Dominican Beer and sleeping pills: Ozzie Guillen's cure for recovering from a beating

The Marlins and manager Ozzie Guillen got beat down 15-5 on Wednesday by the Boston Red Sox.  The Marlins have had a pretty average year after some big signings this off-season, including the signing of Guillen.  It is a wonder that they are hovering around .500 when they are in the bottom third of MLB in most team statistics.

It has been a tough year for Guillen.  Guillen gave The Palm Beach Post his cure for recovering from such a beating:

"Seven Presidentes and a sleeping pill and be ready for the job tomorrow."

Presidente is THE BEER in the Dominican Republic.  Interesting that Guillen chooses a Dominican beer, being that he is Venezuelan.  I do not have statistics, and honestly I doubt they exist for Dominican beer, but I would estimate that Presidente has at least 70% of the market share on beer in the Dominican Republic.

Presidente is ubiquitous in the Dominican Republic to say the least.  Every single colmado or grocery store that sells Dominican beer has Presidente.  Really the only imports you will see at a standard convenience store in the Dominican Republic are Corona (Mexican) and Brahma (Brazilian).  Even Bud Light is hard to find.

Most countries have one or two flagship brews.  Think Bud Light in the States or Heineken in the Netherlands.  Presidente is that flagship brew when it comes to Dominican beer.  Dominicans will tell you that Presidente is the best beer on earth.  But that has to be just a tendency towards nationalism, because Presidente is virtually indistinguishable from Bud Light, or any other light lager.  

Presidente is owned by the Cervecería Nacional Dominicana and the Dominican beer is produced at their breweries in the Dominican Republic.  However, AmBev which is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev bought a controlling stake in the company in 2012.  So, basically Budweiser is making the Dominican Republic's most prized beer.

With these two caveats mentioned, it is a dam good beer when cold and it is still technically made in the Dominican Republic, even if the imperialist Americans, Budweiser, now own the company.  So, the Dominican Baseball Guy will continue to down as much Presidente as possible, especially when watching Dominican baseball games.

THE DOMINICAN BEER, Presidente, photo by Erik Cleves Kristensen on Flickr

Dominican player of the week: Hanley Ramirez

Hanley Ramirez hit .500 with 4 HR and 6 RBI, and that wins him the Dominican Baseball Guy Dominican player of the week award.

Hanley had a down year last year, but has made the transition to third base this season, and he is having a good year at the plate thus far. Ramirez, and fellow Dominican player Jose Reyes have the Marlins in the playoff chase in the National League East.

He is from Samana, an awesome Dominican beach town on the east coast of the country.

Carlos Gomez of the Brewers also received consideration for the NL player of the week award. He is from  Santiago, Dominican Republic.

Dominican player of the week Hanley Ramirez, by SD Dirk on Flick

Dominican Juan Carlos Oviedo suspended for age fraud

Dominican Juan Carlos Oviedo aka Leo Nunez was recently suspended for age and identity fraud. Age fraud has been an issue with signing Dominican baseball prospects ever since teams first started signing Dominican prospects to big money deals. Dominican prospects have tried to misrepresent their ages because teams were more likely to sign a younger player that had time to develop. If they turned out to be older than they said, then it was just the teams left holding their *!?@ in their hands, and the players left to face legal backlash.

But recently the MLB implemented an age limit on signing international free agents. Dominican prospects must now be 17 years old before they are signed by a big league club. At the same time they introduced new measures to ensure a player's age. So, now the legal repercussions are greater. Basically, MLB is making it virtually impossible for Dominican prospects to commit age fraud. There are tests of birth certificates and other documents, but now also interviews with the person who assisted in the birth of the prospect or blood tests that verify a player's age.

Now the Oviedo/Nunez case comes about because signed with a team before the additional measures were made to ensure a prospects age. In 2008 MLB offered amnesty to any player that admitted to age fraud, and Leo Nunez did not come forward.

