9 Dominican players on World Series rosters

Anyone that has ever visited the Dominican Baseball Guy blog knows that Dominican players have figured prominently at all levels of Major League Baseball in recent years. The total number of Dominican baseball players on MLB rosters 2012 was 11% this year. That number has remained steady and grown in recent years, and it holds up in the playoffs for the most part.

This year there are nine Dominican players in the World Series out of a total of 50 players. The total 18% of players coming from the Dominican Republic nearly doubles that regular season percentage. Further, according to Latino Voices on the Huffington post, 22 Latino will play in the World Series. Nearly half of the World Series players come from Latin America!

And that means the Dominican Republic and Venezuela for the most part. The two countries are the Latin baseball power houses of the MLB. USA Today and the New York Times felt the need to point out the banner year for Venezuelan players in the World Series, as there are also nine Venezuelan players, including the recent triple crown winner Miguel Cabrera. And they failed to mention the equal number of Dominican Republic baseball players in this year's World Series.

Dominican players have featured so prominently in both the regular season and the playoffs in recent years, that perhaps major publications do not see it as newsworthy that their are a lot of Dominicans in the World Series. Last year there were eight Dominican players in the World Series. Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, and Manny Ramirez, among other Dominican players, have dominated on the biggest baseball stage of them all.

Dominican natives have summed up what it means to have their countrymen competing on the biggest stage. A librarian in San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic said years ago that "we root for whichever team has more Dominicans. They remind me of players that I have seen in my own town, so we want them to do well and represent our country."

Juan Uriste, another Dominican baseball fan from San Francisco de Macoris told the Dominican baseball guy through email that "Dominicans are following the series closely as always, but we don't know who to root for because both teams have several Dominican players each."

Dominican baseball player Ramon Santiago could
feature prominently in 2012 World Series,
photo by Keith Allison on Flickr

They have their choice of the Tigers who feature six Dominicans on their active roster: Jhonny Peralta, Al Alburquerque, Joaquin Benoit, Octavio Dotel, Jose Valverde, Ramon Santiago. Or, the Giants who have pitchers Santiago Casilla and Guillermo Mota, and position player Joaquín Árias on their World Series roster.

Pretty incredible that a country of just 15 million people could put that many players in the World Series, compared to the 300 million people and the 25 or so American players competing. The percentages are simply astounding.

Dominican Baseball Card #10: Nelson Cruz

First off, the Dominican Baseball Guy now has his own domain, so be sure and bookmark dominicanbaseballguy.com.  And now on to the #10 Dominican Baseball Guy Dominican Baseball Card.

The Dominican Baseball Guy does not usually do this, but he has to borrow a card from The Hamiltonian blog.  So, thanks to this post from the Hamiltonian, the Dominican Baseball Guy's 10th Dominican Baseball Card is a Nelson Cruz custom:

It's just a great card and it has Cruz playing for the Dominican Republic.  Nelson is just starting his career, so not much to say or update here.  The Dominican Baseball Guy recently tweeted and facebooked an article on Cruz's rise to the big leagues (see the article on Cruz's Road to the Bigs here).  He actually started as a basketball player and did not start baseball until he was 16.  The Mets signed him at the age of 17 in 1998, and 11 years later he was an all-star with the Rangers.

Nelson was an all-star and hit in the home run derby in 2009.  This year he fought threw injuries, but when he plays, he is considered one of the best corner outfielders in the game.  He is considered a true 5 tool players, and has shown all these skills, hitting for power and average, running, fielding and throwing.  If he can stay healthy, the Dominican Baseball Guy guarantees he will be an all-star for many years to come.

Nelson has played with the Gigantes in Dominican Winter Baseball League, for several years.  He led the league in home runs and RBI in 2008.  He is a huge crowd favorite with the Gigantes fans and even played a few games last year after making an MLB all-star team.  Gigantes fans say "llega papa," or "here comes the papa" when Cruz is playing.  He is a huge draw in the Dominican Winter League.

Nelson is from Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic.  Tony Pena, the 9th Dominican Baseball Card, is also from Monte Cristi.  This is actually a province, not a city.  It is in the far north-west corner of the Dominican Republic on the border with Haiti.  Good players come from all over the Dominican is the point.

Dominican Baseball Card #9: Tony Pena

The 9th edition of the Dominican Baseball Guy's Dominican Baseball Card is a Tony Pena 1988 Fleer #45.  I really like the cheese factor of this set from Fleer.  The white borders are hideously great.  Guess this was the 80s cheese factor making its way onto the baseball cards.  Tony has a great mustache too, and according to movember.org, next month is the month of the mustache.


