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.

All-Star MVP Melky Cabrera suspended for Performance Enhancing Drugs

Dominican baseball player Melky Cabrera, Giants outfielder and the All-Star game MVP this season, has been suspended 50 games for the use of performance enhancing drugs. MLB says he tested positive for testosterone. The suspension is effective immediately. He will miss the remainder of the regular season, and the first five games of next year or the playoffs.

Cabrera came to the Giants in a trade with Kansas City Royals last November that sent left-hander Jonathan Sanchez to the Royals. He has also played for the Yankees. He was having a career year, with the 2012 All-Star game MVP award and on pace for a career high in average, home runs, and RBI. But the numbers are not that far off his career numbers to say they were all due to the uptick in testosterone.

Who knows if he used an outlawed supplement in good faith without knowing or if perhaps someone advised him to take something with banned testosterone in it? The Dominican Baseball Guy would normally rush to condemn him as a cheater yet. But his response and that of the Giants is basically a tacit admission of guilt. Their responses are laughable.

Cabrera released through a statement: "My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used. I accept my suspension under the Joint Drug Program and I will try to move on with my life. I am deeply sorry for my mistake and I apologize to my teammates, to the San Francisco Giants organization and to the fans for letting them down."

And the Giants said before today's game, "We were extremely disappointed to learn of the suspension of Melky Cabrera for violating Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention & Treatment Program. We fully support Major League Baseball's policy and its efforts to eliminate performance enhancing drugs from our game. Per the protocol outline by Major League Baseball's collective bargaining agreement, the Giants will not comment further on this matter."

So, he used them and is admitting it? So, he was cheating the whole time and knew it? Perhaps he should have just kept his mouth shut and not responded. So, sad when players cheat the game like this. With that said I say make everything legal or make the tests way more stringent, a la NFL testing policies.

Cabrera is from Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic.

Dominican Melky Cabrera suspended for Performance Enhancing Drugs

Dominican player Melky Cabrera earns 2012 All-Star MVP

The National League thumped the American League last night in the annual MLB All-Star Game, winning 8-0. And with a score line like that it was going to be pretty hard for an AL player to get the MVP, considering the pitchers usually only go one innings each.

So, it was no surprise that Dominican player Melky Cabrera won the MVP for the NL. They opened the scoring with five runs in the first, and then Cabrera added a three-run home run in the fourth inning. And that was all the scoring there would be.

Cabrera won the MVP in his first All-Star Game. The Giants infielder is with his fourth team in four years, but finally seems to have found a spot with the Giants. He is hitting .353 and leading the NL in hits thus far. He is a great all-around player that can do it all at the plate and in the field. The Dominican Baseball Guy expects to see him in the All-Star Game every year.

Former teammate and fellow Dominican player Robinson Cano was happy for him:

"That's great, man," Cano said. "I'm happy. His mom was crying. It was nice. If you don't win, you want to see one of your boys do good. I'm so happy for him. He's getting better every year."

Dominican player Cabrera is from Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana.

Dominican player Melky Cabrera wins the 2012 MLB All-Star MVP

Dominican prospect Angel Villalona plays first game in three years

It has been a long road for Dominican prospect Angel Villalona. Once one of the top five prospects in the Giants system, he was arrested and charged with murder in the Dominican Republic in 2009. He faced civil and criminal prosecution. The civil case was dropped after he made a payment to the family, and the criminal case eventually fell apart due to lack of evidence.

This is such a sad case. I predicted back in 2009 that the Villalona would eventually be cleared. I think Villalona or someone in his group may have committed the crime, but the whole situation seemed like a bar fight gone wrong. And I suggested the victim's family may have been trying to extort money.

We will never know what happened in that bar in La Romana, the hometown of Villalona. The prosecuting branch of Dominican law enforcement does not have the same resources at its disposal as their American counter parts, and that is the main reason I thought this case may get dropped. It seemed like a 'he said, he said' case to begin with, and without substantial resources it was a hard case to prove.

As for the victim and the civil case, the family of the victim probably got what they deserved even if it was an accident or a bar fight gone too far. Villalona gave them a payment of $139,000.

So, Villalona lost three years of his life and baseball career. Much worse can be said for the victim's family.  But he is only 21 and has finally been cleared to join the Giants system again. He started out with a game in the Dominican Summer League Thursday and went 1-4.

He is still going to have to jump through some hoops just to get a visa to play in the US again, so expect him to play in the DSL the rest of the season. And at 21, he could still turn into that power hitting first baseman that everyone predicted him to be back three years ago as an 18 year old prospect. It will be a long road though, as he is starting from square one in the lowest division of professional baseball in all of the minor league system.

Latin baseball players celebrate Jackie Robinson day, Latinos celebran el dia de Jacki Robinson

Latin and Dominican baseball players celebrated Jackie Robinson Day on Sunday, along with all of Major League Baseball.  The entire league wore Robinson's number 42.

It is well known that Robinson was the first African-American to play in the big leagues, and that he opened the door for all the black baseball players after him.  However, Latin baseball players have also seen Robinson as a pioneer, because before him there were very few Latin players admitted into MLB.

There were some Latin players that played in the big leagues, often because they "looked" white, but for the most part Jackie Robinson is the reason that Latin baseball players were later admitted into the league.  And current players know this.

Giants Venezuelan outfielder Gregor Blanco summed up what Jackie Robinson day means to Latin baseball players:

"This is a very special day for all Latin players," Blanco said. "It means a lot to be able to wear his number. He opened up opportuntiies for eveyone and not only helped baseball but also helped the world."

Elsewhere, Dominican player Robinson Cano celebrated in New York, as other Dominicans throughout the league surely did.  Robinson Cano is from San Pedro de Macoris, the major baseball city in the Dominican Republic.  