Nunez is perhaps the most high profile player to be busted for age AND identity fraud. He was the Marlins everyday closer for three years. Miguel Tejada was caught for age fraud, but he never misrepresented his identity. With all the homeland security issues in the United States, the identity fraud has added to Oviedo's plight. He was facing charges in both the Dominican Republic and the United States.

He seems to have been cleared of those charges, but MLB is slapping him with an eight-week ban. Expect to see him back with the Marlins some time in mid-July.

With the new precautions being enforced by MLB, the teams, and the Dominican government also on-board to help out, the Dominican Baseball Guy expects to see little-to-none of this going forward.

Dominican Leo Nunez aka Juan Carlos Oviedo suspended for age and identity fraud,
photo by bkrieger02 on Flickr

Dominican beisbol player Vladimir Guerrero signs with Blue Jays

Dominican beisbol player Vladimir Guerrero has signed a minor league deal to play with the Blue Jays.  He was most recently rumored to sign with the Indians, and before that there were rumors he was Miami Marlins bound.  But alas the Blue Jays scooped him up, hoping to add depth to a lineup that is third worst in the American League in batting average.

Guerrero will report to the Blue Jays Spring Training complex in Florida for an extended Spring Training.  He then will join one of the Blue Jays minor league affiliates and if he does well there, he should be with the big league club sooner rather than later.

The Dominican Baseball Guy is surprised to see that it has taken this long for him to get picked up.  He hit .290 as a DH last year for the Orioles in 562 at bats.  And he is only two years removed from a .300, 29 HR, and 115 RBI season with the Rangers.

And as Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos says, "there's no such thing as a bad minor league signing."

The Blue Jays really do not have much to lose.  If he makes the big league club they get him for cheap.  And if he does not pan out, they only have to pay him a minor league salary.

Dominican beisbol player Vladimir Guerrero es Nizao, Republica Dominicana.

Dominican beisbol player Vladimir Guerrero pictured last year with the Orioles.
He recently signed with the Blue Jays, photo by Keith Allison on Flickr

Dominican player Hanley Ramirez of the Miami Marlins signs deal to wear New Balance cleats

Dominican player Hanley Ramirez has been one of the most talked Dominican baseball players in recent years. He had a down year last year.  He is off to a slow start this year.  But the Dominican Baseball Guy still says he is a perennial MVP candidate, and has the sweetest swing in the game.

Ramirez will be wearing a brand new line of custom New Balance baseball cleats this season as he roams the left side of the infield for the Miami Marlins, according to a press release from New Balance.  The shoes (christened the MB4040 baseball spikes) look pretty slick, and according to Ramirez they are one of the top shoes on the market:

“The 4040 is light and comfortable, I feel speedy, and they also look good. New Balance has the whole package,” says Ramirez.

As part of the deal, New Balance has agreed to support Ramirez in his charitable endeavors throughout the course of the contract.  To start that charitable partnership the Dominican player Ramirez and New Balance will auction off a pair of game-worn, signed cleats for the benefit of the Marlins Foundation.

Hanley Ramirez is excited about the possibility of helping people in the Miami area and in his home country:

“I’m also looking forward to working with a brand that will help me achieve my goal to help people in need here and in the Dominican.”

Great to see Dominican baseball players giving back to their home country.  Any charitable efforts in the Dominican Republic are surely needed and appreciated, especially among the youth of the country.

And again, the cleats are sick, certainly not you grandfathers baseball spikes:

Dominican baseball players on MLB rosters 2012

Every year Major League Baseball releases a list of foreign baseball players on MLB rosters.  And Dominican baseball players have dominated this list for last decade plus.  Last year there were 86 Dominican players on opening day rosters, the same number of Dominicans on MLB teams in 2010.

This year, the number went up and Dominican baseball players still lead the way in foreigners in Major League Baseball, by far.  Overall, there are 243 foreign players on Opening Day rosters out of 856 total active or disabled list players.  That comes out 28.4 percent, the third highest percentage of foreign players ever.  

And the Dominican baseball players on MLB rosters in 2012?  There are 95 Dominican players on Opening Day rosters, the most since 2007 and the second most number of Dominican players ever to start the year in the big leagues.  And it comes out to 11% of all the players in the major leagues coming from the Dominican Republic.

