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Joe Benson - OF - Twins

Twins' prospect outfielder Joe Benson was robbed at gunpoint while in Venezuela for winter ball.
Benson's incident actually happened prior to Wilson Ramos' kidnapping in Venezuela. The robbery occurred after the cab he was riding in crashed. While the Spanish-speaking driver was on the phone, four men approached Benson and took all of his belongings aside from a bag with his baseball spikes and some t-shirts. "When you don't speak the language, there's not much you can do," said Benson. "You can't really beg for your life. You can't ask them not to pull the trigger. You can't beg for mercy. I kind of sat there in silence, let everything happen." Benson went back to the United States a few days later to regroup, but returned to Venezuela and batted .216 (11-for-51) with four RBI during his time with Tigres de Aragua. The 22-year-old was recently ranked as the Twins' No. 2 prospect by Baseball America and figures to open the 2012 season with Triple-A Rochester.

Source: FOXSportsNorth.com Feb 1 - 12:00 AM

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Dae-Sung Koo picked up his 3rd save of the Postseason. (

Blue Sox take game one as Boss bashes Aces

Sydney leads best-of-five series 1-0

MELBOURNE, 1 February -

In Game One of the ConocoPhillips ABL Postseason Round Two series between Melbourne and Sydney, the Blue Sox earned a 7-5 win on the strength of a five-run fifth inning outburst. Sydney trailed 3-0 after two innings and was still down by two entering the fifth, but came back to take a lead they'd never surrender, led by first baseman Boss Moanaroa, who had three hits, including a home run, and four RBI. The Blue Sox are now within two victories of advancing to the ConocoPhillips ABL Championship Series in Perth, while the Aces must now win three of four to take the series.

Early on, this game belonged to the Aces. They took a 1-0 lead in the first when Justin Huber drove in his sixth run of the Postseason, continuing his hot hitting. Huber is now batting .643 (9-for-14) in five Postseason games.

The Aces added to their lead with two more runs in the second. After Josh Davies beat out a bunt down the third base line to lead off the inning, Blue Sox starter Craig Anderson retired the next two batters, bringing Dominic Ramos to the dish. Six pitches into the at-bat, with a full count on him, Ramos launched a home run to centre field, his second of the Postseason, giving his team a 3-0 lead.

That lead looked even larger with Travis Blackley dominating on the mound. Through three innings, the Melbourne lefty had not allowed a hit and had already retired four men on strikes. He would finish the game with an impressive 10 strikeouts, but could not hold the Blue Sox off the scoreboard much longer. With one out in the fourth, Boss Moanaroa broke through with Sydney's first base hit, a long solo home run to right field.

Entering the fifth trailing 3-1, the Blue Sox were ready to bust out against the difficult Blackley. Trent D'Antonio led off with a single and two batters later Jacob Younis did the same. The next man up was David Kandilas, who walked to load the bases with one out.

Mitch Dening then stepped up to the plate and singled into left field, moving everyone up one base and scoring the first run of the inning. After Blackley next struck out Pat Maat, he had two outs and could see his way out of the inning. Moanaroa made sure that wouldn't happen easily, however, as he came up next and singled to right, scoring two and giving Sydney a 4-3 lead. Tyler Collins capped off the inning with a triple, which made the score 6-3 in favor of the Blue Sox.

Craig Anderson surrendered two runs in the bottom of the fifth, which would be his last inning. He struck out eight in the game, but struggled, allowing five runs.

Once the Sydney bullpen took over, the Aces would no longer have such luck. Todd Van Steensel, Matthew Williams and Dae-Sung Koo continued their Postseason dominance, combining to allow just one hit while striking out six over the final four frames. Sydney added an insurance run in the seventh on Moanaroa's fourth RBI, but it was more than these three arms needed, as no Melbourne player even reached second base against them.

Williams picked up his third hold of the Postseason and Koo tallied his third save. Despite his struggles, Anderson held his team in the game and earned his second Postseason win. Blackley hung in to complete seven innings, but surrendered seven earned runs and was saddled with the loss.

