Raul Castro does it again. Goes 6 innings gives up 1 run, leaves with a 4-1 lead and the bullpen can't hold the lead. Aguilas down to their last three bullets.

These games are hard on the heart. I have butterflies watching the game. I can only imagine being at the game. Two outs. 3-2 count of Jessie Gutierrez, Fernando Rodney to close it out and he sends one over the wall with the Lions fans on their feet tasting a championship. One pitch and the house goes silent. WoW! It just doesn't get any better than this.

Bottom of the ninth for the Lions. Leadoff man aboard. Stolen base. Intentional walk. A flyout for one out. A Fielders choice for two out. Runners on the corners. Fermin goes to the bullpen for a lefty on lefty matchup. Game and championship on the line. Andy Dirks singles to center. Game and Match! Leones wins a hard fought battle for the Dominican championship. All nine games were sold out. Words can't describe the actions that took place on the field or in the stands. This series was just unbelievable. I can't recall ever seeing a championship series the likes of this one and that includes major league baseball. Nine games of nothing but pure excitement that ran the emotional gamut.

Well! You just had to see it to believe it!

Dirks gets to play hero as Leones win crown

Tigers outfielder helps Escogido clinch title in Dominican Republic

Dominican Winter League

Escogido 6, Cibaenas 5

Detroit Tigers outfielder Andy Dirks set the stage for an exciting Caribbean Series on Monday when his late-game heroics helped the Leones clinch the Dominican Winter League championship in dramatic fashion. The former eighth-round Draft pick plated the tying run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and he delivered a walk-off RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth in the final game of the best-of-9 set.

Mauro Gomez smacked a solo homer and Pablo Ozuna reached base safely three times, plated a run and scored once in the triumph. Fernando Rodney (Rays) earned his second win of the Championship Series, despite blowing the lead in the top of the ninth. Aneury Rodriguez (Astros) earlier pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief of Jordan Norberto (A's), who surrendered four runs over 3 1/3 innings.


Andy Dirks hit .251 with seven homers and 28 RBIs in 78 Major League games for Detroit last year. (Charlie Riedel/AP)

Aguilas starter Raul Valdes allowed a run on seven hits while fanning seven batters over six innings, but did not factor in the decision. Hector Luna (Phillies) and Jesse Gutierrez each went 2-for-4 with a solo homer in the defeat. Miguel Tejada also went deep in the losing cause.

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The Caribbean Series gets under way Thursday, pitting the winners of the four Winter League winners against each other. Each team will play the other three squads twice, with the top two teams advancing to the championship Feb. 8. Obregon will represent the Mexican Pacific League after sweeping its best-of-7 series with Guasave; Aragua toppled La Guaira, 4-2, in the Venezuelan Winter League Championship Series; and Mayaguez triumphed over Caguas, 5-2, in the best-of-9 Puerto Rican Winter League Finals.

Rudolph Giuliani throws out first pitch before the final game of the Dominican Championship Series

Escogido campeón!!!!!!!!!

Escogido campeón!!!!!!!!!

Leones reactions: Oberkfell: "Lions will win today"
Congradulations to the Champs
Tension: Eagles tie game in ninth 5-5 on Jesse Rodriguez homer

Lion's Julio Lugo apologizes for fight in AC-Lions game

SANTIAGO .

The eighth game of the Dominican winter baseball finals was marred by lawsuit situations motivated by pitches near the head of the Eagles hitters.

And that situation led to two expulsions of the Lions pitchers Jonathan Arias and Jonathan Ortega, who threw high and tight to Eagles Joaquin Arias and Miguel Tejada.

Lions shortstop Julio Lugo apologized for the situation, which he described as unfortunate.

"The truth is that it is an unfortunate situation, from the Lions point of view and the players who threw near the head. We do not want to hurt anyone and know the Eagles don't want to hurt anyone either. Hopefully it will not be repeated in the final game of the series" Lugo said after the game yesterday

Andy Dirks basehit made Champions of the Leones Escogido

Tiger has his team to the Caribbean Series

Gradually the roster takes shape as the cats will represent Venezuela in Dominican Republic

CARACAS .-

The Aragua Tigers will travel to the Dominican Republic for the Caribbean Series and the team is almost set. Only Wilson Ramos and Romulo Sanchez confirmed their absence in the regional classic, to be held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Yusmeiro Petit, Yangervis Solarte and Wilfredo Ledezma have not yet confirmed their participation yet waiting for permits. so far have confirmed the reinforcements Ramon Ramirez, Jon Hunton, Pedro Rodriguez, Gustavo Molina, Marcos Tabata, Anthony Ortega, Alberto Bastardo, Miguel Rojas , Cesar Suarez, Luis Jimenez, Brian Sweeney and Adonis Garcia.