Tony had a great career that spanned 18 MLB seasons.  He came up with the Pirates and went on to play with the Cardinals, Red Sox, and Indians.  And he split 40 games between the White Sox and Astros in his last season, so the Dominican Baseball Guy guesses we have to count those teams too.  Tony was known for his defense behind the plate.  He won 4 gold gloves and made 5 All-Star teams.  He made it to the World Series with the Cardinals in 1987, losing to the Twins.  


Tony also had a long career in the Dominican Winter Baseball League, playing late into his career with his original team, the Aguilas from Sanitago.  The Dominican Baseball Guy could not find any statistics on his career in the DWL, but he played for more than ten years and won several titles with the Aguilas.


Tony went strait into coaching after his career was over, as many catchers do.  He has managed the Aguilas for several years, winning  DWL in 1998, 2000, and 2001, and a Caribbean Series Championship with the team in 2001.  He even showed up for the second half of last season, as the Aguilas were playing bad and fired their American manager, bringing in Pena to finish the season.  He spent 2002-2005 as the Royals manager and won the AL manager of the year in 2003, taking the Royals to 3rd place finish in the AL, unheard of for the Royals.  He has been the Yankees bench coach for two years, winning a World Series title last year, and still in the hunt of the ALCS this year.  Tony is from Monte Criti, Dominican Republic.  His son Tony Jr. pitched in the DWL last year (as the Dominican Baseball Guy blogged) and his other son, Francisco, is in the Mets organization.

Yankees win World Series, Curt Schilling comments on Pedro Martinez loss

Pedro Martinez lost and the Yankees won the World Series Wednesday night. Though most of the country was rooting for Pedro Martinez and the Phillies, the dominican baseball guy concedes that you will find front runners in all sports throughout the world. Asian Manchester United fans in soccer, Spanish Lakers fans...and Dominican Yankees fans. This is also due to the fact that there are a lot of Dominicans in New York. Whenever someone hears the dominican baseball guy is from the States, the first question is "you from New York." Just because lots of Dominicans go to New York, means every American is from there? So, a lot of people celebrated last night with fireworks and booze.

The fact is a lot of the people I have met really know nothing else of the States other than New York, and a lot really do not know where Houston is. There is obviously a portion of the population that is highly educated, but much of the country lacks more than a primary education.

Curt Schilling posted an interview on his blog, and spoke to the trials of Pedro Martinez and Dominican players. The dominican baseball guy thought it was enlightening and speaks to why Dominican players sometimes act differently than American players. Here is excerpt:

I always felt like with Pedro it was how he was treated. I think it would be hypocritical of me to get on that when you’re talking about a guy, and a bunch of guys, you’re talking about Dominican players, who come from a very different environment. I read something he said yesterday or the day before about that Latin players or Dominican players grow up in a world of survival. I’ve been to the Dominican and played winter baseball. While it certainly has changed, it is a very different life there. These kids, it’s baseball, or crime, or an incredibly low … So, they go through and endure things to get to the big leagues that none of us could even dream of. So, I certainly can’t comment to his mindset and mentality as it relates to that. And that’s a lot of what shaped Pedro, and it’s alot of what made Pedro great. I mean, he still had a chip on his shoulder for [Tommy] Lasorda and the Dodgers his entire life. Them trading him was an immense sign of disrespect. It was also one of the stupidest trades in the history of the game.

Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez celebrate Red Sox World Series title, by Ken Curtis on Flickr

Now the Dominican Republic baseball fans will turn to the Dominican Winter Baseball League. It is said that no political protests (or crime in general) happen during the baseball season. While people have been interested in the Winter League, the dominican baseball guy thinks it will take an even more center stage in daily discussions now that the MLB season has ended.

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

Pedro Martinez to Start in World Series Tonight

As the dominican baseball guy said yesterday, any time a Dominican does anything in the Big Leagues it is big news down here. So Pedro getting the start tonight is big news. Last night, as I watched game one, a few people arrived to the bar late and asked me if Pedro was pitching.

Today, as I was sitting in a library, some people discussed the game. Yes people were chatting loudly about baseball in the library. One of the "librarians" (I use this term loosely) said, "I just want the team that has the most Dominicans." The dominican baseball guy has heard this sentiment expressed by nearly everyone. So, most people are rooting for Pedro to have a good game tonight.

Also, most Dominicans dislike the Yankees, for many of the same reasons Americans (not from New York) dislike the Yankees. The funny thing is both the Phillies and the Yankees both have 3 Dominicans. But Pedro is the most visible of these players.The dominican baseball guy is a big fan of Pedro too. His ability to improvise, on the mound and in interviews, is what makes him (and a lot of Dominicans) great ball players. I have been a fan since he was with the expos, and pitched a perfect game into the 8th and hit a batter who then charged the mound. Still strange to me (why the batter thought he was trying to hit him, with perfect game on line). Anyway, the Dominican Baseball guy has always been a big fan.

Pedro Martinez pitches for the Mets, by Bryce Edwards on Flickr