Game Two at Melbourne Showgrounds will begin Thursday night at 7:05PM. The expected starters are Ben Knuth for the Aces and veteran righty Chris Oxspring for the Blue Sox.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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SERIE DEL CARIBE

Barceló, Valdés and Pena will strengthen losLeones in Caribbean Series

[That was a no-brainer]

SANTO DOMINGO .-

The stellar pitchers Lorenzo Barcelo, Raul Valdes and Juan Asencio Jairo Perez, infielder Erick Almonte and receiver Francisco Pena were announced to strengthen the representation of the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Series.

The announcement was made Wednesday by Moises Alou, general manager of Escogido, a day before the opening of the classic in Quisqueya Stadium.

For pitcher Angel Castro, it will depend on whether or not he gets permission from the team SoftBank Hawks of Japan's major leagues to pitch, which recently signed him for next season.

Barceló, belongs to the Cibao Eagles and Valdes the Toros del Este, but participated in the playoffs strengthening the Eagles.

Asencio, also owned by the Toros and was a reinforcement player with the Licey Tigers, while Perez pitched for the Gigantes del Cibao.

Almonte also played for the Gigantes and Pena was the regular catcher for the Eagles in the postseason.

Alou said that "we stand behind the services of other players, but so far those are the reinforcements we have secured."

The Lions lost the services of the Puerto Rican pitcher Nelson Figueroa, claimed as a reinforcement for the Mayaguez Indians, also of Puerto Rican Ivan de Jesus, and second baseman Orlando Mercado, catcher and the catcher Jose Yepez, having participated in the four winter leagues in their respective countries prior to their involvement with Escogido.

The Dominican group will also be without the services of pitcher Fernando Rodney, Aneury Rodriguez and Jordan Norberto.

Instead, the lefty from the Minnesota Twins, Francisco Liriano, will be available for interaction with the Lions.

Starting pitcher

The starting pitcher for the opening game of the Dominican team against the Yaquis de Obregon, Mexico, would be Ángel Castro , or otherwise, lefty Kris Johnson.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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THE STAGE STADIUM QUISQUEYA, IN THE CAPITAL SANTO DOMINGO

The battle for supremacy in the Caribbean baseball to begin

Puerto Rico and Venezuela play in the first game, then Mexico and Dominican Republic.

Puerto Rico and Venezuela will open on Thursday the Caribbean Baseball Series, which has the symbolic stage Quisqueya Stadium in Santo Domingo. The first game is set to begin in the afternoon according to the schedule released by the organizers.

At night Mexico, represented by the Obregon Yaquis will face the Dominican Republic, represented by the Escogido Lions, winners of the 2011 Caribbean Championship Series.

Beisbolistico great movement is recorded in Santo Domingo, with the arrival of the representatives of Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico.

It will be the 54 th edition of the Caribbean Series. ESPN said on Wednesday that the Dominican Republic, as host, has deployed its best teams available to cover the series in order to get to their brothers in the other Caribbean countries, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Mexico these games.

The Mexicans, represented by the Yaquis of Ciudad Obregon, champions of the event, look for something unprecedented, winning consecutive championships.

For their part, Puerto Rico seeks to return to the limelight with a new rod, which have not won since 2000. While Venezuela and the Dominicans have other plans.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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Lions of Caracas (2006) and Aragua Tigers (2009) have given the country the only two titles in the last 21 years

CARACAS .-

Venezuela had not won a Caribbean Series since 1989, until the Caracas Lions lifted the scepter in the 2006 edition, held in the cities of Maracay and Valencia. The Lions championship came from manager Carlos Subero , in a tournament in which the capital club went unbeaten.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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The receiver showed his displeasure at the directors and manager Buddy Bailey

Raul Chavez: "Tigers disrespected me"

The catcher expressed annoyance at not being included in the roster of the Caribbean Series

MARACAY .-

Raul Chavez could not hide his discomfort. His face gave him away. He Arrived early to Jose Perez Colmenares Stadium and Tigers management told him that he was not on the roster of the Caribbean Series.

He walked for several minutes in the peripheral zone of the park until he decided to enter the field with civilian clothes. He stood in the dugout watching practice, though perhaps his only intention was to confront the manager Buddy Bailey, who then spoke.

"It's a lack of respect that these people showed ​​me, " said the experienced catcher. "From the first day with the team, I caught in all games, and they left me out for the Series Caribbean ".

The catchers for Aragua in Quisqueya will be Rodriguez and Gustavo Guillermo Molina. The manager said that Hector Gimenez could also puton the mask. So there was no room for Chavez in the plane.

