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 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

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