The following list are the players who will go: Seth Etherthon P Jose Mijares P Victor Moreno P P Butte Francisco César Ciurcina P Yorman Bazard P Ramon Ramirez P (Caribs of Anzoategui) Jon Hunton P (Caribs of Anzoategui ) Pedro Rodriguez P (Caribs of Anzoategui) Marcos Tabata P (Aguilas del Zulia) Anthony Ortega P (La Guaira Sharks) Alberto Bastardo P (La Guaira Sharks) Brian Sweeney P (Lara Cardinals) Raul Chavez C Gustavo Molina C ( Caribs of Anzoategui) Luis Jimenez 1B/BD (Lara Cardinals) IF Luis Maza Edgardo Alfonzo IF IF Luis Hernandez Hector Gimenez IF / C Alex Nunez IF IF Ramon Castro Adonis García IF (Magallanes Navigators) José Gregorio Martínez IF IF Jose Garcia Miguel Rojas IF (La Guaira Sharks) Cesar Suarez Utility (La Guaira Sharks) Jonel Pacheco OF Jorge Cortes OF

Caribbean Series

The Caribbean Series (Spanish: Serie del Caribe), also called the Caribbean World Series (CWS) is the highest baseball tournament at club level in Latin America. The league winners from the Winter Leagues of Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela participate in the tournament. The tournament is hosted at each country every four year and is normally played in February after all the leagues have ended their national tournaments.

The 2011 Caribbean Series was held in Isidoro García Stadium in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, in February 2011 with Mexico's Obregon Yaquis obtaining their first Caribbean Series championship.

The competition was the brainchild of Pablo Morales, who devised the idea after the seeing the success of the Serie Interamericana in 1946, which featured the Monterrey Sultans from Mexico; the All Cubans from Cuba; the Brooklyn Bushwicks from the United States; and Cervecería Caracas from Venezuela. The Bushwicks won each year from 1946 to 1949, but Cervecería Caracas won the final Serie Interamericana in 1950.

Inspired by the Serie Interamericana and his experience as a former president of the FIBA 1946–1947, Morales presented his idea for a Serie del Caribe to the Confederación de Béisbol del Caribe (CBC, Caribbean Baseball Confederation) conference in Miami on August 21, 1948. Cuba agreed to host the first series, which would feature the top team from each of the nations that were then CBC members – Cuba, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela – in a six-game round robin series to determine the winner.

The series ran annually from 1949 to 1960, with Cuba winning seven times. However, the Serie del Caribe was cancelled after Fidel Castro dissolved all professional baseball in Cuba in 1961 and it wasn't until 1970 that the CWS was revived.

Currently, the Serie del Caribe is affiliated with the Winter League programs of Major League Baseball, featuring MLB players and prospects from the Dominican Winter League, Mexican Pacific League, Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League and Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.

In 2008 Puerto Rico failed to field a team for the series due to a one-year hiatus in their professional winter league. As a result the host country, the Dominican Republic, was able to field a second team – the eventual champion Licey Tigers

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (ESCOGIDO LIONS)
VENEZUELA (ARAGUA TIGERS)
MEXICO (OBREGON YAQUIS)
PUERTO RICO (MAYAGUEZ INDIANS)

'Pandemonium' expected for Caribbean Series

Excitement, patriotism to fill stands in Dominican tournament

By Jesse Sanchez / MLB.com | 01/31/12 10:50 AM EST

Cleveland manager Manny Acta, a longtime veteran of the Dominican Winter League, was asked to describe this week's Caribbean Series in the Dominican Republic, and the first word to come out of his mouth said it all.

"Pandemonium," Acta said. "I've been part of it before, and it's a great opportunity for baseball. It's real competitive baseball, especially when it's played back home in the D.R."

The 2012 Caribbean Series, the annual round-robin tournament featuring the Winter League champions from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, starts Thursday with the first of six consecutive days of doubleheaders at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo.

This year's field consists of the Dominican Republic's Leones del Escogido, Puerto Rico's Indios de Mayaguez, Venezuela's Tigres de Aragua and the defending champion Yaquis de Obregon from Mexico. This year's action in the stands will consist of horns, noise makers, musical groups parading in the concourse, and a heavy dose of patriotism.

