Major League Baseball extreme fatigue list includes 66 Dominicans

The Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM) nowadays features mainly AA and AAA players, with a few major leaguers thrown in. There was a time when the LIDOM was mainly big leaguers, with a few minor leaguers thrown in. The time was that big leaguers returned to their Dominican homeland to play for their beloved hometown teams. That time has passed.

Miguel Tejada was perhaps of the hometown boys to play in the prime of his career with his Dominican Winter League team. Today, the big league clubs tell their players if they can play in the winter leagues and how many games. They may force an American player to go down and play twenty games, even though he wants to enjoy his off-season (see Mark Trumbo). Or they may tell a native of Santiago, Dominican Republic that he can not play with his hometown team because he has pitched too many innings.

Not more than a few years ago, MLB implemented an 'extreme fatigue list' to standardize player's ability to play in the Caribbean winter leagues. A player makes the fatigue list when they reach 160 innings for major league pitchers, 600 innings behind home plate for catchers, and 502 turns-at-bat for infielders and outfielders. These are negotiated for each position and also depend on whether playing time is accrued at the major or minor league levels, but these are rough numbers.

This year, the 'extreme fatigue list' includes a record 66 Dominican baseball players. The list includes Ivan Nova, Fernando Martinez, Wilson Valdez, Jimmy Paredes, Emilio Bonifacio, Erick Aybar, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Esmil Rogers.

The fact is many of these players, especially the established big leaguers, would not be playing in the Dominican Winter Baseball League even if they were not on the 'extreme fatigue list.' These players are making too much money to risk injury for virtually no pay, in comparison to their big league salaries. But other fringe major leaguers or high level minor leaguers that need the extra pay check from a Dominican Winter Baseball League team would welcome the extra work and money.

With the 'extreme fatigue list' they are not given this option. If they are on this list, then the Major League club can hold them out of the Dominican Winter Baseball League. And in many cases, the clubs choose to use this option. It is not a good thing for the LIDOM because they lose players and have to draw from even lower levels of professional ball.

Dominican pitcher Ivan Nova is on the 'extreme fatigue list,'
photo by Keith Allison on Flickr

Is the Caribbean Series format flawed? El Serie del Caribe es defectuoso??

The Dominican Republic won the Caribbean Series this week, the contest between the winners of the winter baseball leagues from Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.  The Dominicans clinched the Series title with one game still to play in the 6 game round robin format.

Some are coming out and questioning the long standing Caribbean Series format after this result.  After all, the teams played a final game that was meaningless.  Critiques want to shorten the series and/or add more teams.

The Dominican Baseball Guy likes the format how it is.  Yea, it was a bad result all along this year, but this is the first year that the Dominican Baseball Guy seeing the series clinched before the last game.  It usually comes down to the final day of play.  Now the Dominican Baseball Guy could see adding a couple more teams.

Now, the solution of The Dominican Baseball Guy:

1. 1. Bring in two more teams to make it an eight team tournament, one would be Cuba, and the other would be a playoff of teams from Nicaragua, Columbia, Curaçao, and whoever else wants to enter a team.
2. Have two pools play a round robin, with the top two teams from each pool advancing.
3. Have a semifinal and final sudden deaths rounds, and maybe even a third place game if anyone wants.

Now that would be a Caribbean Series to be seen!  See all of The Dominican Baseball Guy's posts on the Caribbean Series.

Dodgers Tommy Lasorda gets a statue at the Latin Baseball Hall of Fame, Tommy Lasorda tiene estatua in Salon de Fama de Beisbol Latino

Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda recently got a statue at the Latin Baseball Hall of Fame in La Romana, Dominican Republic.  See the Latin Baseball Hall of Fame website here: http://www.salondelafamadelbeisbollatino.com/.

Lasorda is well known in baseball circles as being friendly to Latin players and a huge fan of Latin baseball.  He was a founding member of the Latin Baseball Hall of Fame, so it is natural that they gave him a statue.  Lasorda's  most significant contribution to Latin baseball is probably the 1973 Caribbean Series, in which he led Tigres del Licey to the title.  The team set a mark for the best record ever in the series at 5-1.

