great success on the field, but also his charitable contributions and other work off the field in the Saint Louis area.  He started the Pujols Family Foundation in 2005.  The foundation works to improve the lives of people living with Down syndrome and to help improve the lives of the impoverished in the Dominican Republic.  Here is the 60 Minutes piece:

Albert is from Santo Domingo, DR.  Please visit the Pujols Family Foundation to make a donation.

Pending free agency of Albert Pujols will be major story for Cardinals

The Albert Pujols contract saga has dominated the Cardinals offseason and will be a major story throughout the season.  This despite Albert's insistence that he will not negotiate during the season:

"I won't re-open them during the season. Look at this. This is going to be a distraction all year. Come on, man. It's not rocket science. ... It's a zoo. I don't think my teammates deserve that. I have too much respect for my team."

There are plenty of Yankee and Red Sox haters that say he will go to one of these A.L. East juggernauts, and others theorists have him heading to the Cubs or the Angels, but the Dominican Baseball Guy predicts he will resign with the Cardinals in the end.  They need him and Albert just strikes as the kind of person that is happy playing in a mid-size market, especially Saint Louis where he has a major charity foundation and many other ties.


We will all see at the end of the season, but he will surely put up another MVP-worthy performance this season.  Albert is from Santo Domingo, DR.

Albert Pujols, by Leoraul Torres on Flickr

Albert Pujols arrives at spring training without a contract

Albert Pujols arrived at Cardinals camp yesterday without a long term deal in place.  According to Matthew Leach of MLB.com 10 years and $30 million per year, while the Cardinals were offering 8 years and around $26 million per year.  Albert is from Santo Domingo, DR.

This has been the most buzz worthy story of the first week of spring training.  Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa weighed in and said the players union pressures players like Pujols to go for the best deal possible.  Both Pujols and the Cardinals insist they will honor the February 16 deadline for a contract and revisit the negotiations after the season.

The Dominican Baseball Guy thinks that this 10 years for a player that is 30 years old (or older, allegedly) is crazy.  But it is Albert Pujols, the most productive hitter in the game and crucial to the Cardinals lineup and the city of Saint Louis.

Albert swings away, by SD Dirk on Flickr

What does everyone think?  Sign at any price, or let him go to the Yankees?

Dominican Baseball Guy MLB 2010 All-Dominican Team

It is finally time for the Dominican Baseball Guy's prestigious All-Dominican team.  This is a yearly all-star team of the best Dominican players in the MLB for each season.  It is based on numbers, the year each player had, but also on who the Dominican Baseball Guy thinks is the best Dominican Player at each position.  So here is the 2010 MLB All-Dominican Team, as chosen by the Dominican Baseball Guy.

1B Albert Pujols: He did what he always does: .312, 42 HR, 118 RBI.  There is a reason they call this guy "la maquina" or "the machine."  He has hit .300 with 30+ HR and 100+ RBI in every year of his 10 year career.  Pujols has already won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger for 2010.  Pujols won the August Dominican Baseball Guy Player of the month and the NL Player of the Month Award.  He is from Santo Domingo, DR.


2B Robinson Cano: This was another easy choice for the Dominican Baseball Guy.  Like Pujols, Cano won both the Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger for 2B in the AL.  So, since he is the best fielder and hitter at his position, he obviously gets a spot on the All-Dominican Team for 2010.  He made the Sporting News post season All-Star team at 2B too.  Cano won the AL Player of the Month for April.  Cano is from San Pedro de Macoris, DR.





SS Hanley Ramirez: Hanley had a self-admited down year, but he still hit .300 with 21 home runs and 76 RBI.  The Dominican Baseball guy is no sure how this guy does not have 100 RBI every year.  He won the Home Run Derby, after which the Dominican Baseball Guy tabbed him as the "sweetest swing in the game."  He has already won the Sporting News NL SS of the year award.  Hanley is from Samana, DR.






3B Adrian Beltre: Adrian won the AL Silver Slugger award for third base.  He has been in the big leagues for 13 years and had perhaps his best year at the plate this year with the Red Sox (.321, 28HR, 102 RBI).  He was the Dominican Baseball Guy June 2010 Player of the Month.  Beltre is from Santo Domingo, DR.

OF Jose Bautista:  Bautista led the MLB with 54 HR and was third in RBI with 124.  He won an AL Silver Slugger and the Hank Aaron award for the top hitter in the AL.  He won the Dominican Baseball Guy Dominican Player of the Month, and the AL Player of the Month for July and August.  Another obvious choice for the All-Dominican Team.  He is from Santo Domingo, DR.

OF Nelson Cruz: So, Nelson only had 22 HR and 78 RBI this year, but he only played in 108 games.  The Dominican Baseball Guy thinks he showed his true form in the playoffs, setting an all-time record for extra-base hits in the playoffs.  If he can stay healthy he will be an All-Star for many years to come.  Cruz is from Monte Cristi, DR.