With all due respect to New York's bleacher creatures, Wrigleyville's famous fans and those lovable monsters above the Green Monster at Fenway Park, Caribbean Series fans are in a class of their own.

Let's put it this way: four grown men dressed as cows dancing on the dugout and a man dressed in a red grasshopper costume running up and down the aisle is not unusual, it's expected.

What's more, there's a Mexican noisemaking device at the Caribbean Series that puts the vuvuzela to shame, and there are more wrestling masks than a Nacho Libre look-alike contest.

Flags are everywhere.

Oh, and the music. Don't forget about the salsa and the merengue.

"On a smaller scale, people have seen that atmosphere during the World Baseball Classic," Acta said. "The thing is, we do speak the same language, but we are different in ways and the music that we play and our cultures. It's fantastic when you combine the four cultures together and you can see how different people chant and how they dress in the stands. It's very entertaining."

Here's another reason why the Caribbean Series is unlike any international event in the world: Every team is considered a favorite regardless of how much talent is on the roster.

"It's about country pride," Acta said. "It's about bragging rights and holding the title for a year and be able to rag the other three countries. Everyone takes a lot of pride in the titles they have won, and it's also a great event where people travel from country to country to follow it."

Acta, who is from San Pedro de Macoris, knows of what he speaks. He managed Licey in the D.R. from 2002-04, and he won a Caribbean Series title at the helm in '04. He later managed the Dominican Republic team in the World Baseball Classic in '06.

"I will never forget managing Licey," the manager said. "I never imagined that I would be able to manage so many superstars in one team. It was the first time in history that a Dominican manager won the Caribbean Series in the Dominican, and it made it special."

The round-robin can be traced back to the union of the leagues in Cuba, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela -- and the formation of the Caribbean Federation in 1948. After Cuba in 1949, Puerto Rico played host to the Caribbean Series in '50, followed by Venezuela in '51 and Panama in '52.

The initial design was 12 games, with each team squaring off against one another twice. From 1949-60, Cuba won the title seven times. Puerto Rico won four times during that span, and Panama won its first and only Caribbean Series title in 1950.

In 1959, Fidel Castro took over in Cuba and declared it a Communist nation, ending its participation in the event after '60. Depleted, the Caribbean Series disappeared for a decade until a revival in 1970 that saw the addition of the Dominican Republic and Mexico and the disappearance of Panama.

There is some talk of adding Nicaragua and Colombia and reinstating Panama to the Caribbean Confederation, but the proposal has stalled because the leagues do not meet the organization's standards. Cuba has an open invitation to join the Confederation, but has chosen not to participate.

The tournament's storied history includes players such as Hall of Famers Juan Marichal, Roberto Alomar, Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt, Roberto Clemente, Reggie Jackson, along with men like Luis Aparicio, the Alou brothers, the Molina brothers, Vinny Castilla and Ozzie Guillen. Miguel Tejada, Bobby Abreu, Vladimir Guerrero, Ivan Rodriguez, Carlos Pena, David Ortiz and Nelson Cruz are among the countless Major League players that have played in the annual round-robin.

In recent years, the Caribbean Series has been a showcase for up-and-coming players like Minnesota's Danny Valencia, Cincinnati's Juan Francisco and Houston's Fernando Martinez.

When you consider all of the tournament's history, an argument can be made that the Escogido club boasts a considerable home-field advantage this year.

Including the 2010 Caribbean Series title, also won by Escogido, a team from the Dominican Republic has won the Caribbean Series title 18 times since 1970, the most among teams currently competing in the tournament. The D.R. has also won the title 12 times since 1990.

Last season, the Dominican Republic's Toros del Este, went 3-3.

Mexico's Yaquis de Obregon could be the Dominican Republic's biggest challenge. The Yaquis won last year's title, and overall, a team from Mexico has won the Caribbean Series six times since it began participating in the tournament in 1970.

Venezuela also enters the tournament feeling confident. A team from Venezuela has won the Caribbean Series seven times, with the last two titles coming in 2006 and '09. Last year, Caribes de Anzoátegui finished last with a record of 2-4.

Last year's Criollios de Caguas from Puerto Rico also finished with a record of 3-3. Overall, a team from the Enchanted Island has won 14 Caribbean Series titles, second only to the Dominican Republic.

That said, Acta's pick to win this year's version should surprise no one.

"The Dominican Republic," he said. "We have been the team to beat over the last 20 or so years."