He now serves as the Latino Hall of Fame's Goodwill Abasodor and is a Special Advisor to the Chairman of the Dodgers.  He has been with the Dodgers for six decades.

Tommy Lasorda in 2010 Spring Training appearance with the Dodgers, by SD Dirk on Flickr

LIDOM Champions Escogido has victory parade, Campeones LIDOM Escogido tiene desfile de victoria

As all the followers of the Dominican Baseball Guy well know, Escogido won the Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM) championship last week.  And like any major sports franchise, they had a parade to celebrate the accomplishment with their fans.

Players and management made their way through the capital of the Dominican Republic and the home city of Escogido, Santo Domingo.  The team started the parade at the famous Quisqueya Studium, the home stadium of both Escogido and Licey, and the parade traveled throughout the capital city.  They ended the parade at the Palacio de los Deportes Virgilio Travieso Soto where entertainment featured reggaeton singer Secret and the Los Hermanos Rosarios merengue group.

The desfile de Escogido certainly looked like a great time.  See Escogido General Manager Moises Alou celebrating and the best photo roll of the Escogido parade.  But the Dominican Baseball Guy's favorite image of the parade comes from one of the Dominican Republic's major dailies, the Diario Libre:

2011 Caribbean Series Results and All-Stars

The Caribbean Series finished Monday and the team representing Mexico won the championship for 2011.  The Yaquis de Ciudad Obregon finished the series 4-2 to win their first title and the first title for Mexico since 2005.

The Dominican team was unable to repeat their performance from one year ago in which LIDOM champion Escogido won the Caribbean Series title.  The Toros de la Romana represented the Dominican league this year, and though they did not win, they had a good showing and finished in a tie for second. 

There were also three Dominican players and one Cuban player representing the Toros on the Caribbean Series all-star team.  Third baseman Danny Richar, left fielder Ruddy Yan, and center fielder Jose Constanza were the Dominican players to make the all-star team for the Toros.  They were joined by Cuban teammate Raul Valdes.  The Dominican team was only outdone in all-star selections by the Mexican side, which had five selections including MVP Jorge Vazquez.

All four participating countries host the series on a rotating basis.  Next year the tournament will be in the Dominican Republic, and La Romana is hoping to host the event for the first time, though Santo Domingo is always in the running to host.

Caribbean Series 2011 All-Star Team:

Iker Franco, C, Mexico

Jorge Vazquez, 1B, Mexico

Alex Cora, 2B, Puerto Rico

Danny Richar, 3B, Dominican Republic

Henry Rodriguez, SS, Venezuela

Ruddy Yan, LF, Dominican Republic

Jose Constanza, CF, Dominican Republic

Karim Garcia, RF, Mexico

Barbaro Canizares, DH, Mexico

Raul Valdez, LHP, Dominican Republic

Juan Padilla, RHP, Puerto Rico

Jorge Vazquez, MVP, Mexico

Eddie Diaz, Manager, Mexico

This is a partial article.  See the full article at the Dominican Baseball Examiner

Dominican Team Loses on Final Day of Caribbean Series, Mexico Takes Title

Cuban Raul Valdes pitched 7.2 innings of scoreless ball and the Toros de la Romana defeated the Puerto Rican host team Criollos de Caguas in the final game of the 2011 Caribbean Series.  Julio Manon earned his third save of the tournament in finishing out the shutout for the Dominican team.

Alejandro de Aza (White Sox) had a two RBI triple to open the scoring for the Toros in the 4th inning.  De Aza later scored an insurance run off an Esteban German (Rangers) infield single to finish off the scoring.

Puerto Rico had a chance to tie Mexico for the series lead and force a one game playoff, but they ended up in a tie for second with the Dominican Republic.  Both teams had a 3-3 record.

Mexico won their earlier game over Venezuela to finish the tournament 4-2 and take the title. This is the sixth time a Mexican team has won the title and first since 2005 when the Venados de Mazatlan took the title.  It is also the first Caribbean Series title for the Yaquis de Obregon.

