Dominican players in MLB playoffs 2015: AL Wildcard Edition

The Astros and the Yankees have set their rosters for tonight's AL Wildcard at Yankee Stadium. Both teams can reset their 25-man rosters for the divisional round after the one game wildcard match up. So, it is only a mild surprise that the Astros decided to bring nine pitchers.

The Astros bring with them two Dominican players to New York. Eight of the nine pitchers are American, with Oliver Perez hailing from Mexico. Drug kingpin Chapo Guzman is probably a big fan of Perez, as he is from Culiacan, Sinaloa. The Tomateros de Culiacan have been very successful in the Mexican Pacific League, winning ten domestic titles and two Caribbean World Series.

There are four Latin players in the Astros infield group, but only one of them is from the Dominican Republic. Jonathan Villar is from La Vega, DR. Back in 2011 he was a top 100 prospect, and he has played with the Astros for the last three seasons and been one of their first outfielders off the bench. Villar has also played and started for the Aguilas in the Dominican Winter Baseball League, and had a home run in the playoffs back in January. Unfortunately for Villar he is behind Puerto Rican sensational rookie Carlos Correa, so he will likely be used only as a pinch hitter.

Carlos Gomez, known as Go-Go, will start in center field
for the Astros. Photo by Arturo Pardavila III on Flickr.

The only other Dominican player that the Astros bring to the AL Wildcard is outfielder Carlos Gomez. When he made his debut in 2007 with the Mets, Gomez was the youngest player in National League at 21 years old. He has since had a successful nine year MLB career and made two All-Star games with the Brewers before being traded to the Astros this year. He has been injured, but will be starting in center field. Carlos is from Santiago, so it is natural that he has played for the Aguilas in the Dominican Winter League for a number of years, even appearing with them after he became an All-Star.

While the Astros only have two Dominicans on the 2015 AL Wildcard roster, they also have three players from Venezuela, one from Mexico, and one from Puerto Rico. Not surprising considering their GM, Jeff Luhnow, speaks Spanish and has strong ties to Latin America as he grew up in Mexico City.

The Yankees on the other hand, bring three Dominican players to the wild card contest. Or four if you count Alex Rodriguez, but considering he was born in Miami, I consider him an American player.

Two pitchers, Ivan Nova and Luis Severino will be in the bullpen for the Yankees. Nova was one of the top prospects in all of baseball when he was coming up, and has had a fairly successful six years in the majors, posting a 4.33 ERA in over 600 innings. He is from Palenque and has played for Escogido in the Dominican Winter League. Severino has had a highly successful debut season this year, after being named to some AAA All-Star teams.

The third Dominican player that the Yankees have on the roster is a rookie that only played in two games. Gary Sanchez is another can't miss prospect and has made All-Star teams at every level including a Futures team this year. This seems to be a move to get a young player some playoff experience. Gary is from the capital of Santo Domingo and has played for one of two great teams in the capitol, Escogido.

The winner of this one game wild card may reshuffle the roster before facing Kansas City in the next round.

What Next For The New York Yankees by Mybookie.ag

Dominican player Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees
seek another AL title, photo by Keith Allison on Flick

The New York Yankees are excited and relieved in equal measures with the return of Alex Rodriguez at a very crucial stage of their campaign. Rodriguez will be looking to help his team equal the season’s longest winning streak when they face the struggling Oakland Athletics on Thursday night. Just last week, Hal Steinbrenner, the owner, said that Rodriguez is a great asset, although not everyone in New York is as thrilled about his return after he was suspended the whole of last season for using a banned substance. The designated hitter, at 39 years of age, was instrumental in the three game sweep of Kansas City who are the reigning AL champions. He hit a three run shot on the 4-2 victory on Wednesday for his 11th homer of the season. He marked an impressive 1,995 RBIs to overtake Lou Gehrig 1,993 RBIs to record the most in the history of AL. It is also a great opportunity for those who wish to get involved in the betting battle. Check it out, the MLB odds in this betting preview to make the best decisions.

In the 2013 season, Rodriguez featured in only 44 appearances for his team after being sidelined with a hip surgery. In an interview, he admitted that despite being out of any baseball action for 2 years, he feels like he is in a good place, happy and having fun. He saw the spell as an opportunity to rest and get his energy back; the reason why he saw this spell as a blessing in disguise. He feels explosive as he seeks to build on his .375 average in the last 13 encounters with the A’s, but he hasn’t faced them since 3 years ago. Strong pitching is the other thing that places New York in a better position to match its season’s best four-game winning streak.