Jesse Sanchez is a national reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @JesseSanchezMLB. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs

The article is close to being accurate.........for the evening games that is. The home country always gets the prime time games. If the stadium is at 10% capacity for the day games, that would be considered a nice crowd. No doubt about it, the evening games will attract large crowds. With Puerto Rico being so near to the Dominican, that may cause a bump in attendance for the day games. It all depends on how many fans make the trip from Mexico and Venezuela.

Round 2 Preview: Win or go home for Aces, Sox

Sydney, Melbourne collide with ABLCS trip on line

SYDNEY, 31 January -

Round 2 of the 2012 ConocoPhillips ABL Postseason will feature the Jet Couriers Melbourne Aces clashing with the Sydney Blue Sox for the chance to challenge the 'Alcohol Think Again' Perth Heat in the Championship Series. The Aces lost their Round 1 series versus the Heat three games to one, but advanced to host Round 2 by virtue of their number two seeding. The Blue Sox defeated the Adelaide ETSA Bite in four games for the right to travel to Melbourne. Game One of this series will begin at 7:05PM Wednesday night, 1 February, at Melbourne Showgrounds.

Justin Huber was the story of Round 1 for the Aces, achieving an incredible .789 on-base percentage. They've been a better offensive club than Sydney all season, scoring 54 more runs than the Blue Sox and hitting 68 home runs compared to just 33 for Sydney.

On the mound is where the Aces will seek consistency, particularly from Nic Ungs, who has been their most reliable arm this season. Ungs was knocked out of his Game Two start versus Perth after just one inning and his team was never able to erase the early deficit. He bounced back with a strong performance just two days later, though, giving the Aces a great shot at snagging Game Four before Mitch Graham's late RBI single defeated them.

In Sydney's series in Adelaide, it was their pitching staff that carried them to victory. In sweeping a Sunday doubleheader to clinch the series, their numbers four and five starters, Aidan Francis and Vaughan Harris, combined to throw 14.1 innings, allowing just two earned runs between them. Matthew Williams and Dae-Sung Koo were untouchable out of the bullpen for the Sox, combining to strike out five and surrender just two hits over 5.0 shutout innings in Round 1.

When these two teams met during the regular season, the Blue Sox won six of the nine games, but the games were much more closely contested than that record would indicate. Each team scored 68 total runs and five of the nine contests were decided by two runs or less. When these teams met for a five-game series in Melbourne during Round Eight of the regular season, they combined for an astounding 34 home runs, including four by league leader Brad Harman. If this series heads in that direction, the advantage figures to shift toward the Aces, who feature the deeper lineup of sluggers.

In close games, however, Sydney's deep five-man rotation and strong bullpen give them an advantage. Their third through fifth starting pitchers tend to have the edge in any match-up and Williams and Koo are as automatic as any relievers in the eighth and ninth innings.

The games in this series can go any number of ways, so the excitement will continue to build until they take the field Wednesday night. In Perth, the Heat await the victorious team for the 2012 ConocoPhillips ABL Championship Series, beginning on 10 February.

The name you never want to hear

Tommy John surgery can be tough to battle back from, despite a high success rate

Tommy John.

Two words that any pitcher would dread hearing any day of the week, at any point in his career. It's more than just a name, for the combination of those two words can signify the end of a lifetime in baseball, or, in the very least, a minimum of one year away from the mound.

Tommy John is the name of a surgical procedure that reconstructs the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in the elbow. Though other athletes are affected all the same, it happens most often with pitchers in their throwing arms. The injured ligament is replaced with a tendon from somewhere else in the body.

The surgery is named after the major league pitcher who had the experimental operation in 1974. Tommy John had 288 career wins, ranking him seventh all-time among left-handed pitchers, with the majority of those victories coming after his UCL was replaced with a tendon from his right forearm.

Success is often the result after undergoing this procedure, as it was with its original recipient. The most painstaking part of the process however, is the rehabilitation. Tommy John spent 18 months rehabbing before returning to pitch in the majors.

Jon Durket of the Brisbane Bandits had the surgery in 2009 and found out firsthand just how difficult coming back from it was.

"The rehab was miserable," Durket said. "It's such a long, slow process. My whole life I'd thrown a baseball and to cope with the fact that I wouldn't be able to do that competitively for nearly a year was just as hard mentally as it was physically.

"After surgery I wasn't allowed to move my arm for a month and then slowly I began to work on my range of motion and strengthening all the muscles that deteriorated. A lot of the exercises are super tedious and you're basically lifting 2-3 lb. weights to try and recondition the muscles you need for pitching. It took me 11 months to throw again competitively but I wasn't mentally and physically 100 per cent until about 15 months."