Happy Jackie Robinson Day!  All of MLB whore his #42 Sunday

Dominican baseball legend Matty Rojas Alou dies, Pelotero Dominicano Matty Rojas Alou se murio

The Dominican Baseball Guy is still coming down from his post World Series hangover in which his beloved Texas Rangers blew the series with one out to go.

But, alas we have the Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM) underway, so it is a great time of year for fans of Dominican baseball.

Sadly,  the Dominican Baseball Guy has to report on the death of one of the greatest Dominican baseball players of all-time, Matty Alou.  The news was first reported by Dominican Today here.  Big League Stew, which is a great Yahoo baseball blog, later had a nice post on Matty Alou.

Matty, and his brothers Felipe and Jesus were the first and only brothers to start in all three outfield positions (for the Giants in 1963).  They combined to have 5,094 hits, which is the most all time by brothers in MLB.  Matty is a legend in the Dominican Republic, and throughout baseball really, because he was in the first wave of Dominicans to play in MLB, starting in the 1950's.  He played for 15 seasons and won the NL batting title in 1966.

The Alou's are definitely the first family of Dominican baseball.  Felipe went on to have a long managerial career, and Felipe's son Moises also had a long MLB career.  Moises is currently the GM of the Leones de Escogido in the Dominican Winter Baseball League.

RIP Matty Alou, one of the greatest Dominican Baseball players and Giants of all-time.

Kansas City Royals agree to deal with Adalberto Mondesi, Royals firman Mondesi

The Dominican Baseball Guy has blogged on the Dominican Prospect League previously.  The Giants signed Dominican baseball player Simon Mercedes out of the DPL back in February.

The son of former major leaguer Raul Mondesi, Adalberto Mondesi, signed a $2 million deal with the Kansas City Royals.  The elder Mondesi played 13 MLB seasons, and was the rookie of the year in 1994.  He was really a fun guy to watch and a five tool talent at his best.  Raul is now mayor of his hometown, San Cristobal, DR.

Raul's son, Adalberto signed the contract on his 16th birthday, the first day that international players can sign with a big league club.  The Royals feel he is one of the top free agent prospects on the international market and jumped at the chance to sign him.  They see him as a great defensive player at shortstop already, and a switch hitter with great potential at the plate.

Since Adalberto does not have an MiLB profile page yet, The Dominican Baseball Guy is assumed he is from San Cristobal too.  But upon further inspection it looks like he was born in Los Angeles when his father played for the Dodgers, this according to his Dominican Prospect League profile page.

Good luck with the Royals young Mondesi, hope to see you in the bigs soon.

Felipe Alou one of MLB's best dads

A recent list from a Yahoo contributor just named Dominican Felipe Alou as one of the top five role models in MLB history.  Felipe played with his two brothers throughout his 17 year MLB career.  He went on to manage for the Expos and Giants.

Felipe was one of the first Dominicans to play in the big leagues and can be seen as a role model for later Dominican players.  He was also certainly a role model for his son, Moises Alou, who also had a long and prosperous MLB career.

Felipe is from Haina, DR.

Felipe Alou manages with the Giants, by Andrew Lynch on Flickr

Juan Marichal play to debut in Columbus, Ohio

Playwright and actor Roger Guenveur Smith will debut his one man play about the Marichal-Roseboro incident in 1965.  In the event, Juan Marichal attacked John Roseboro with a bat and hit him in the head.  Roseboro eventually recovered and came to forgive Marichal for the unspeakable act.  The two even went on to become friends.

Guenveur Smith weaves the baseball story with other events, such as the Watts race riots and the United States invasion of the Dominican Republic that were happening at the time.  The play tells a personal story of the two men, but also gives a historical and cultural historical lesson of the 1960s.  See the play at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio.

Marichal is the only Dominican player in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, though there should be a few to follow soon.  He is a ten time all-star selection and had his #27 retired by the Giants.  He is from Laguna Verde, DR.

The Juan Marichal statue outside Giants stadium, by Eric Molina on Flickr

Dodgers Juan Uribe looks for big year with new contract

Juan Uribe signed an offseason free agent contract with the Dodgers after winning the World Series with the Giants last season.  Rangers fans will remember several daggers that Uribe delivered in the World Series last season.

Uribe comes from a family of baseball players, like a many Dominican players.  Jose Uribe, a star with the Giants the last time they were in the World Series in 1989, was Juan's cousin.  Jose died in a car crash in 2006 near his hometown of Juan Baron, Palenque, Dominican Republic.  Juan called Jose "tio," Spanish for uncle due to their age difference, and credits his uncle with teaching him how to carry himself in the big leagues.

Juan and Jose are both from Juan Baron, though they are often credited as being from Bani (the largest city nearby) or Palenque (the municipality of Juan Baron) or San Cristobal (the province of Juan Baron).  Juan is scheduled to start at second base this year for the Dodgers.

Juan Uribe with the Giants, by Kathy T on Flickr

Giants sign Dominican baseball player Simon Mercedes, Gigantes de San Francisco friman Dominicano

The San Francisco Giants recently signed Simon Mercedes from the Dominican Prospect League.  The league is a sort of minor leagues for the Major League Baseball Dominican academies.  Organized of around 80 players into teams from the north, south, east, and west of the country, the league plays once a week at different MLB team academies.  The games showcase players, so MLB teams can sign them to their academies.  See the official website for the league.

Well, the Giants picked up a young arm from the DPL by the name of Simon Mercedes.  Mercedes signed to a $400,000 signing bonus and will start in the team's farm system, most likely in the Giants Dominican academy.  He projects as a starter some day.  Mercedes is from Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Baseball Guy hopes to blog more on the Dominican Prospect League.  More and more players are being signed from this league.