The other player on our radar is CC Sabathia. This season, he has had his worst performance ever, despite going for nine straight years without injury. Sabathia was responsible for six of the 10 Texas’ 10 runs on Saturday’s 15-4 loss. However, the six-time all-star has won his previous two road starts where he owns a 3.48 ERA after six starts compared to the 11.77ERA at home. After losing his two starts in 2013 against the A’s he has a 6.00 ERA.

Out of the 8 on road matches, the Yankees have dropped seven of them and nine of the 10 matches in Oakland. However, the A’s still hold the worst record at home at 6-16 given that they have lost six of the seven home games after the 3-2 loss on Wednesday to Detroit. Kendall Graveman will be the man that Oakland will be turning to after he has impressed since he was recalled from Triple-A Nashville. The right-hander has never faced the Yankees, but he featured on the opening day roster, although he went 1-2 in four starts before he was sent down with an 8.27 ERA. Graveman was impressed with his performance as he told the MLB official website that he felt comfortable in the game. His movements were good, he located the fastball impressively and whenever he was required to change his speed, he did it well.

Dominican players in MLB 2012 playoffs: ALCS edition

Look for Dominican player Robinson Cano 
to be major factor in the 2012 ALCS. 
Photo credit: Keith Allison on Flickr

The ALCS is here, featuring the Yankees and the Tigers, and as usual there are a number of Dominicans players in this version of the league championship series.

The Yankees have Robinson Cano, Rafael Soriano, and  Alex Rodriguez. Does he count? That subject has been broached time and time again here at the Dominican Baseball Guy and I say no, he is American not Dominican.

Already a Dominican legend half way through his career, Cano was a pre-season MVP candidate here at the Dominican Baseball Guy and he did not disappoint. Cano got went to his third strait All-Star game and should see his third strait Silver Slugger award. He was in the top-12 in the AL in average, home runs, and RBI. This could be his year to get the MVP of the ALCS is he can get some clutch hits.

Rafael Soriano is a haus at the back end of the Yankees bullpen. After Mariano Rivera went out with an injury, Soriano came in and did not miss a beat. He ended the year with 42 saves and a 1.17 WHIP. He also threw more than one strikeout per inning on the year. If he gets a chance to save some games he will do it at a very high percentage.

The Tigers feature six Dominicans on their active roster: Jhonny Peralta, Al Alburquerque, Joaquin Benoit, Octavio Dotel, Jose Valverde, Ramon Santiago. While they do not have the star power the Yankees have, they certainly have the numbers with six Dominican players out of their 25-man active roster.

Jose Valverde is another Dominican haus closer at the end of the Tigers bullpen. Throwing only a fastball and a splitter, Valverde epitomizes a power closer. He had the third longest saves streak ever back in 2011. Even though he blew a save last round, look for Valverde to be perfect if he gets any save opportunities.

The Tigers Dominican infielder Jhonny Peralta is little known for having been an everyday player over eight seasons. He actually played in the playoffs back in 2007 with the Indians...they made the playoffs that year? He made his one and only All-Star team last year with the Tigers, but was down from those numbers this year. But he is just the type of journey man player that could show up big in a playoff series.

The other Tigers will be coming off the bench, and should not factor in a major way.

The Yankees also have Dominican players Ivan Nova, Zoilo Almonte, Eduardo Nunez, and Melky Mesa available on their 40-man roster. And the Tigers have Luis Marte on their 40-man.

Total, that comes out to eight Dominican players out of 50 on the ALCS active rosters, and 13 Dominicans out of 80 on the total rosters. Or 16% of the players in the ALCS are Dominican natives.

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

Red Sox-Yankees series features many foreign players

The Red Sox versus Yankees series that took place last week featured 14 foreign born players out of the 50 players on the two teams active and reserve rosters.  The Yankees have six Dominicans, including Rafael Soriano and Robinson Cano.  The Red Sox have just one, David Ortiz.

The two biggest clubs in baseball are always interested in signing a top flight talent, no matter what the cost or country of origin.  The Yankees have featured a number of Dominicans throughout the years, such as Alfonso Soriano and Alex Rodriguez.  The Red Sox championship teams in the 2004 and 2007 of course had two of the best players of their generation in David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, as well as Pedro Martinez among others.

Alfonso Soriano and Cano are both from San Pedro de Macoris, and Ortiz and Ramirez are both from Santo Domingo.  Fans of the Yankees and Red Sox should enjoy this series and enjoy seeing all the great Dominicans play all year.

David Ortiz, by Googie Man

Dominican Nicknames

Nicknames are very common in this country, everyone has them, and generally goes by their nickname. With that said, the commentators on TV and the announcers at games end up giving out lots of nicknames to players.

All baseball fans know Dominicans David Ortiz (Big Papi), Manny Ramirez (Man Ram), Alex Rodriguez (ARod), and Pedro Martinez (Petey).