Mexico Celebrates the 2011 Caribbean Series Title

Next year's tournament will be in the Dominican Republic with La Romana and Santo Domingo both vying to host the event.

Caribbean Series Final Standings:

Mexico: 4-2

Puerto Rico: 3-3

Dominican Republic: 3-3

Venezuela: 3-3

Dominican Republic wins 4-3 on third day of Caribbean Series

The Dominican team came back with two outs in the ninth inning and down 3-1 to defeat the Puerto Rican squad in day three of the Caribbean Series.  Esteban German scored the game winning run after knocking in two runs on a triple to tie the game in the ninth.  German is a non-roster invitee to Rangers spring training camp in a few weeks.

Fernando Abad pitched 4.2 innings and allowed 1 run for the Dominican team represented by the Toros de la Romana.  Abad is a roster invitee to the Astros camp.  Julio Manon got his second save of the tourney.

Major League veteran Alex Cora had a strong game for the host Puerto Ricans, going 3-3 with two walks.

Alex Cora, By Keith Allison on Flickr 

Mexico beat Venezuela 7-3 in the other game on the day.

Caribbean Series standings:
Dominican Republic: 2-1
Mexico: 2-1
Venezuela: 1-2
Puerto Rico: 1-2

Dominican Republic Beats Venezuela 6-5 in Day Two of Caribbean Series

Kevin Barker hit a home run and had three RBI in leading the Toros de la Romana to a victory on day two of the Caribbean Series.  Venezuelan first basemen Luis Jimenez hit two homers in a losing effort.  Venezuela is represented by the Caribes de Anzoategui.

Kevin Barker continues solid play in winter league action

The starters from both teams had sub-par outings.  Venezuelan starter Amaury Sanit gave up three runs on three innings and Dominican starter Aneury Rodriguez allowed 3 runs in 4.1 innings.  Julio Manon got the save after blowing a save in the first game.

Jackson Melian had a two run homer in the ninth to bring Venezuela within one run, before Manon closed the game.  Wellington Castillo, Jose Constanza, and Michael Martinez each had one RBI for the Dominicans.

Puerto Rico beat Mexico 7-3 in the second game on the day.

Caribbean Series Standings:
Mexico: 1-1
Venezuela: 1-1
Dominican Republic: 1-1
Puerto Rico: 1-1

Dominican Team Loses First Game of Caribbean Series in 15 Inning Affair

The Yaquis de Ciudad Obregon (Mexico) defeated the Toros de la Romana (Dominican Republic) in a 15 inning contest in game one of the Caribbean Series.  Iker Franco drove in the winning run for the Mexican side with two outs and two on in the 15th inning.

The Mexican team tied the game in the bottom of the ninth off  a Barbaro Canizares RBI with two outs off releiver Julio Manon.  The Yaquis had the opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, but Ricardo Nanita made a sensational catch at the wall to send the contest into extra innings.

Jose Contanza scored the opening run off Mexican pitcher Alberto Castillo in the third inning after he singled to open the inning.  Brock Peterson reached on an error in the sixth inning and was driven in by Rudy Yan.  Alberto Rosario then batted in Rudy Yan and that would be the last runs the Dominican team would score.

Raul Valdes allowed two runs and three hits in six plus innings starting for the Toros.  The Mexican squad scored  two runs in the seventh off sloppy play from the Dominican defense, and that led to Valdes being yanked.  See the box score here.

Both teams see action tomorrow in the double round robin format.  The 2011 version of the Caribbean Series is dedicated to Roberto Alomar, who was recently inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Roberto was also inducted into the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame this year and threw out the first pitch in Puerto Rico's opening game (see story here).

Alomar throws out the first pitch in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico

Venezuela beat Puerto Rico 5-3 in the other game on day one of the series.

Caribbean Series Standings:

Mexico: 1-0

Venezuela: 1-0

Puerto Rico: 0-1

Dominican Republic: 0-1

Caribbean Series Preview

The Caribbean Series starts tomorrow in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic is represented by the LIDOM champions, the Toros de la Romana.  The Toros and their reinforcements will be facing the winners of the winter leagues in Mexico, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico.

