Luis Rivera (Puerto Rico) brengt zijn team weer terug in de wedstrijd

Stunning show by ESPN's cheerleaders! | 18-07-2012

During the afternoonshow "The dugout" from Radio Honkbalweek, the ESPN cheerleaders gave a stunnig show!


ESPN sponsors the Honkbalweek with great prizes, such as a trip to the 2012 World Series or t-shirts, which you can win at their booth in our shopping area. We'll see more from ESPN this tournament, as they will shoot t-shirts into the crowd and we will see the cheerleaders some more times this week!

Cheerleaders van ESPN

Milledge coming through for Swallows after being moved to leadoff spot

By JASON COSKREY

Lastings Milledge nearly put a ball into orbit against the Chunichi Dragons on a cool night at half-full (at best) Jingu Stadium last Thursday.

After rounding the bases, Milledge celebrated his handiwork with a salute to teammate Wladimir Balentien and a seamless transition into a rendition of the salsa celebration New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz popularized in the NFL last season.

It was an entertaining display under the lights — as if a 4-for-5 night with a couple of homers wasn't entertainment enough — and to be sure the spotlight was on Milledge.

He didn't shy away from it either, but then again, no one ever said he wasn't comfortable in his own skin.

Where he was slightly uncomfortable, it seems, was in the third spot in the Tokyo Yakult Swallows' lineup.

Expectations were high when Milledge began his NPB career batting in front of slugger Kazuhiro Hatakeyama, and later Balentien. After all, this was a player who was a first-round pick in the MLB draft in 2003. Of course, the same could've been said upon his arrival to the New York Mets, who drafted him, and the Washington Nationals, who acquired him via trade after the 2007 season.

There were flashes of that player early, but they were mostly overshadowed by a slow start. Looking to shake things up, Swallows manager Junji Ogawa moved Milledge to the top of the order in late May.

The change has worked out so far for Milledge, who is hitting .285 (fourth-best in the Central League) with 10 home runs, 35 RBIs and a .795 on-base plus slugging percentage for the season.

"He's been great for us," Balentien said. "He's filled a hole for us in left field, and he's also hitting well."

Milledge had a .238 average, five home runs and 16 RBIs on May 27, his last game in the 3-hole, but is batting .358 with five homers and 19 RBIs since the change.

"I'm just not trying to do too much," Milledge said. "When I was the No. 3 hitter, I felt like I was trying to do too much. Hitting leadoff, I can kind of let my natural ability take over.

"I don't have to worry about that label of No. 3 hitter, trying to drive in runs," Milledge said. "Now it's about being that spark. It's about getting on base, stealing bases and just being that spark. I just take what they give me. If they give me good pitches, I hit, or if they wanna walk me, that's fine too."

Milledge seems to have also tweaked his mechanics slightly, which has coincided with his rise.

"He's been using a more open stance," Ogawa told reporters Wednesday, "and the ball was really flying off his bat."

On fire: Lastings Milledge has been on a tear since moving from third to first in the Swallows' lineup. KYODO

Milledge says he's just in a good place right now.

"I'm just not missing pitches," he said. "That's just baseball. You can't get too high, you can't get too low. Just take every day as it comes."

The Bradenton, Florida, native is still adjusting to Japan, but has said he hasn't been particularly bothered by the slight differences between MLB and NPB.

Having Balentien on the team has probably helped ease Milledge's transition.

Some players in Japan for the first time have a difficult time initially if they're the only foreigner in the dugout. There's a cultural divide, a language barrier, and no one from a similar background to bounce ideas off or just shoot the breeze with.

That can lead to frustration, especially if things aren't going well, making it harder to adjust to Japanese baseball.

"He means a lot," Milledge said of Balentien. "We have a good relationship because when we're not doing what we're supposed to be doing, we let each other know. We pick each other up."

It was perhaps fitting then, that Milledge had his best game of the season last Thursday, a day after Balentien hit three home runs and drove in eight runs against the Dragons.

The pair combined to drive in 14 runs in the two-game series (Chunichi could only manage nine), the fruits of a partnership the Swallows hope lasts late into the fall.

"It's definitely good to have a guy to push you," Milledge said. "I can't hit as many home runs as he can, but we're definitely going to work together and try to bring a championship to Tokyo."

July 18, 2012

Team USA blanks Chinese Taipei, 2-0

U.S. squad entertains fans during rain delay

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=443351045699360

HAARLEM --

It took eight innings, but the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team finally got to Chinese Taipei starting pitcher Chun Lin Kuo.