OF Vladimir Guerrero: OK, Vlad only played a handful of games in the outfield this season.  But the Dominican Baseball Guy did not see any other Dominicans that warranted receiving this prestigious award for this season.  Vlad had an incredible year too (29 HR, 115 RBI, .300).  He is a lifetime .320 hitter, which is 5th on the active list and 54th all-time.  This from a guy that is seen as a power hitter.  One of the Dominican Baseball Guy's favorite players ever, he is from Nizao, DR.

Starting Pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez: Ubaldo got off to a great start and won the NL Pitcher of the Month for April and May.  He was 15-1 at the All-Star break.  He slowed down later in the season, but still finished 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA in 220 innings.  According to this article he is still in a 4 way race for NL Cy Young.

Relief Pitchers Rafael Soriano and Carlos Marmol: Soriano was 3rd in the MLB in saves with 45.  He won the Delivery Man of the Month Award three times this year and The Dominican Baseball Guy Pitcher of the Month award once.  Marmol won the Delivery Man of the Month award once, was 7th in the MLB in saves, and set an MLB record with 15.99 Ks per 9 innings.  Rafael is from San Jose, DR and Carlos is from Bonao, DR.

Rookie Neftali Feliz: Neftali tied for fifth in MLB in saves and set a rookie record with 40 saves.  He won the AL Rookie of the Year award already, so he is surely the top Dominican rookie this season.  Neftali is from Azua, DR.

Notice there are no catchers on the All-Dominican team.  The Dominican Baseball Guy has noticed a strange trend: there are very few Dominican catchers at any level.  The Dominican Baseball Guy does not know of any Dominican catchers in the big leagues, and even in the Dominican Winter Baseball League, a lot for the catchers are imports.  Other than this lack of a catcher, this All-Dominican team has an All-Star or someone that could play for any big league team at every position.  It would be a pretty successful club if they were to all play together.  Not sure how they keep managing to do so bad in the World Baseball Classic.

Dominican MLB 2010 Players of the Month

The Dominican Baseball Guy awarded monthly winners for the top Dominican player and pitcher in the MLB throughout the 2010 season.  These are based solely on the Dominican Baseball Guy's opinion as to which Dominican players had the best month.  Here are the winners throughout the season:

May: Ubaldo Jimenez and Vladimir Guerrero
June: Neftali Feliz and Adrian Beltre
July: Rafael Soriano and Jose Bautista
August: Wandy Rodriguez and Albert Pujols/Jose Bautista
September: Carlos Marmol and Pedro Alvarez

A number of Dominicans also won the official player of the month award for the NL and AL during the 2010 MLB season.  Here is the list of Dominicans that won these awards:

NL Pitcher of the Month (April and May): Ubaldo Jimenez
NL Player of the Month (August): Albert Pujols
NL Rookie of the Month (September): Pedro Alvarez
AL Pitcher of the Month (April): Francisco Liriano
AL Player of the Month (April): Robinson Cano
AL Player of the Month (May): David Ortiz
AL Player of the Month (July and August): Jose Bautista
AL Rookie of the Month (September): Neftali Feliz

Pretty incredible that Dominicans won 10 of the 37 player of the month awards on the year.  This from a country of 10 million people.

Look for the Dominican Baseball Guy's prestigious 2010 All-Dominican team to come out soon.

Dominican MLB September 2010 Players of the Month

The Dominican Player of the Month for September could easily go to one of the co-players of the month for August, Albert Pujols or Jose Bautista.  Both had huge months yet again, and Bautista received voted for the AL Player of the Month (see the MLB press release).  So consider them runners up for the Dominican Baseball Guy Dominican Player of the Month for September 2010.

But the Dominican Baseball is going with an little known Dominican for the Dominican Player of the Month for September.  And the award goes to Pedro Alvarez, of the Pittsburg Pirates.  The Dominican Baseball Guy knows, few of you have heard of him...and he plays for the Pirates.  But he had a huge September.  Over the last 30 days of the regular season he had 5 HRs, 24 RBIs, and hit .320.  And he is a rookie, and may still have his rookie eligibility for next year, though the Dominican Baseball Guy is not sure on this.  He did play in 95 games this year, and made it to the big leagues after just two plus years in the minors.  He actually went to Vanderbilt, which is not the most common route to the big leagues for Dominican Prospects.  He did not have the best year in the 95 games he did play, but was hot in September and maybe he has a more consistent year next year.  Pedro is from Santo Domingo, DR.