The Dominican Republic is the defending champion, as Escogido won the series last year.  The Dominican Republic has also won the event 18 times in the 52 years it has been played, which is the most of any country.

MLB.com has a nice preview that you can see here.  Also, Bruce Baskin did a nice job of scouting reports at his Baseball Mexico website and you can see those scouting reports here.

The series is a double round robin event, so each team plays each other two times, and the team with the best record is declared the winner.  The opening game is tomorrow at 3pm EST and features the Dominican team versus Mexico.

The Caribbean Series 2011 Schedule (all times EST)

Caribbean Series Uniforms for Toros de la Romana Presented

Orange Dominicana (a major cell phone and communications company in the Dominican Republic), along with representatives of Comercializadora Deportiva Dominicana (a sporting goods company) and officials from the Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM), presented the official uniforms of the Toros de la Romana for the Caribbean Series.

The uniforms incorporate the colors of the Dominican Republic, along with a Toros hat and the Toros main sponsor (Orange Dominicana) displayed prominently.  The Caribbean Series starts Wednesday, February 2.

The Toros Jerseys for the Caribbean Series 2011

LIDOM Champion Toros de la Romana Have Victory Parade

The Toros de la Romana and their fans continues to celebrate their Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM) championship on Wednesday with a parade through the city of La Romana.  The parade was in celebration of the championship that the Toros won last week.

The parade ended in the Francisco Micheli Stadium, where the Toros completed their sweep of the Estrellas on Sunday.  The stadium scene featured thanks from the team, as well as music and other entertainment.  Along with the team and team president Frank Micheli, the local provincial governor and the national senator for the region also attended the parade.  This is in addition to thousands of loyal Toros fans.

Fans and supporters joined the parade and followed the team to the stadium.  The Toros are awaiting the start of the Caribbean Series on February 2.  Here are some pictures of the event from various sources:

Toros Visit President Leonel Fernandez

As is tradition in the United States, the President of the Dominican Republic usually hosts the Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM) champion.  This was the case this year, as President Leonel Fernandez hosted the Toros de la Romana on Tuesday.

First, President Fernandez congratulated the Toros through the media on Monday.  Then, on Tuesday he welcomed the Toros the Hall of Ambassadors at the Dominican capital in Santo Domingo.  Fernandez was joined by Sports Minister Felipe Payano and MLB Executive in the Dominican Republic Leonardo Matos Berrido.

President Fernandez receives the jersey of the Toros de la Romana

President Fernandez congratulated the Toros and wished them luck in the Caribbean Series.  He received the jersey of the Toros, and also made sure to tell them that the hopes of all Dominicans are on their shoulders and he expects them to win the Caribbean Series.

Kevin Barker: Two Dominican Championships in Two Years

Kevin Barker has been a very successful player in the Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM) the last two seasons.  He is an anomaly that American fans would not expect to see in winter league action.

Kevin Barker (center-left) celebrates a second LIDOM championship

Barker is a 35 year old first basemen that has seen the major leagues in parts of five seasons, most recently with the Reds in 2009.  Add to that, he has played 12 years at the AAA level.  Yet he still chooses to go and play in Dominican Winter League action.  In fact, Barker says (according to lidom.com), "I played in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela, Japan, United States, but the passion as you enjoy baseball in the Dominican Republic is unparalleled."

That quote shows a little as to why veterans would choose to play in the LIDOM.  Barker began his professional career in 1996 after being drafted out of Viginia Tech.  He made the big leagues for the first time in 1999 and has basically played at the AAA level ever since, other than short stints with major league clubs.  Last year, he played in the AAA Mexican League, which is an official MLB league, but the teams are not farm teams of big league clubs.

Barker just signed a minor league deal with the Nationals a few weeks ago, so hopefully we will see him in the big leagues again soon.  In the mean time, he has the Caribbean Series next week to worry about.

La Romana Celebrates LIDOM Championship

The Toros de la Romana won their first domestic crown since 1994-95.  There were some big celebrations the night of the game, as the Toros won in their home stadium.

The city of la Romana has been celebrating for two days (see article).  The party will continue as there is a victory parade scheduled for Wednesday the 26th.  The Toros will begin practice later this week, in preparation for the Caribbean Series on February 2nd.