See the list of all foreign MLB players by country too.  The Royals have the most foreign born players with thirteen.  All 30 teams have at least one Dominican baseball player on their roster.  The Detroit Tigers lead the way with seven Dominican players and the Blue Jays, Marlins, and Cubs each have six Dominican players.

Dominican baseball player Vladimir Guerrero to the Marlins, Dominicano Vlad Guerrero a Marlins?

It is no secret that Vladimir Guerrero has been one of the favorite Dominican baseball players of the Dominican Baseball Guy for many years.  He remains in third place all-time among Dominican baseball players in hits, RBI, and home runs, and is second for lifetime average at .318.

Last year, Guerrero signed a one year free agent deal with the Orioles.  By most accounts he had a bad year.  But if you look at the numbers, they are really not that bad.  He hit .290 in 500+ at bats, and had 13 home runs and 63 RBI.  Now these numbers are certainly off his career average, but most MLB players would take these numbers, particularly the .290 average.  The guy hit .290, and this was a bad year.

So it goes for an aging superstar like Dominican baseball player Vladimir Guerrero.  He is unsigned this off-season thus far, but recently told Dominican newspaper EL Caribe that the Marlins and Ozzie Guillen had contacted him.  Most think he is DH at best, and wonder what a National League team would be doing talking to him.  But, Vladimir says that he is still a player that should play every day, even if it is as an outfielder.

It is a wait and see game to see if the Marlins sign him, or if any other team picks him up.  The Dominican Baseball Guy anxiously awaiting to see where he lands.  Pelotero Dominicano Vladimir Guerrero es de Nizao, Republica Dominicana.

Dominican baseball player Vladimir Guerrero hopes to play another year, by Rich Anderson on Flickr

Dominican baseball player Hanley Ramirez takes his first action at third base for the Marlins, Hanley Ramirez juega tercer base por Marlins

Spring training is getting under way, and apparently the thing to do down around the Marlins campl in Jupiter, Florida was to write about Hanley Ramirez and his move to third base.  Granted, it is by far the most intriguing story for the Miami Marlins thus far.

The Boston Harold put out an article (Marlins’ Hanley Ramirez gets going at third base), as did the the Sun Sentinel (Hanley Ramirez acquaints himself with third base), and even Sports Illustrated covered the story (Ramirez's move to third base may be smoother than expected).

Of course, the reason that this is a story is because the Marlins signed Jose Reyes this past off-season.  Jose Reyes is clearly the better fielding short stop, so Hanley has been tasked with moving to third.

At first, reports were that Ramirez was unhappy and wanted to stay at short stop.  But he has rebuked these claims and Hanley Ramirez says he is happy to play third base for the Miami Marlins.  He made this clear through his twitter account in the last few days too: http://twitter.com/hanleyramirez.

By all accounts he is happily making the transition, and just wants to win.  Manager Ozzie Guillen is probably making the move easier too, by downplaying the severity of such a move and deflecting any possible problems. He is basically coming up with all the reasons the move is great, and hoping that the media (and Hanley) will latch on to one of those positives motives/outcomes.

The Dominican Baseball Guy thinks the move will be great, and Hanley will return to MVP form after a slump and injuries last season.  Hanley is from Samana, Republica Dominicana.

Dominican baseball player Hanley Ramirez, by SD Dirk on Flick

Dominican player Hanley Ramirez OK with switch to 3B, Dominicano Hanley Ramirez esta bien con cambio a tercer base

Everyone knows that Jose Reyes just signed with the Marlins because the Dominican Baseball Guy just blogged about it: Pelotero Dominicano Jose Reyes firma con Miami Marlins, Dominican baseball player Jose Reyes signs with Marlins.

Well, that signing means that the Marlins have two quality short stops.  Early reports were that Marlins incumbent all-star short stop Hanley Ramirez did not want to switch to third base.  That could have been a big problem for the Marlins.