"An organization as large and successful as the Tigers can not behave that way with their players. I feel disrespected, "released Merida.

At the end of training Chavez stopped Bailey at the door of the dugout and reprimanded him by the sight of all present.

Players who will be flying to the island on Wednesday expressed their dissatisfaction, although they were cautious in their statements.

Francisco Butto admitted that management decisions escape from their hands. "It's a situation that creates discomfort in the group because we are partners who have battled the whole year with him, but what can we do as the players. Our job is play. They make up the team, "said the reliever.

The pitcher Yorman Bazard he said: "I think we should find ways to bring those players who have been from day one. They deserve respect. It's very uncomfortable, but we can not do much. "
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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In my opinion, this was a terrible decision by Bailey and the organization. They didn't have to start Chavez. The catchers that were selected definitely will strengthen the team. At the very least, I believe that Chavez should have been selected to the team even though he most likely would have been relegated to reserve duty. I think Chavez would have been OK with that decision. After all, in these leagues winning is everything.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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Manuel Gonzalez has experience in the elderly

Gonzalez and Torres, Venezuelan Series umpires

Both referees will represent the country in the Caribbean World Series

CARACAS .-

Venezuelan Umpires Manuel Gonzalez and Carlos Torres hold office in the Caribbean Series, according to the journalist Efrain Zavarce. Both referees represent the country in the event that this year will be held in the Dominican Republic. Gonzalez is the only Venezuelan umpire with Major League experience, while Torres also belongs to the MLB system and has served in the minor leagues.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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Omar Minaya, the first Dominican-born GM in Major League history, attended Tuesday's DPL All-Star Workout Day. (AP)

Dominican Prospect League brings hope

All-Star Workout Day gives young players chance to show skills

By Jesse Sanchez / MLB.com | 02/01/12 6:33 PM EST

BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic --

It's 11:57 a.m. on Tuesday morning and it's starting to sprinkle.

The trio of flags snapping in the wind represent the Dominican Republic, the United States and the Mets. They not only signal the entrance into New York's baseball academy here, they symbolize the path many Dominican youth must take to fulfill their Major League Baseball dreams.

Shortstop Wendell Rijo is one of those big league dreamers. Born and raised in the eastern city of La Romana and the son of Dodgers scout Rafael Rijo, the infielder knows that the road to the Major Leagues is not an easy one. He's only 16 but he says he's been training "for years," and he understands how the signing game works. If Rijo impresses big league scouts with his tools, he has a good chance to sign with a Major League club and enter one of their academies on the island. If he's lucky, in two years, he'll leave the academy and head to the United States to begin his Minor League journey.

Omar Minaya, the first Dominican-born GM in Major League history, attended Tuesday's DPL All-Star Workout Day. (AP)But first things first; Rijo has three minutes to get out of the dugout and onto the field. It's the All-Star Workout Day for the Dominican Prospect League and Rijo, along with 43 other DPL players, must show the 100 Major League scouts and officials scattered across the outfield -- many with clipboards and stopwatches in hand -- that he not only has the skills to be a Major Leaguer in the future, but he also has the game.

If Rijo failed to impress on Workout Day -- which he didn't -- he would get another chance in the second annual Dominican Prospect League All-Star Game held at Estadio Cibao in the northern city of Santiago the next day.

If Rijo, who is generously listed as 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, makes it to the Major Leagues, he says he'll credit the DPL for helping him get there, because he knows he doesn't have the type of body that wows scouts in tryouts. Former Minor League player Ulises Cabrera and former Major League scout Brian Mejia, who created the Dominican Prospect League three years ago, say they are the grateful ones. They are thankful for players like Rijo and the more than 500 players who have passed through their league during the past three seasons.

"This is not just a baseball league," said Cabrera, a Vanderbilt graduate who received his MBA from Pepperdine University. "We start with baseball because baseball is the center of the wheel here. These are the future stars of the game and if you can infuse these young men with a set of values and work ethic, they become the next role models. The guys who played here and signed last year can set the tone and this group can follow them. They start doing the right thing."