Toros fans Celebrate

Dominican Winter Baseball League Round Robin Results 2011

The Round Robin portion of the Dominican Winter Baseball League ended yesterday, and there was a tie for second.  After the 4 team, 18 game round robin in which the top four teams in the LIDOM play each other 6 times, the Toros came out on top with a record of 12-6, so they are on to the finals.  The Toros and their fans are preparing to host the championship series.

The Gigantes and the Estrellas ended up tied for second, both with a record of 9-9.  It was a very exciting race, as both teams won on the final day of the round robin to set up a one game sudden death playoff, which takes place tonight in San Pedro de Macoris.  The Gigantes feature Alexi Casilla (who just signed a new deal with the Twins), Wilson Betemit (Royals), and Wilson Valdez (Phillies, who is on fire and hit .400 in the round robin).  The Estrellas feature pitcher Radhames Liz (former Oriole) and Nationals farmhand Alex Valdez.  These are of course among many other players with MLB experience and minor leaguers.

The winner of the Gigantes versus Estrellas will take on the Toros in a 9 game final series.  The winner of the LIDOM championship will go on to face the champion of the winter leagues in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela in the Caribbean Series.  The Caribbean Series takes place in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico this year, from February 2-7, 2011.

Dominican Winter Baseball League Playoffs 2010-11

The Dominican Winter Baseball League Playoffs (LIDOM) are underway.  They have a really cool playoff system.  The Dominican Baseball Guy put up a post about the LIDOM playoff system last year. Briefly, the top 4 of 6 teams make the playoffs and play a 15 game round robin, then the top two teams play a 9 game final series and the winner of that goes to the Caribbean Series.

This year Escogido, Toros, Estrellas, and Gigantes made the round robin.  The two traditional power houses of the league, Licey and Aguilas, missed the playoffs.  This is a major story as Licey and Aguilas are like the Red Sox and Yankees of the LIDOM.  It is a very rare year that both miss the playoffs.

The teams are 5 games into the round robin and all within 1 game of each other (see the standings).  This is a great time to see a game in the Dominican Republic.  The crowds are very big during these playoff series and the atmosphere is great.  Here is the schedule: if you will be in the country try and catch a game.

The economy in the country is not the best right now, so the crowds are not as big as they have been in years past, and the Aguilas and Licey games draw the biggest crowds, but here is an old picture from a Licey vs. Aguilas game, so you get the jest.  The games this year should have a great atmosphere too.

Dominican Baseball Card #9: Tony Pena

The 9th edition of the Dominican Baseball Guy's Dominican Baseball Card is a Tony Pena 1988 Fleer #45.  I really like the cheese factor of this set from Fleer.  The white borders are hideously great.  Guess this was the 80s cheese factor making its way onto the baseball cards.  Tony has a great mustache too, and according to movember.org, next month is the month of the mustache.


Tony had a great career that spanned 18 MLB seasons.  He came up with the Pirates and went on to play with the Cardinals, Red Sox, and Indians.  And he split 40 games between the White Sox and Astros in his last season, so the Dominican Baseball Guy guesses we have to count those teams too.  Tony was known for his defense behind the plate.  He won 4 gold gloves and made 5 All-Star teams.  He made it to the World Series with the Cardinals in 1987, losing to the Twins.  


Tony also had a long career in the Dominican Winter Baseball League, playing late into his career with his original team, the Aguilas from Sanitago.  The Dominican Baseball Guy could not find any statistics on his career in the DWL, but he played for more than ten years and won several titles with the Aguilas.


Tony went strait into coaching after his career was over, as many catchers do.  He has managed the Aguilas for several years, winning  DWL in 1998, 2000, and 2001, and a Caribbean Series Championship with the team in 2001.  He even showed up for the second half of last season, as the Aguilas were playing bad and fired their American manager, bringing in Pena to finish the season.  He spent 2002-2005 as the Royals manager and won the AL manager of the year in 2003, taking the Royals to 3rd place finish in the AL, unheard of for the Royals.  He has been the Yankees bench coach for two years, winning a World Series title last year, and still in the hunt of the ALCS this year.  Tony is from Monte Criti, Dominican Republic.  His son Tony Jr. pitched in the DWL last year (as the Dominican Baseball Guy blogged) and his other son, Francisco, is in the Mets organization.