Thus far the Dominican Baseball Guy has said that Juan Francisco is known a ¨El Diamante¨ (The Diamond) and Dario Veras is known as ¨El Flaco de Oro¨(The Golden Skinny Guy). Of course Dario´s nickname makes a lot more sense in Spanish.

I spent last night in the press box with the announcer for los Gigantes and learned a knew nickname. Israel Paredes (the Announcer for Gigantes) has been calling Luis Durango La Maquina (The Machine). All these nicknames fit the players really well. Durango is leading the league in steals, and when he runs he does it like a machine. He plays center field really well and has a pretty good average. The Dominican Baseball Guy earlier guaranteed that we will see him in the Majors within 2 years, and he has done nothing to make me doubt this. Interestingly, Durango is Panamanian, and counts as an import in the Dominican Winter League. Durango was with the Padres AA team last year, check out the labels to see other posts on him.











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More nicknames to come, just check out the nicknames tag.

Dominican Albert Pujols Wins National League MVP

I am sure everyone knows Albert Pujols won the National League MVP, recieving all 32 first place votes. This was the top sports story on pretty much every broadcast down in the Dominican Republic. Dominicans follow all baseball, but they follow their native sons more closely than anything.

Here is a clip of Albert talking about the MVP award. And here is the espn.com article.

Another Dominican, Hanley Ramirez got second.

George Bell, Vladamir Guerrero, Miguel Tejada, Sammy Sosa, and ugh Alex Rodriguez are other Dominicans that have won MVPs. The Dominican Baseball Guy thinks Alex Rodriguez is about as Dominican as he is. Many Dominicans call him a traitor, and the Dominican Baseball Guy thinks he is a traitor to America. So basically, Alex flip flopping on which country he wants to represent makes him a traitor to people from both countries.

But the Dominican Baseball Guy digresses. Congrats Albert Pujols, best player in the game.

Pujols bats in the 2009 Home Run Derby, by shgmom56 on Flickr

Dominican Winter Baseball League is one of tops in world, Historia de LIDOM

The Dominican Baseball Guy is in the Dominican Republic to follow the 2009-2010 Dominican Winter Baseball League. Covering Dominican baseball is overwhelming.

There are pickup games, youth teams and leagues everywhere, training academies run by Dominicans, the majority of Major League clubs have Dominican baseball academies here, there is the Dominican Summer League (a rookie league run by Major League clubs), there are all the Dominicans in the big leagues, Dominican prospects and minor leaguers, and there is the Dominican Winter Baseball League aka LIDOM.

The Dominican Baseball Guy is the Gigantes del Cibao throughout this season in the Dominican Republic Winter Baseball League. The history of the Dominican Winter Baseball League is a long and storied one.

The LIDOM is one of the better baseball leagues in the world, probably only surpassed by Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Nippon Professional Baseball League in Japan (NPB). The other top winter baseball leagues are the Mexican Pacific League, the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, and the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League. The champions of these four leagues face off in the Caribbean World Series each year.

The consensus seems to be that the Dominican League is the best of these four, and only surpassed by MLB and NPB.. The Dominican Baseball Guy bases this assumption on a number of assertions. First, Dominican teams have won eleven of the previous twenty Caribbean Series, and the most overall at seventeen. This is kind of arbitrary given that the Caribbean Series is only six games for each team, but nonetheless, it is a very high number.

Second, each of these four leagues places limits on the number of imported players each team can have, so the teams are made up almost exclusively of players from these countries. A statistical analysis of minor league and major league players and their place of birth could be a major undertaking, but it has been obvious throughout the history of the game, and especially in the last twenty years, that more players have come out of the Dominican Republic than any country besides the USA. This being the case, the Dominican Winter League has a larger pool of players to draw from than the leagues in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.

Lastly, The Dominican Baseball Guy argues that the history of the Dominican Winter Baseball League is more prestigious than the other three leagues. This league has been around in some form since the 1920s and in its current form as the LIDOM since 1951. While the other three leagues associated with the Caribbean Series have also been around since the 1940s, the quality and depth of players in the Dominican Winter Baseball League has been far superior. Virtually every Dominican major leaguer played in this league at some point, including Miguel Tejada, David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Albert Pujols, even Alex Rodriguez.

There are summer and winter leagues in several other countries, but they are undoubtedly looking up at the leagues mentioned here.


The Gigantes are one team in this very good baseball league, and they are in the city of San Fransisco de Macoris. The other teams are los Leones de Escogido in Santo Domingo, los Tigres del Licey in Santo Domingo, los Aguilas in Santiago, the Bulls of La Romana, and the Eastern Stars of San Pedro de Macoris.

The LIDOM logo