Dominican player Robinson Cano denies PED suspension rumor

Dominican player and Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano along with his agent, Scott Boras, yesterday said there was no truth to rumors of Cano being suspended for performance-enhancing drugs. Boras, told The New York Daily News that the rumors were false. He had traced the allegation to a rumor that originated in the Dominican Republic, a reporter in the U.S. and a rival agent.

Hard to stop a 'rumor' originating from the Dominican Republic. The rumor mill and oral communication in general is one of the top forms of communication in the Dominican Republic. I have often told people that are trying to contact Dominicans in the Dominican Republic to just go down there and start asking people. If you know what city a Dominican person is in, then I bet you can find them in half a day just by asking the first people you come across in whatever Dominican city you may be in.

But the 'U.S. reporter and the 'rival agent' obviously lack integrity if they were involved in this rumor in any way.

Cano has never really been suspected of performance enhancing drugs. His numbers have been consistently awesome since he was in the minor leagues and there is nothing in his injury history to suggest PEDs.

That was not the case last month, when Dominican player Melky Cabrera got busted for PEDs and suspended 50 games. Cabrera was in the midst of his best year ever, and coming in his seventh full-time big league season, the jump in stats were an anomaly that may have suggested PED use.

Cano's friendship with the fellow Dominican baseball player Cabrera fueled the suspicion that Cano could have failed a PED test. But it appears that the rumors were entirely false, and Cano hopes to focus on making the playoffs this season with the Yankees.

"You can't control what people say," Cano told the New York Daily News. "There's a lot of negative stuff out there and I can't control that. I have to stay above that."

Dominican beisbol player of the week Robinson Cano, by Keith Allison on Flickr

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

2012 MLB All-Star rosters feature 8 Dominican players

The 2012 MLB All-Star game roster were announced Sunday and there are eight Dominican players among the All-Star invitees.

Interesting that six out of the eight Dominican players featured in the All-Star game were voted in by the fans of starters. Out of 18 position starters on the NL and AL squad, that means that 33% of the starters in the All-Star game come from the Dominican Republic. This is a huge number, considering that 11% of MLB players are Dominican.

But, alas the overall number of total Dominicans on the 2012 MLB All-Star rosters is right at the percentage of Dominicans players in Major League Baseball. Eight of a total of around 70 players in the All-Star game are Dominican, which comes to 11%.

Four out of the nine position starters on the AL team are Dominican players, along with one pitcher:

• Robinson Cano is starting for the third strait time and making his fourth appearance overall. He is from San Pedro de Macoris, Republica Dominicana.
• Adrian Beltre is starting for the second strait year and is playing in his third strait All-Star game. Beltre is from the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo.
• Jose Bautista set the all-time votes record last year, only to have that record broken by Josh Hamilton this year.  He is from Santo Domingo too.
• David Ortiz is an All-Star for the eighth time, also from Santo Domingo.
• Fernando Rodney is from Samana, Dominican Republic and is playing in his first All-Star game.

There are two Dominican starters and one Dominican reserve player on the NL squad:

• Rafael Furcal made his third All-Star game in his thirteenth year in the bigs. Not surprising, considering he was named the Dominican Baseball Guy player of the week earlier this season. He is from Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic.
• Melky Cabrera is from Santo Domingo and is appearing in his first mid-summer classic.
• Starlin Castro will play in his second All-Star game in just his third big league season. He is from Monte Cristi, DR.

See all these top Dominican players and the rest of the MLB All-Stars July 10, 2012 on FOX.

Pedro Martinez to pitch in World Series

Pedro Martinez continues to be the talk of the Dominican Republic. He will pitch tonight for the Phillies, and as always, he had an entertaining interview session yesterday. The National Post has a transcription of the interview here.

It is funny, most Dominicans have no clue that Melky Cabrera (Dominican) was injured, or that Robinson Canó (Dominican) will play tonight for the Yankees. But they all know who Pedro is and most will be rooting for the Phillies thanks to Pedro and his Dominican heritage.

Pedro Martinez pitches for the Phillies, by dbking on Flickr