What The Dominican Republic Proved In The World Baseball Classic

Dominican player Jose Reyes led team Dominican 

to World Baseball Classic championship. 

Photo by james_in_to'

Another World Baseball Classic has come and gone, and once again, overall fan interest was hit and miss. In the United States, even the games including the home country were dismissed as nothing more than exhibitions. However, starting with the Dominican Republic’s win over the United States of America, those watching the event could tell how much this competition meant to the small island.

After beating Puerto Rico in the final 3-0, the Dominican Republic capped off the tournament with an 8-0 record. Head coach Tony Pena knew going in he had a strong team, but winning eight games in a row in baseball against the best players in the world is no easy task.

When the United States and the Dominican Republic got together in Miami, the crowd was pro-Dominican. The team played with passion, celebrating runs and strikeouts like Little Leaguers. While some old school baseball fans frowned at this, the team continued to play with passion for their country.

The team played the game, and the tournament for that matter, the way organizers wanted it to be played when it was first developed. Baseball is no longer in the Olympics, so this is the premier international event. The Dominican Republic did not send all of their stars, but fantasy baseball favorites Robinson Cano, Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, and more definitely made sure the team had talent.

After dominating the tournament, the Dominican Republic can officially say that the best baseball is played on their island. People can obviously debate that claim in a number of ways, but they proved it at this moment on the field. If more countries can follow their methods, the World Baseball Classic could rival that of the World Cup in soccer or the Olympics in basketball. It just takes getting the best players to play with pride for their home country.

Can the Dominican Republic Win the World Baseball Classic?

After a semi final loss in the first World Baseball Classic, and a national catastrophe first-round exit in 2009, the Dominican Republic has the pressure of the nation on them to win their first world title in the unilateral national sport. Even Dominican President Danilo Medina recently implored the Dominican team to 'lift up the country' with their World Baseball Classic performance.

Anything less than winning the whole thing will be a disappointment in the country with more MLB players per capita than any country in the world. There were 95 Dominican Baseball Players on MLB Rosters 2012, which was 11% of the league. Virtually everyone in the country has an opinion about baseball, known as 'pelota' or simply 'ball' in the Dominican Republic.

Dominican short stop Jose Reyes talked with USA Today. "The first two Classics were a bit disappointing for us. We had great teams and didn't do much," said Reyes. "This time we want to bring the crown back to the Dominican people."

Dominican native and MLB veteran Moises Alou has been a successful General Manager for Escogido in the Dominican Winter League, and he is heading up the World Baseball Classic team as well. He has replaced the power laden lineup from 2009 with a lineup based on speed and contact. Dominican players like Reyes, Erick Aybar and Alejandro De Aza fit that mold. Even the power heavy players like Robinson Cano, Hanley Ramirez, Edwin Encarnacion, Carlos Santana and Nelson Cruz are more rounded than power players like Jose Bautista and David Ortiz in previous years.

The bookies tend to agree with Alou and the Dominican public. The Dominican Republic is a 3-1 co-favorite to win the World Baseball Classic. The team has backed up this confidence from the public in their two exhibition games, beating the Phillies with 30 hits Tuesday and downing the Yankees 8-2 on Wedensday.

Dominican Republic World Baseball
Classic manager, Tony Pena, is currently
bench coach for the Yankees.

The Dominicans, led by Yankee bench coach and former big league Dominican native Tony Pena, look to build on this chemistry. Their first game is Thursday evening in Pool C in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Team Dominican Republic could even add Adrian Beltre to the All-Star heavy lineup in the second round. "We take a lot of pride in trying to be the best we can. We have a lot of players that play in the big leagues, so we have quite a list of players," Beltre told ESPN. "Coming into the Classic the first time, we thought we'd do a better job than we did as a team. After that, we didn't meet our expectations, and I think the fans and the players were more into it because they know we can do better."

"Every three or four years, they expect us to do well. They look forward to it."

Tony Pena is a legend in the Dominican Republic. Expect him to bring together all the high priced talent and lead them to the final round. On paper they are certainly one of the top two teams, along with the USA. They should see Asian bracket winners Japan and Cuba in the final round.

Pool: C — San Juan, Puerto Rico
First Dominican Republic game: Thursday, March 7 — vs. Venezuela

Infield: Robinson Cano, Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, Leury Garcia, Miguel Tejada
Outfield: Nelson Cruz, Alejandro de Aza, Eury Perez, Ricardo Nanita, Moises Sierra

Starters: Edinson Volquez, Wandy Rodriguez, Sam Deduno
Bullpen: Fernando Rodney, Santiago Casilla, Octavio Dotel, Jose Veras, Jose Valverde
Catchers: Francisco Pena, Carlos Santana

For more information on the tournament see the official World Baseball Classic site.