The Dominican Pitcher of the Month for September 2010 was an easier choice.  Carlos Marmol of the Cubs won the MLB Delivery Man of the Month award (see MLB press release), and he is the Dominican Baseball Guy's Dominican Pitcher of the Month for September 2010.  In September he was 13 for 13 in saves and did not allow a single run.  He finished the season with an MLB record 16K/9 innings.  Carlos is from Bonao, DR and has been in the big leagues for 5 seasons, but just became the everyday closer for the Cubs this year.  He has an interesting side arm style on some pitches that you can kind of see in this picture:

Dominican MLB August 2010 Players of the Month

Wow, this is gonna sound like "Groundhog Day," and there are going to be a couple of obvious choices for the prestigious Dominican Baseball Guy all-Dominican Team that will be announced at the end of the year.  But any time a Dominican wins one of the league player of the month or pitcher of the month awards, it is going to be hard for the Dominican Baseball Guy to give the Dominican player of the month award to another Dominican.

For the first time, there are co-Dominican Players of the Month.  Albert "Winnie the" Pujols won the NL Player of the Month for August and Jose Bautista won the AL award.  As the Dominican Baseball Guy has said before on this previous post, fullpitchcount.com has the best recap of the MLB players of the month.  Albert had another crazy month (.379, 11 HRs, 23 RBI) on the way to winning his 5th NL Player of the Month Award.  Jose Bautista won the AL award for the 2nd strait month with 12 HRs and 24 RBI.  He is the first Dominican to win the Dominican Baseball Guy's Dominican Player of the Month Award 2 months in a row.  Albert and Jose are both from the capital of the DR, Santo Domingo.

Even though Rafael Soriano won the MLB Delivery Man of the Month Award, and could certainly be given the Dominican Pitcher of the Month Award for a second strait month, the Dominican Pitcher of the Month goes to Wandy Rodriguez.  Wandy is a starter for the Dominican Baseball Guy's hometown Houston Astros and has pitched well for years.  He is an inning eater and has had an ERA hovering in the 3.00 range, while pitching around 200 innings the last two years.  Wandy received votes for the NL Pitcher of the Month Award and actually had the best overall numbers out of any NL Pitcher, other than the win-loss (2-1, 1.34, 43 SO, 40.1 IP).  But he plays for the Astros so what can he do.  Wandy is from Santiago, DR.

 

 Gotta love the Astros 1980's Nolan Ryan Era throwback jerseys.

All Star Game

The Dominican Baseball Guy hoped to blog about the All Star game, but there really is not much to say.  Most of the Dominicans were shut out.  Here is the yahoo sports recap if anyone is interested.

Hanley Ramirez, Rafael Furcal, Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista, Vladimir Guerrero, Adrian Beltre, and Robinson Cano were all hitless.  David Ortiz had 1 hit.  Jose Reyes did not play because he was injured.  So, the Dominicans were 1-12 on the night.

The Dominican pitchers fared a little better.  Ubaldo Jimenez pitched two scoreless innings to start the game for the NL.  Rafael Soriano and Jose Valverde each pitched a scoreless inning for the AL.  Neftali Feliz, and Fausto Carmona did not get to pitch.

So the Dominican Baseball Guy is sad to report that not much happened with the Dominicans in the All Star game this year.  But they did have 14 Dominicans selected to the game and David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez put on a great show the night before in the Home Run Derby, as the Dominican Baseball Guy says in his previous post.

Dominicans in 2010 MLB (Update #2)

There is a lot going on with Dominican Players in MLB right now.  This is an obvious fact since there were around 80 Dominicans on opening day rosters.  This number will fluctuate throughout the season as players are called up to the big show, or sent down to the minors, but the Dominican Baseball Guy thinks there should be at least 80 Dominicans in the big leagues all year.  So, some of these Dominicans will surely continue to make news.

Ubaldo Jimenez and Francisco Liriano continue to pitch well as starters, as the Dominican Baseball Guy stated a few posts back.  Jimenez is definitely a front runner for National League Cy Young at this point.

Vladimir Guerrero is playing very well for the Rangers.  He is in the top 10 in the American League in average and RBI right now.  Guerrero has long been a favorite player of the Dominican Baseball Guy.  He is a .322 lifetime hitter, an incredible lifetime average for someone that also hits for power.  He was the AL MVP in 2004 and has 4 Silver Slugger awards.  He also has a great arm in the outfield and the Dominican Baseball Guy has seen him throw out many runners from right field.  He had a walk off hit a few days ago too.

Alfonso Soriano and Robinson Cano are also off to good starts.  They are both from San Pedro de Macoris, the city highlighted in the new book, The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macoris.

Jose Bautista has played well for the Blue Jays.  Albert Pujols is doing his normal thing, batting like 1.000 with runners in scoring position and churning out his normal triple crown contending numbers.  Jose Guillen and Nelson Cruz have hit well, although Nelson Cruz has been injured some.

Interesting that the Dominican Baseball Guy does not mention some of the most famous Dominican ballplayers like Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz.  There is a new crop of Dominicans playing in MLB and there will be another group behind them, as there are no shortage of Dominican prospects in the minor leagues.