Mark Hamilton HR, Alexi Casilla debuts, Lots of big leaguers playing

11/7/09 Game
There were two really good games over the weekend in San Fransisco de Macoris. On Saturday, Mark Hamilton hit a two run home run in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game. The Gigantes won in the 10th over Aguilas. Hamilton hit .308 last year in the Pacific Coast League with the Cardinals affiliate. He has 2 HRs in the Dominican Winter Baseball League so far. Alexi Casilla (Twins) also debuted on Saturday.  Here are some photos from the game from the Julian Javier Stadium in San Francisco de Macoris, all courtesy of the Dominican Baseball Guy:

Erick Almonte

Erick Almonte

Lucas Montero

Joel Peralta

11/8/09 Game
The Gigantes won another game in extra innings at home on Sunday. Alexi Casilla singled, then came home on a double from Wilson Betemit in the 10th.

The level of play is really starting to pick up as the season continues. Sunday's game featured 11 players with big league experience: Eric Young Jr., Conor Jackson, Argenis Reyes (Mets), Jaime Hoffman (Dodgers), Diory Hernandez (Braves), and Willis Otanez for Escogido, and Alexi Casilla, Wilson Valdez, Juan Francisco, Wilson Betemit, and Dario Veras for Gigantes.

Mark Wagner Injury, Manuel Mayorson 4-5; Jacob Cruz and Wilson Betemitt debut

10/30/09 Game
The Gigantes lost another road game, and fell to 0-7 on the road.

Mark Wagner got hurt on a play at the plate, and left the game. He was 1-1 at the plate and is near the top of the league with a .346 average, along with 6 walks and 2 HRs.

Manuel Mayorson went 4-5 in the win for Toros de La Romana. He is batting .395 and has been starting daily for the Toros at SS and 3B. He is in the Marlins organization and saw action in 97 games with the New Orleans Zephers of the Pacific Coast League.

10/31/09 Game
The Gigantes won a thrilling game at home, coming back with 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th to win 4-3.

Jacob Cruz debuted for the Gigantes. Another imported American, he is a very interesting player. He played parts of 9 seasons in the big leagues, and has played in Korea and Mexico. He had huge numbers last summer in the AAA Mexican League (which has unaffiliated players). He went 2-4 in this game and seemed to be a crowd favorite.

The Gigantes also traded for Wilson Betemit (earlier in the week) and he debuted last night. He had a pinch hit RBI that helped the Gigantes come back in the 9th. He has spent time in the big leagues the last 8 seasons, and played 20 games with the White Sox last year.

Wilson Betemit with the White Sox in 2009, by shgmom56 on Flickr

Luis Durango 4-5, Tobi Stoner Gets Win

10/24/09 Game-
The Gigantes lost 6-2 to Escogido. Luis Durango, a highly touted Panamanian prospect went 4-5, with 2 RBI and a stolen base. He is a burner, as he had 44 stolen bases with the AA San Antonio Missions (Padres) in the Texas League last year. Durango is an import, being from Panama. Mark Hamilton, another import, also had a good game going 3-4.

For Escogido, Tobi Stoner got the win, pitching 6 innings and allowing 1 earned run. He improved to 2-0 on the year, with his second strong start. He is in the Mets organization. Brennan Boesch (1-3, 2 runs) and Conor Jackson (2-4, 3 RBI) again had good nights for Escogido. Jackson is one of a handful of players with extended big league experience in the Dominican Winter League. He seems to be returning to his form of two years ago with the Diamondbacks, after missing last year with illness.

Luis Durango with the Padres high A team in 2007 , by SD Dirk on Flick

Dominican Winter Baseball League: Gigantes get first win, David Herndon gets win, Mark Hamilton and Erick Almonte Homer

10/18/09 Game-

The Gigantes got their first win in their first home game to the delight of the home crowd. There was lots of offense from both sides.

One of the Gigantes imported players, Angels prospect David Herndon, got the win. He pitched one inning, gave up 3 earned runs, and got the win. Once again proving that wins are an interesting statistic. Mark Hamilton, another import, had a home run and a single. He had really good numbers splitting time between AA and AAA in the Cardinals organization last year. One problem for him, the Cardinals have another pretty good player at first base, Dominican baseball player Albert Pujols. 

Dominican Erick Almonte showed that he can once again be a leading hitter for the Gigantes, with a home run. Estarlin De Los Santos, another Dominican baseball player, has a hit in all three games this season. He is just an exciting player at shortstop and playing well. So now the Twins have him in the minors, Alexi Casilla and Carlos Gomez on the big league club, and they just signed uber-prospect Miguel Angel Sano. Seems the Twins, like a lot of other teams, are finding really good Dominican players.

This season in the Dominican Winter Baseball League is officially dedicated to the Alou brothers (Felipe, Matty, and Jesus) all of whom had successful careers in MLB and played many years in the Dominican Winter Baseball League. Felipe's son, ex-big leaguer Moises Alou is actually the GM for the Leones de Escogido from Santo Domingo.

Moises Alou with the Giants in 2005,
by sgmom56 on Flickr