After the two teams traded zeroes for seven innings, Kyle Farmer (Georgia) and Johnny Field (Arizona) broke a scoreless tie with RBI doubles in the bottom of the eighth as Team USA shut out Chinese Taipei, 2-0, on a cold, rainy Wednesday afternoon at Pim Mulier Stadium.

With the win, the U.S. improved to 3-1 in pool play during Honkbal Week and clinched a berth in the medal rounds later this week.

Despite suffering the tough-luck loss, Lin Kuo finished with 7.1 innings pitched, scattering four hits and two walks while striking out nine for Chinese Taipei.

"The pitcher we saw today was by the far the best we have seen on our tour," Team USA manager Dave Serrano said. "I'm very proud of our guys for gutting out a win. We just grinded it out for eight innings until Farmer got a breaking ball up in the zone, one of the few pitches their guy missed, and hit a double off the wall to score the first run."

Just seven minutes after the first pitch of the contest was thrown, steady rain forced the game into a rain delay that lasted nearly an hour. The U.S. squad wasn't going to sit on its hands though, taking the opportunity to entertain the 3,500 in attendance with comedy rather than sport.

After a solo performance as "upside-down man" by David Berg (UCLA) got the show started, the team mocked up a number of other events, including bowling, wrestling, hunting and even a wedding before the Chinese Taipei squad joined in to participate in a couple of dance numbers, as well as short jousting and sumo wrestling competitions, much to the delight of the crowd.

"I thought it was great for the crowd that sat through the rain," Serrano said. "We have a great group of guys who like to have fun and have really bonded together over the last three-and-a-half weeks. It's sad that our time together is coming to an end, but we hope to end it with a memory that we will all share forever."

After the rain delay, neither team was able to accomplish much offensively through the first seven frames. The only time either team managed to put two runners on base in the same inning was in the top of the first as Chinese Taipei drew a pair of two-out walks in driving rain just before the game was delayed.

Prior to Farmer's big double, U.S. starting pitcher Adam Plutko (UCLA) and reliever Jake Reed (Oregon) had combined to hurl seven shutout innings, with Plutko going four hitless frames with four strikeouts before Reed's three scoreless.

Reed would proceed to get the first out of the eighth as well before a walk ended his outing. With Michael Lorenzen (Cal State Fullerton) on the mound, Chinese Taipei was able to draw two more walks to load the bases with two outs before a strikeout ended the threat.

The very next stanza, Team USA accomplished what Chinese Taipei had not been able to do - push across a run.

Austin Cousino (Kentucky) was issued a leadoff walk and Brett Hambright (Oregon) dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move him into scoring position for Farmer who turned on an 0-1 pitch and one-hopped the wall in left to drive in the first run of the game. Just two batters later, Field would follow suit, taking a double the other way to trade places with Farmer and tack on an insurance run.

Berg then came in to close out the game on the mound, striking out two and inducing a groundball to third to end the contest and claim the save, his second of the summer.

Team USA will close out pool play against the Netherlands at 7 p.m. on Thursday before beginning medal-round games on Friday, July 20.

ANNNNND that's what baseball is all about! Nothing like International competition.

Netherlands vs. Cuba moved to friday 7 PM | 18-07-2012

Due to the bad weather conditions, tonight's game - Netherlands vs. Cuba - has been moved to friday 7 PM.


It was unresponsible to play ball with the current field conditions.

The game over the 5th/6th place will be removed from the program, to make room for Netherlands vs. Cuba.

Welcome to the Dominican Prospect League


The Dominican Prospect League seeks to better prepare amateur talent from the Dominican Republic for life as professional baseball players. The DPL 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 Dominican Prospect League is determined to fix the issues that have plagued the Dominican Republics amateur baseball industry. After many years of scandals and negative publicity, we 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.