The original DPL format featured four teams representing different regions squaring off against each other once a week at various Major League Baseball academies. It has since evolved into four teams in two areas: the Boca Chica Circuit near the island's capital of Santo Domingo, and the Cibao Circuit near Santiago. An estimated 80-100 players rotate in and out of the Boca Chica Circuit games on Wednesdays, and a similar number participate in the Cibao Circuit on Saturdays.

The goals of the league are to provide teams with an effective vehicle to evaluate talent, develop and prepare young Dominican players, improve the quality of instruction given by their trainers, and organize the major stakeholders in baseball in Latin America.

The league's most ambitious goal is to repair the image of the entire Dominican baseball community.

The league's most obvious goal is to put players in game situations in front of scouts so they can be signed by Major League clubs. Since the DPL started play in October 2009, Cabrera estimates close to 200 players that have participated in the league have signed with Major League clubs for an estimated total of $35 million. He also estimates that 60 percent of the players signed for an average of $60,000.

The DPL, funded primarily through sponsorships and private donations, receives a percentage of the signing bonuses when one of its players signs with a big league team. Mejia and Cabrera also represent 15 players in the DPL.

"We created this thing in part because we felt long-term that the baseball industry could not survive in a non-baseball playing environment, which is exactly what a tryout is," Cabrera said. "It's not rocket science. We are just playing baseball games here, but there is a big benefit to playing games."

Tuesday's DPL All-Star Workout Day was, for all intents and purposes, a showcase. The day's events featured players taking batting practice, infield practice and timed 60-yard dashes. But unlike most events in Dominican Republic, the DPL showcase also featured a home run derby.

And unlike all showcases in the United States, hundreds of baseball officials littered the infield and outfield areas directly behind the players for most of the afternoon to get the best view possible.

"I give credit to the DPL because they were the first people to start this event and that was well-needed in the Dominican," said Johnny Martinez, who scouts for the MLB Scouting Bureau. "Not only do the kids get to play on teams, but it gives the opportunity to scouts to some see the kids in game situations instead of just tryouts. It's also easy for us to come to one place to see this much talent at one time."

Omar Minaya, recently named senior vice president of baseball operations for the Padres, also attended the DPL Workout Day. Minaya, the first Dominican-born general manager in the history of Major League Baseball, began his career in the 1980s as a scout for the Texas Rangers and is well-versed in the island's baseball history.

"In the States, we have things like the Area Code Games and all of these things are showcases," Minaya said. "This league is similar. It's an evolution of the teams and trainers coming together. A league like this it brings everybody together, which makes the information better and the evaluations better."

In addition to this week's events, the DPL will take two teams to Arizona and Florida for showcases and games in March and hold another All-Star Workout Day and All-Star Game in May, several weeks before Major League Baseball's international signing period begins on July 2. The league kicked off the year with a round-robin called Louisville Slugger Tournament Series.

The long-term plan for the future of the DPL includes education and health initiatives, along with programs designed to help its players manage their finances. Although it is not directly affiliated with Major League Baseball, the DPL does have big league connections. Indians manager Manny Acta and Mark Newman, the senior vice president of baseball operations for the Yankees, sit on the board of directors. The DPL still uses Major League academies for games and practices.

"The DPL is a way to close the gap on the flawed system that exists, and there's a lot of progress being made," Acta said. "Now with these programs they have, they have an opportunity to see the guys a little bit more than run the 60 yards, batting practice and throwing."

The immediate future for Rijo includes more DPL games and dispelling the notion that he is undersized with his performances in games.

He's the first to admit that there is still work to be done, but he appears to be off to a good start. Rijo hit a game-winning single on a full count with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to propel the White Team to a 5-4 victory against the Blue Team in Wednesday's All-Star Game.

"All my life people have been talking about my size and how I'm not big enough to be a prospect but come watch me play," Rijo said. "I play big, like I'm 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-3. Come watch me play this game."

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.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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It's about time that this league is generating some national attention.

The DPL is a league for amateur prospects in the Dominican Republic, which was organized and founded by Brian Mejia, Ulises Cabrera, and Roberto Morales in 2010. The league focuses on developing the personal, professional, and baseball savvy of these young players. The game format is modeled after the annual "Area Code Games" in California. The DPL has organized 80 of the top Dominican amateur players from 4 different regions in the country (North, South, East, and Central) to play in a 25-game season from early November to late June, with weekly games on Wednesdays. Games are 7-9 innings, using professional umpires and scorekeepers.