Dominican Baseball Card #5 and #6: Moises Alou

So technically Moises Alou was born in Atlanta, but his father and uncles were some of the first Dominicans to play in the big leagues and he has always had a home in Santo Domingo, so he is surely Dominican.  His father, Felipe, and uncles, Jesus and Matty, are national heroes and very well known amongst Dominican fans.  The last Dominican Winter Baseball League season (2010-11) was dedicated to the Alou brothers.  The Dominican Baseball blogged about this a couple times, as it seemed every game recap in the newspapers down there ended with: this season is dedicated to the Alou brothers.

The Dominican Baseball Guy has two really cool Moises Alou cards to share for the #5 and #6 Dominican Baseball Cards.  The first is a Rookie 1991 Rookie card, #38.  The blue border on this card is one of the tackiest faces of any set the Dominican Baseball Guy has ever seen, but for some reason he loves it.  The next card is his 1990 Score Rookie card (#592) that comes from his very first season in which he spent a few games with the Pirates.  It is crazy how young and skinny he looks, and the Dominican Baseball Guy loves looking at how players add that weight as they get older.

Moises played an amazing 17 years in the major leagues.  He first came up with the Expos where he was managed by his father.  He would later be managed by Felipe again in San Francisco.  Moises won a championship with the Florida Marlins in 1997 and then had three great years with the Dominican Baseball Guy's hometown Houston Astros.  The Dominican Baseball Guy remembers Alou as a dominate player in these years. In this three year stint he hit at least 27 HRs, 108 RBI, and batted over .300 every year.  He was then involved in the Steve Bartman incident that would have sent the Cubs to the World Series.  Moises then spent a few semi-productive years with the Giants and Mets.  A very successful and eventful career overall.

Moises has been able to stay involved with the game and is now the General Manager for Escogido in the Dominican Winter Baseball League.  Moises played for Escogido and his father managed the team previously.  According to MLB.com, he enjoyed the position last year, as he took his team to the Caribbean Series.  Escogido went on to win the Series.  Pretty good, for a first year GM.  He is back in the same position this year, and they have just opened training camp (See this article).

Dominican Republic Wins Caribbean Series

The Dominican Republic, which was represented by Escogido, won the Caribbean Series 2010. They went 5-1 in the 4 team double round robin tournament against the winners of the Mexican, Venezuelan, and Puerto Rican winter leagues.

The Dominican Winter Baseball League has the story here, but this is in Spanish. Or see it in English at the MLB Winter league site here. There are also a few other highlights and stats at the MLB Winter League site.

Caribbean Series 2010 All-Tournament Team

Mets OF prospect Fernando Martinez won MVP

Player, position, team
Kevin Barker, 1B, Dominican Republic
Pablo Ozuna, 2B, Dominican Republic
Vinny Castilla, 3B, Mexico
Angel Sanchez, SS, Puerto Rico
Armando Rios, RF, Puerto Rico
Jesus Feliciano, CF, Puerto Rico
Fernando Martinez, LF, Dominican Republic
Edwards Guzman, C, Puerto Rico
Raul Padron, DH, Venezuela
Raul Valdes, LHP, Dominican Republic
Nelson Figueroa, RHP, Dominican Republic
Efrain Nieves, LH reliever, Puerto Rico
Peter Parise, RH reliever, Puerto Rico

Several Dominicans or players from the Dominican team made the all tournament team. Juan Francisco, the Dominican League MVP, also had a good tournament. The Dominican Baseball Guy has said it before, Juan Francisco is going to be a good or really good MLB player, probably this year. Hopefully Kevin Barker gets some more big league time too, as he has put up numbers in AA, AAA, and the top winter leagues. Both these guys are in the Reds organization. And yes that is 42 year old Vinny Castilla who spent 16 years in the big leagues, still playing in his home country in the winter league.