The DPL evaluates and recruits more than 200 of the top Dominican amateur players every year from 4 different regions in the country (North, South, East, and Central) to play in a 25-game season, including players from Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Curacao, Cuba, and Panama. Games are played once per week at a different MLB facility in the Dominican Republic. All games are officiated by professional umpires and stats keepers. Rosters vary from week to week, as only the most talented players will be asked to remain in the League. The principle goal of the Dominican Prospect League (DPL) has been to help protect the long-term health and growth of the amateur baseball industry in the Dominican Republic by implementing a new process for evaluating and signing amateur talent on the island and throughout Latin America. In successfully revolutionizing the industry, the DPL has established itself as the premier amateur baseball prospect league in Latin America.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Lugazi Little League of Uganda Wins Regional Title, to be First African Team in Little League Baseball World Series

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (July 16, 2012) –

For the first time in the 66-year history of the Little League Baseball World Series, a team from Africa will be in the field. Lugazi Little League from Lugazi, Uganda, won the Middle East and Africa (MEA) Region Tournament today with a 5-2 victory over Kuwait Little League from Kuwait City, Kuwait.

The five-team, four-day tournament was played at the Little League Baseball European Leadership Training Center in Kutno, Poland.

Little League in Uganda is relatively new with the first local leagues chartering in 2005.

Lugazi is located in the southeastern area of the landlocked country, about 31 miles east of the capital city of Kampala. The Lugazi Little League is one of five chartered Little Leagues in Uganda, with four Little League (Majors) Baseball Division teams, and four Junior League Baseball Division teams. There are more than 700 boys and girls currently playing Little League Baseball and Softball in Uganda.

In 2011, a team from a different Ugandan local league, located in the capital city of Kampala, defeated a team from Saudi Arabia in the final game of the MEA Region Tournament. However, irregularities in the team’s birth and residence documents led to the U.S. State Department denying entry visas for the team. As a result, the Saudi Arabia team was awarded the regional title and competed in the 2011 World Series instead.

“After last year’s World Series, we met with State Department officials to work on ways to avoid a repeat of last year’s unfortunate situation,” Patrick W. Wilson, Little League International Senior Vice President of Operations and Program Development, said. “The meetings focused on ensuring that all players on the team, as well as the manager and coaches, would have all the necessary paperwork before the Uganda national championship team even traveled to Poland for the regional tournament.”

The next step for the Uganda team is to return to Uganda and begin the process of applying through the U.S. Embassy in Kampala for visas to enter the United States.

“In the months since our meetings with the U.S. State Department, we have been working with the local Little Leagues in Uganda on the methods to obtain the proper documents,” Mr. Wilson said. “We are grateful to the State Department for its assistance. As a result, we are now cautiously optimistic that the Uganda team will be joining us next month in South Williamsport for the 66th Little League Baseball World Series.”

Little League International, as with all teams traveling to and from all eight World Series tournaments in baseball and softball, pays all the travel, food and lodging expenses for the players, manager, and coaches. The Uganda team is expected to arrive in the U.S. in the second week of August.

Lugazi Little League posted a 3-1 record in pool play earning the No. 1 seed, and a spot in the championship game, on the basis of Little League’s tie-breaking rules. Kuwait Little League and Arabian American Little League from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, also finished pool play with 3-1 records. Kuwait Little League earned the other spot in the title game by virtue of winning the head-to-head game against Arabian American Little League. All three teams involved defeated each other, creating the need to use the tie-breaker.

The new Middle East & Africa Champion suffered its only loss in the tournament, a 2-1 decision, to Arabian American Little League in its first game. Lugazi Little League allowed only five runs in its five tournament games.

Lugazi Little League joins Aguadulce Cabezera Little League from Aguadulce, Panama, the Latin America Region Champion; Kitasuna Little League from Tokyo, Japan, the Japan Region Tournament Champion; Asia-Pacific Region Champion, Kuei-Shan Little League from Taoyuan County, Chinese Taipei; and Pariba Little League from Willemstad, Curacao, the Caribbean Region Champion, in the 16-team Little League Baseball World Series field.

Lugazi Little League will play their first World Series game on Aug. 17, against the Latin America Region Champion, Aguadulce Cabezera Little League from Aguadulce, Panama.

The 66th Little League Baseball World Series, for 11-12-year-olds, will be played in South Williamsport, Pa., Aug. 16-26. Sixteen teams from around the world will vie for the coveted title of World Champion.

The World Series will use the same format as last year with the teams split into two eight-team brackets – a U.S. bracket and an International bracket.

The 2012 World Series is the sixth under an eight-year television contract with ESPN/ABC. All games of the World Series will be televised live, in high definition, on the ESPN family of networks or ABC. ABC will air the World Series championship game, Aug. 26 at 3 p.m., and the U.S. and International Championship games the previous day beginning with the International contest at 12:30 p.m. and the U.S. game to follow. For the second year, all 21 World Series games played at Lamade Stadium will air on ESPN 3D.