The Goals of the Dominican Prospect League are to:

1. Provide MLB teams with an effective vehicle through which thorough
evaluation of baseball talent can be achieved.

2. Develop and prepare Dominican prospects, both physically and mentally,
for the responsibilities and demands of playing professional baseball.

3. Improve the quality of instruction given to players by their trainers.

4. Organize the historically fragmented stakeholders of the Latin American
Baseball Community (MLB, MLB Teams, Scouts, and Trainers).


5. Repair the image of the entire Dominican Baseball Community.

DPL Overview

The Dominican Prospect League is determined to fix the issues that have plagued the Dominican Republic's amateur baseball industry.

After many years of scandals and negative publicity, we have decided to organize the various factions in the baseball community so that the process of developing, evaluating, and signing amateur baseball talent in the Dominican Republic can work as efficiently as it does in the United States.


Since the league started a couple of years ago, I've been trying to make updates available here on these young players. Many have been signed by major league teams. Most of them in their middle teens.

I really don't know why the Indians are not more pro-active in scouting this league. Manny Acta is very familiar with the league and has been a frequent visitor in the past. We've only signed two, maybe three players since the league started. Perhaps we can get more involved in the near future.
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“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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Acta works toward change in Dominican

By Anthony Castrovince | MLB.com Columnist | Archive

As far as ambassadors go, few represent the Dominican baseball community as well as Manny Acta.

The Indians skipper is a board member for the Dominican Prospect League, managed the Dominican team in the first World Baseball Classic and has created a charitable organization to rebuild ballfields in his hometown San Pedro de Macoris.

So the "Fausto Carmona" situation pains Acta. Not just because he'll be without his No. 3 starter this spring (and perhaps beyond), but because Carmona, who was arrested outside the U.S. consulate in Santo Domingo two weeks ago for falsifying his name and birth date, is further proof of the identity-fraud issue that has plagued Dominican baseball.

Acta on Rangers series"It's been brewing for years because of the flawed system," Acta says. "It's as simple as that."

Major League Baseball has stepped up its efforts to address the problem. Last month, an International Talent Committee was formed to address "issues related to the development and acquisition of international players." The primary goal of the committee is to come up with a structure for a potential international draft. But draft or no draft, it has become clear that reforms must be made in order for teams to trust that the players they sign are indeed who, and how old, they claim to be.

In the wake of the arrests of Carmona, who was revealed to be 31-year-old Roberto Hernandez Heredia, and Marlins closer Leo Nunez, who was revealed to be 29-year-old Juan Carlos Oviedo, it has been speculated that the surface has only been scratched and that several more established Major Leaguers could be outed as having fabricated their ages and identities.

"These are like time bombs," Mark Newman, the Yankees' senior vice president for baseball operations, told The New York Times.

Baseball is interwoven into the fabric of the Dominican culture and economy, which is why the government there has also increased its vigilance against those who cheat the system.

But the problem is systemic. After all, the culture of Dominican players shaving years off their birth certificates was essentially created by scouts and evaluators showing little to no interest in Latin American players above the ages of 18 or 19. And until a more open-minded approach is taken, one can hardly fault a player for being tempted to cheat the system if it's the only way to make a better life for himself and his family.

"The younger kids are more attractive," Acta says, "because signing them young gives you a bigger window of two to three years of adjustment to acclimate them [to the United States]. If you bring an older kid over here and it takes him a couple of years, he is already going to be 22. But at some point, people are going to have to start taking those chances."

Acta looks at it this way: In North America and Puerto Rico, a kid can be drafted in the first round out of college at the age of 21 and claim a multimillion dollar signing bonus. And as we speak, teams are lining up to potentially bid tens of millions of dollars for 26-year-old Cuban free agent Yoenis Cespedes.

But to a kid in the Dominican, the age of 19 is viewed as the cutoff -- the absolute last chance of attracting interest from a professional team.


"So they have been pushed over the years to commit these types of things," Acta says. "Nobody is condoning that, but that's how it is."

The Dominican has produced 542 Major Leaguers and 68 All-Stars (Carmona included), according to baseball-reference.com. The country's prospect pool is rich enough to necessitate just about every Major League club operating a Dominican academy where players can become educated and acclimated, but the players must be a minimum of 16 years old and are limited to a stay of 30 days, at which point the club must make a decision on whether to sign them.