Not only is coming back from any injury difficult, but accepting what's happened and trying to understand how it might affect the future can be a more daunting task. For the American left-hander, playing Division-I baseball at Wright State University at the time that he was injured, Durket wasn't sure where it might leave him.

"When it first happened I was pretty shocked," the 25-year-old said. "I'd never had any arm problems so it took me awhile to realize the significance of the injury. Initially I tried to pitch through it and when I realized I couldn't do that, then I started to think my baseball career might be over."

Durket first tore his UCL during a scrimmage over the winter, and believes that his arm succumbed to the pressure of throwing as hard as possible while coping with freezing temperatures. Sean Jarrett, his Bandits teammate, can pinpoint the exact moment in May of 2007 when he tore his ligament.

"I was the closer my first full year in pro ball and I was doing well," Jarrett said. "I was 5-for-5 in save opportunities with a 1.15 ERA. My arm felt really good that day. I got the first two guys out and then the third hitter came up and I threw a fastball for strike one at 94 mph. When I threw the pitch though, my elbow popped.

"So I decided to throw a curveball the next pitch because I thought maybe it wouldn't pop on a curveball. It did again though, worse this time, and I had to come out of the game with two outs and two strikes on the last batter of the game. The next pitcher came in, threw one pitch, and got my save and strikeout."

While Durket didn't feel a significant tear on just one pitch, or two, as Jarrett did, he did have some pain and then noticed a significant drop in velocity during subsequent outings. Jarrett wasn't able to even follow up with another outing on the mound because of the pain he endured.

"The first pop hurt pretty good," Jarrett said. "It was maybe a six on the pain scale. So I took a few moments and stretched out my forearm, thinking that maybe the nerve just moved around on me or something. Then on the next pitch it popped in the same spot but the feeling was 10 times more painful. It was a shooting pain down my arm to the hand. It felt like my hand was on fire. When I tried to bend my elbow, I just started sweating like crazy and got upset to my stomach."

The 28-year-old righty from Colorado knew immediately how seriously he had injured himself and had the feeling that his season was over, though he was hopeful that it might not be true. Amidst moments of panic in which he would worry that his baseball career might be finished, he figured it would all work out.

When Jarrett was told that he needed Tommy John, a sense of relief came over him because he realized his problem was fixable and all he would need to deal with it was time.

"Good," Jarrett said of his original thoughts on when he was informed he needed the surgery. "Because I can't even throw a dart right now, or swing a golf club.

"It was disappointing to hear but relieving that they knew exactly what to do and the recovery rate for surgery is so high."

The Brisbane Bandits are hopeful that two more of their pitchers can come back and have as much success post-surgery and through their rehabilitation processes as Jarrett and Durket have. Both James Albury and Drew Naylor threw for the Bandits in the Australian Baseball League's inaugural season, but missed out on this year because of Tommy John.

Though Albury's injury occurred prior to the season, he pitched through the pain and continued to take the mound for Brisbane all year long.

"I actually did it in an A-grade game, a local club game," Albury said. "It happened before the start of the season last year but I pitched through the whole ABL season. I kind of just felt a little pop in the elbow and I knew it was hurt but I wanted to pitch because it was the first ABL season.

"It didn't really bother me in that first game but afterwards it would hurt every time I pitched basically. And my arm would swell up after every game."

It's been almost 11 months since Albury's surgery and at this point he is beginning to throw bullpen sessions, a good sign for Bandits fans. While it was hard to watch the most recent season from the sidelines, Albury, along with Naylor, will be looking forward to recovering and getting back to work next year.

"They say 90 per cent of guys come back throwing harder so I'm doing a lot of gym work and everything," Albury said. "I expect to come back throwing the ball harder."

While there is a certain likelihood that pitchers will be even better when they come back from the surgery, the reason isn't because of the replacement of the UCL, but instead due to the work put in during the rehab process.

"Some come back stronger from it, only because of all the rehab that has to be done," Jarrett said. "The months of strengthening shoulders is why they come back throwing harder, not just because of the new ligament. I was pitching at 91-94 mph before the surgery and since then I have only gotten back to 92."

Having been through what Albury and Naylor are going through right now, Jarrett and Durket would both caution them and anyone else having Tommy John to take rehabbing seriously. And with such a long process to endure, patience is key.

"I'd tell them not to rush and to listen to their arms," Durket said. "When you start throwing post-surgery it's really hard to resist just letting one fly. Because your arm feels great and you want to know if you still have it, but if you push it too much you can end up tearing it again. Also to be patient mentally because it takes a whole year before you get the control and velocity back that you're used to having."