As has been the case since 1997, everyone can follow the road to South Williamsport for the squads from the U.S. with ESPN and its family of networks coverage of the Little League Baseball regionals. Live coverage of the semifinals and championship game at all eight regional sites begins August 7. In addition, the New England Sports Network (NESN) will televise four pool play games in the New England Regional, played at the A. Bartlett Giamatti Leadership Training Center in Bristol, Conn., and both semifinals.

A new addition this year to the television schedule will feature the televising of all pool play games of the Southwestern Region Little League Baseball Tournament in Waco, Texas, by the Longhorn Network, part of the ESPN family, Aug. 3-6.

The U.S. regional finals will be televised as follows (all times eastern U.S. time): Southwestern Region (Aug. 9, 9 p.m., Waco, Texas, ESPN2); Southeast Region (Aug. 10, 7 p.m., Warner Robins, Ga., ESPN); Great Lakes Region (Aug. 10, 1 p.m., Indianapolis, Ind., ESPN); New England Region (Aug. 11, 6 p.m., Bristol, Conn., ESPN); Northwest Region (Aug. 11, 4 p.m., San Bernardino, Calif., ESPN); Midwest Region (Aug. 11, 2 p.m., Indianapolis, Ind., ESPN); West Region (Aug. 11, 8 p.m., San Bernardino, Calif., ESPN); and Mid-Atlantic Region (Aug. 12, 5 p.m., Bristol, Conn., ESPN2).

The next berth in the Little League Baseball World Series is expected to be decided July 27 when the champion in the Mexico Region Tournament will be determined.

Ocean View Little League from Huntington Beach, Calif., captured the 2012 Little League Baseball World Series Championship scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 2-1 victory over Hamamatsu Minami Little League, the Japan Region Champion.

Follow every pitch of the Little League Baseball World Series on the Little League web site (www.LittleLeague.org).

Little League Baseball and Softball is the world’s largest organized youth sports program, with more than 2.4 million players and 1 million adult volunteers in every U.S. state and scores of other countries.

Cuba to play CPBL Team in Exhibition Series in November

Official sanctioned by IBAF record world champion Cuba takes on CPBL Team in Taichung and Taoyuan

The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) announced that Team Cuba is coming to Chinese Taipei to take on the squad assembled by players of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) this coming November. This historical visit will mark Cuba’s first time to come to Chinese Taipei for games other than international tournaments, and this will also be the first time for CPBL to play Cuba’s national team.

With just months away from the first pitch, IBAF President Riccardo Fraccari, CPBL Commissioner Jenn-Tai Hwang, IBAF 3rd Vice President Antonio Castro and IBAF Member at Large Tom Peng attended the press conference held in Taipei City and announced the outline of the event.

This “2012 CPBL vs. CUBA GAMES” will also receive the “IBAF Officially Sanctioned” status by IBAF, as it is one of many joint efforts by international baseball communities to promote the sport internationally and to seek the reinstatement of the sports to the 2020 Olympic Games.

Information

Official Title: 2012 CPBL vs. CUBA GAMES
Event Status: IBAF Officially Sanctioned
Tournament Dates: November 11-14, 2012
Practice Date: November 11, 2012 @ Taichung Intercontinental Stadium
Game Dates: November 12-13, 2012
Venues: Taichung (Intercontinental Stadium) and Taoyuan (International Stadium)
Host City: Taichung City
Teams: Cuba National Team & CPBL Team
Umpires: Supported by NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball)
Ticket Info: To be announced on CBPL and IBAF Websites

Thanks for the good "Cheer" joez

7000th hit in Honkbalweek history! | 19-07-2012

A new milestone has been reached! Today, the 7000th Honkbalweek hit has been made.


This hit was produced by Cuban catcher Ariel Pestano, who hit the 7000th hit at 4:07 PM, during the game Cuba vs. Japan. It has been the 7000th hit since the beginning of the Haarlemse Honkbalweek in 1961.

7000ste Honkslag

Cuba beats Japan; 12-1 | 19-07-2012

Cubans are like the weather: the warmer it gets, the better it is. The Carribean team fights its way past pesky Japan in blowout (12-1), as crowd watches Ariel Pestano hit 7000th basehit in Honkbalweek history.


W: Gonzalez, N.
L: Higa, M.

Player of the Game: Ariel Pestano (2-for-4, 2-run homerun, 3 RBI, 7000th hit in history of the tournament)