Dominican beisbol player Engel Beltre plays for Spain in WBC

In a scene only seen in those strange citizenship rules of international sports, Dominican beisbol player Engel Beltre is playing in World Baseball Classic qualifiers for Spain. Even though Beltre is from the Dominican Republic, and grew up in his home country and in the United States, at least one of his grand parents was from Spain, so he can represent them in the WBC. For that matter, virtually the entire Spain team is from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, or the United States.

Beltre is one of the seemingly unending pipeline of Rangers prospects. The team protected him from free agency by placing him on their 40-man roster, but he is not with the team. He had a great year in double-A for the Rangers, and won the Texas League player of the month award for July.

It is hard to get on the field with the big league club though. Beltre is a center fielder with a plus arm and fielding ability, and hits for power and average and has plus speed. Despite this, he has a pretty good player in center ahead of him in Josh Hamilton.

In any case, Dominican beisbol player Engel Beltre should see a big league field in the next year or two, whether with the Rangers or another team.

Dominican beisbol player Engel Beltre will play for Spain in the World Baseball Classic,
photo by mikelachance816 on Flickr

Baseball to return to Olympics in 2020?

Most of you that have made your way to the Dominican Baseball Guy blog know, that sadly, there is no baseball in the 2012 Olympics. Baseball last appeared on the Olympic program in 2008, but failed to make the cut for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. The international baseball and softball federations are merging into the International Baseball and Softball Federation in hopes of making the 2020 games.

The International Olympic Committee will make the final decision in Buenos Aires in September 2013. The executive board will vote which sport to recommend for inclusion, with karate, roller sports, climbing events, squash, wakeboard, and wushu competing for the final spot with softball and baseball.

"Most people tell me that without commitment from MLB, it's not going to work," International Softball Federation president Don Porter told the Associated Press. "It would certainly strengthen our bid if the MLB says they will commit their players."

But the Dominican Baseball Guy really doubts that Major League Baseball is going to put their might behind this effort. MLB is owned by the team owners and the team owners are concerned about their bottom dollar and their investments in their players. Team owners do not want to send their best players, losing them for pennant race games and risking injuries.

The Dominican Baseball Guy likes the format of the World Baseball Classic, in any case. MLB has worked revenue sharing into the WBC model, so the owners at least see some return for investing their players in the tournament. Perhaps they should move the WBC to the end of the year rather than the beginning, so that players are in top form, but the format is sound. Even if voted into the Olympics for 2020, baseball should take the route that soccer has taken, in that the Olympics is an under 23 event and the real 'world championship' is the World Cup.

Why not? The World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the World.  Baseball is not even very popular when it is on the Olympic program. Leave the Olympics for gymnastics and all these other niche sports, and make the WBC a true world championship of baseball.

If the World Baseball Classic was marketed correctly, shown in prime time on the major networks, and featured the top baseball players in top form it could be one of the most popular sporting events in the World, a la the World Cup. It will never reach that status competing against other sports in the Olympics.

It is truly sad for softball, as the Olympics was one of the two pinnacle tournaments for softball. But they are not that for baseball. Baseball does not need the Olympics and the Olympics does not need baseball.

Dominican Republic hopes to host World Baseball Classic

Héctor Pereyra, the president of the Federación Dominicana de Béisbol (Fedobe) said that the Dominican national baseball team has put in a request with World Baseball Classic, Inc. to host an opening round of the next World Baseball Classic. The next classic is scheduled to take place in 2013.

The letter was signed by Pereya, Leonardo Matos Berrido (the president of the Dominican League of Winter Baseball), Juan Francisco Puello (president of the Confederación de Béisbol del Caribe), Mario Soto (president of the Federación Dominicana de Peloteros Profesionales), and former players Stanley Javier and Juan Marichal. This is a who's who list of people in charge of domestic baseball in the Dominican Republic.

Needless to say, the whole country is surely behind this effort. And it would be a disaster if they were to host the opening round and put up a performance like the Dominicans did in 2009 when they were ousted in the first round. And that was a team filled almost entirely with big league players.

The Dominican Baseball Guy cannot wait for the next one...still two years away.

Hanley Ramirez in the World Baseball Classic, by Rabbethan