But in the end, all is well in Marlin land.  Hanley hashed it out with new coach Ozzie Guillen and now endorses the switch to third base.  He says all he wants to do is win, even if it is at third base.

So, the Dominican Baseball Guy is excited to see the new all-Dominican left side of the Marlins infield.  From the recollection of the Dominican Baseball Guy, this could be the best all-Dominican half infield of all-time.

Hanley Ramirez es de Samana, Republica Dominicana, and Jose Reyes es de Villa Gonzalez, Republica Dominicana.

Hanley Ramirez, by SD Dirk on Flickr 

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

Dominicano Jose Reyes could be a Marlin, Dominicano Jose Reyes va a Marlins de Florida?

Jose Reyes had a resurgence the last two years, after some down years.  So, that is how the New York media portrayed it.  In the eyes of the Dominican Baseball Guy it looks like he only had one off year, an injury-riddled campaign in which he only played 36 games in 2009.

Other than that he has been one of the most exciting players in the game.  Reyes has made four all-star teams, led the NL in stolen bases and triples three times each, and won a batting title last year.  All while playing a well above average shortstop.  His all-time WAR is pretty good too.  Right with guys like Hanley Ramirez and Torii Hunter.

AND he is a free agent this off season.  Apparently he is one of the top free agents on the market this off season, and the Marlins are interested in his services.  The Dominican Baseball Guy can hardly contain himself with this possibility.  Signing Reyes would probably push Hanley Ramirez to third base, and create one of the best all-Dominican half infield of all-time.  And they would have crazy old Ozzie Guillen on the bench.

Reyes is also one of the most renowned baseball playing reggaeton artists in the world!  He is from Villa Gonzalez, Republica Dominicana.

Dominican baseball player Jose Reyes with the Mets, by Mr. Littlehand on Flickr

David Ortiz mentor to Robinson Cano and other younger Dominicans, David Ortiz es mentor para Dominicanos jovenes

David Ortiz has been an ambassador of Dominican baseball and Latin baseball since he busted on the scene with his first all-star campaign in 2004.  While he has been spreading the word of Dominican baseball to American fans and representing the game for all Dominicans, he has also served as a mentor to up and coming Dominican players.

The Dominican Baseball guy blogged on David Ortiz and his relationship with Hanley Ramirez a few months back.  Ramirez came up with the Red Sox and Ortiz showed him the big league ropes early in his career.

Ortiz has a similar relationship with Robinson Cano.  David Ortiz and Robinson Cano first met at a stadium in the Dominican Republic over ten years ago.  Cano remembers the meeting fondly, and says they have had a tight relationship ever since.  Ortiz gives him advice and even picked him for his team in the 2011 home run derby.

According to Ortiz:

“I look at him like a little brother,” said Ortiz. “It’s great. I really try to get along with everybody around me and since the first time I saw him, I saw how hard he was trying to be a good player and came to be who he is today. I always have open hands for people like that.”

Cano hopes to continue the cycle of good will and serve as a mentor to future young Dominican players.

David Ortiz es de Santo Domingo, Robinson Cano es de San Pedro de Macoris, and Hanley Ramirez es de Samana.

David Ortiz bats with the Boston Red Sox

Dominican player Hanley Ramirez sees David Ortiz as big brother

Hanley Ramirez came up with the Red Sox in 2005 when David Ortiz was in the prime of his career, and Ortiz has been a mentor to the younger Dominican star ever since.  Even though Ramirez only played two games with the Red Sox that year before being sent to the Marlins, the two players built a relationship that has remained strong.  The Dominican Baseball Guy mentioned this relationship during the All-Star game last year.

Ramirez seems to be in the same situation that Ortiz had in 2005: both young Dominican stars in the prime of their career expected to both lead and carry their teams.  So, Ortiz has plenty of advice for Ramirez, and Ramirez seems to be taking much of that advice.  Mainly, stay out of the news and just play your game, leading by example.

Ortiz is from Santo Domingo and Ramirez is from Samana, DR.

Dominican player Hanley Ramirez, by SD Dirk on Flickr