One aim of the Dominican Prospect League, then, is to provide an environment in which Major League clubs can get an extended look at a player before signing him and the players can become not only exposed but educated. Players are given proper instruction, both from a physical and mental standpoint.

"The kids are being developed under a good atmosphere where they are playing games," Acta said. "In the past, they all tried out, and you sign a guy. Now it's a great opportunity for the scouts to see guys actually play games and evaluate them properly. It's a great tool, and we've made a lot of progress."


Perhaps the Carmona and Nunez cases that have brought the age and identity issue to the forefront will promote further progress. But as long as there are clear incentives to being younger on a professional contract than you are in reality, some players will undoubtedly try to cheat the system.

"We need to adjust, adapt and improvise," Acta says. "We can't continue to do things the way we have 100 years ago. Because if a guy can get out college here at 21 and can be a first-round pick or a free agent from a different country can be 24 and attractive to the baseball world, why can't a kid from [the Dominican] be attractive if he is talented enough to play? I think everyone is working together to fix that. It's going to take some time."

Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his columns and his blog, CastroTurf, and follow him on Twitter at @Castrovince. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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BASEBALL

Mayagüez is reinforced with twelve players

Guaynabo

12 players will strengthen the Mayaguez Indians in their representation of Puerto Rico in the upcoming 2012 Caribbean Series, which will take place from 2 to 7 February next in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo, it was announced yesterday.

Some of the most prominent players reinforcing the Indians, most winning team of the League of Professional Baseball of Puerto Rico, is the MVP of the regular season, Jorge Padilla, and veteran shortstop Luis 'Wicho' Figueroa.

The list is completed by Andy Gonzalez, Edgardo Baez, Rene Rivera, Nelson Figueroa, Juan Padilla, Johnny Morell, Eddy Ramos, Saul 'altar boy' Rivera, Efrain Nieves and Matt DeSalvo.

The other three teams competing in the Caribbean Series champs are Yaquis de Obregon (Mexico), Tigres de Aragua (Venezuela) and the host Lions of the Leones (Dominican Republic).

The general manager of the Mayaguez Indios, Ramon 'Wito' Conde says his team will make a great showing in the Caribbean event, which no Puerto Rican team has won in the last twelve editions.

"No one in Puerto Rico realized that the Indians would win, and win. This is a better team than many others, "he said.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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CARIBBEAN SERIES

The Yaquis are committed to retaining the title

Mexico

The manager of the Yaquis de Obregón Mexican Caribbean Series baseball, Dominican Eddie Diaz, said yesterday that his team bet on the joy to retain the title won in 2011, and to give that country their seventh championship in this tournament.

Of the participants in the Caribbean Series to be played in Santo Domingo, from 2 to 7 February, Mexico is the country with fewer titles, six, but has won three of the last ten editions.

"We want to draw even with Venezuela (which has seven titles), for me it would make me proud. I have a team like last year and if we remain happy, we can do many things, "the strategist told Efe.

Led by Diaz, the manager of Obregon in the Mexican League Pacific Baseball was flagged today by the director of the National Sports Commission, Bernardo de la Garza, who expressed confidence in a performance similar to last year when he won the crownr in Comayagua, Puerto Rico.

Diaz said the group is united and motivated, which puts you in a position to make a difference.

"When a team is motivated and has all the charisma, a good formula for winning," he said.

According to the technician, the Yaquis are in the Caribbean Series set with a very deep pitching staff, good defense and talented players. "A lot of people asked (last year) if I will steal bases with two 'outs' and two 'strikes', so I am and I will take all the risks," he said.

Mexico will meet on Thursday in their debut with Dominican Champion, Escogido Lions, to which Diaz will start Luis Mendoza and then pitcher Randy Keisler on Friday against the Mayaguez Indios and the Puerto Rican Rolando Valdes, Saturday against the Tigres de Aragua from Venezuela.

"It will be very important to keep the chemistry going form the season and the last of the Caribbean Series, we will beat the Dominicans in the first game and then move on," he said.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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LEONES DEL ESCOGIDO DOMINICAN CHAMPS COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT SOME MOTIVATION DENNIS - THIS ONE'S FOR YOU
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“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller