Credit where credit is due. I hope the writer above realizes that Jose Ramirez in one of if not the youngest player in the series playing with and against current major leaguers, 4A, 3A, and the best of the 2A players. In other words, Jose Ramirez is holding his own against players much more far advanced than he. Ramirez is also facing pitchers with years of experience at all levels of baseball.

Well, I guess even the best of them are entitled to have a bad game. Jose Ramirez had a total of six chances and had three throwing errors. The errors were the first of the series. At the plate, Jose was 1-5 with a pair of strikeouts, but the one hit was a big one, a three run homer in the top half of the eighth inning. The Dominicans entered that inning trailing 6-4, but the big 7 run inning, topped off with Ramirez's three run homer gave the Leones a 10-6 victory. All 7 runs scored after two were out. Jose Ramirez was on base only the one time after being on base at least twice in each of the prior four games. He batted in the second slot the first two games and has lead off in the last four ballgames. Jose is now hitting .263 for the series.
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Dominicans Advance to the Grand Finale With An 11-6 Victory Over Host Mexico



Jose Ramirez Three Run Homer
Jose Ramirez Greeted At Home Following His Three Run Homer
Miguel Tejada's Second Homer Of the Series Adds To His Career Series Totals
Jose Ramirez (Right) Throwing Error on a Drag Bunt Base Hit

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DOM: Figaro, Lebron (4), Nunez (8), Rodney (9) with Peña;

MEX: Carrillo, Da. Reyes (3), Ramirez (8), Villarreal (8), Ayala (8), Cobos (9) with Felix;

PG: Willy Lebrón (1-0)

PD: Oscar Villarreal (0-1)

HOME RUNS

DOM: Miguel Tejada (2), Jose Ramirez (1)

MEX: Chris Roberson (1)

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7th Inning Scoring

Jordany Valdespin singles
Hanley Ramirez strikes out (Hanley have a bad series with a bunch of k's)
Ricardo Nanita strikes out
One on, Two out
Miguel Tejada singles
Jordany Valdespin to second
Donell Linares walked
Bases loaded, Two out
Luis Jimenez walks
Jordany Valdespin scores (Mex 6 Dom 5)
Abraham Almonte singles
Miguel Tejada and Donell Linares score (Mex 6 Dom 7)
Julio Lugo pinch hit single (his second pinch hit of the series 2-2)
Luis Jimenez scores (Mex 6 Dom 8)
Jose Ramirez Homers
Abraham Almonte, Julio Lugo, and Jose Ramirez score (Mex 6 Dom 11)
Jordany Valdespin grounds out to end the inning.

Teacher Friendly

Miguel Tejada has tutored rookie Jose Ramirez

Freddy Tapia

Hermosillo, Mexico

The teacher saw the student slouched in the dressing room because he did not hit in the first two games of the Caribbean Series and approached him to give him some words of encouragement and motivation. "You have not hit, but playing good defense and took two walks in each game that have helped the team," said Miguel Tejada to Jose Ramirez after he failed in the first seven at bats in the first two games of this Caribbean Series.

After a few comforting pats on the shoulder ("Come) a paternal relationship was established between Tejada (the quiet, like a river in its area of ​​greatest channel) and Ramirez (the one who with the freshness and restlessness of a stream, jump boulders, tree branches and almost everything in its path).

Tejada at shortstop and Ramirez at second, form a unique double-play combination with Escogido Lions in the Caribbean classic.

In addition to their humble origins and their love of baseball, the two have in common, Enrique Soto, a maker of players from that sweet province in Bani.

Tejada points out that the young second baseman is very confident and always wants the ball between their properties.

Ramirez grew up idolizing Tejada and confesses that he left school in Bani, often going to the stadium that he built in the city to train.

Best Dominican slugger.


Miguel Tejeda is the best Dominican hitter with .385 in the current Caribbean Series (13-5), not including yesterday's game. Tejada is third among the leaders in batting and Ricardo Nanita Series 313 Figure seventh (16-5). Nanita is also first in runs scored (4) and second in RBIs (4). Tejada's on-base percentage (.500), tied with Jose Ramirez and slugging (.692).

Caribbean Series

Dominican advances to the final by defeating Mexico

2/6/2013 7:13 a.m. - AP

Hermosillo, Mexico (AP) -

Jose Ramirez hit a three-run homer to cap a seven-run eighth inning, and Dominicans Lions of Escogido reversed adversed the score Tuesday 11-6 to defeat the Yaquis de Ciudad Obregon , Mexico, and secure a place in the final of the 2013 Caribbean Series.

Dominica has a 4-1 record after five days, while Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela fight for second place with a record of 2-3 each. The last day Venezuela faces the Dominican Republic and Mexico will face Puerto Rico.

"The first goal was to reach the final and we got it already, but let's keep playing hard tomorrow because these players do not know it any other way. Tomorrow we will go out to win and then we play for the title for Dominican" said Audo Vicente, Dominican manager after the victory.

Ricardo Nanita had another good day offensively with two hits and two RBIs, Abraham Almonte also produced two, while Miguel Tejada took another historic record in the Caribbean Series after hitting a home run and added two RBIs to reach 46 and surpass Tony Batista's previous record (45) as the historic series leader in this department.

Tejada now owns more hits (57), hits doubles (18), home runs (15), runs scored (54) and RBIs (46) in the history of the Caribbean Series.

"I'm very happy about that, to continue having the opportunity to participate in the Caribbean Series. I have prepared very hard and here are the results, for me is a very big win this Caribbean Series because it might be the last" Tejada said after the meeting.

Mexico threw away an extraordinary relief game by rookie David Reyes. The 21 year old that debuted this season in the Mexican Pacific League retired all 13 batters he faced, with seven strikeouts, left the game ahead, but eventually left without decision.

"Finally we did not achieve the objective which was to win the game. Personally I am glad that I could help the team with a good job, but the important thing was to win, so it goes into the background," Reyes said after the game .

The victory went to Willy Lebron (1-0) after throwing three innings of shutout baseball with just one hit, while the loss was absorbed by Oscar Villarreal (0-1), punishable by a hit and three runs in work of just two thirds of an inning.

Efrain Nieves

Puerto Rico is Back in Contention

Caguas Criollos of Puerto Ricans, meanwhile, benefited from a strong from Efrain Nieves and their bullpen for a 4-1 win at the Magallanes Navigators, of Venezuela, and chained their second win in a row after losing the first three games of the tournament.

"This is not over, we have a game tomorrow and anything can happen. The situation is very complicated because we have not done the job, the batsmen have not entered into a rhythm, but that's it and we have to go out and win tomorrow and hope to do opened with a marker and enter the final, "said Venezuela manager Luis Sojo, after the game.

"I have a team with great character and I am very proud of my players. We are hitting better, taking advantage of opportunities for runs and now we have our fate in our hands, tomorrow we must beat Mexico to go to the end," said manager Pedro Lopez Puerto Rico after the victory.

Nieves (1-0) got the win after allowing four hits and one run in five innings.

Saul Rivera earned his second save of the series with a shutout ninth. In total, three Puerto Rico relievers combined to throw four shutout innings in just one hit.

The loss was to Yeiper Castillo (0-1) after allowing three hits and two runs in four and two thirds innings of work.

Jesus Feliciano fired three hits with a run scored and produced to lead the attack for the winners. Furthermore, Ramon Castro hit 3-2 with a solo homer by the Creoles.

"After three defeats we all took for dead, but the 25 who form the team were confident in ourselves and never gave up, I've always said, what matters is not how you start but how you finish. Tomorrow we have to go out and win. That is the most important game, "Castro said after the victory.
Ramon Castro Homer
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PR; Nieves, Blacksher (6), Gomez (8) with Castro;

VEN: Castillo, Garcia (5), Tabata (6), Cubillan (8), Toledo (9), Hernandez (9) with Yepez.

PG: Efrain Nieves (1-0)

PD: Yeiper Castillo (0-1)

SV. Saúl Rivera (2)

HOME RUNS

PR: Ramon Castro (1)

Fri: Mario Lisson (2)

YOU TUBE INCREDIBLE COMEBACK BY THE DOMINICANS. 7 RUNS SCORED AFTER 2 OUT INCLUDING JOSE RAMIREZ 3-RUN HOMER


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XINX7Ch2lPk

DR clinches spot in Caribbean Series final

By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com | 02/06/2013 2:02 AM ET

HERMOSILLO, Mexico --

Down two to Mexico's Yaquis de Obregon in Tuesday's eighth inning, the Dominican Republic's Leones del Escogido scored seven runs, propelling them to an 11-6 victory to clinch a spot in Thursday's Caribbean Series championship game at Estadio Sonora.

Thanks to that big frame -- sparked by a two-out, bases-loaded walk by Luis Jimenez, a two-run single by Abraham Almonte, an RBI single by Julio Lugo and a three-run homer by Jose Ramirez -- Escogido is 4-1 and in good shape to notch its third title in four years.

Thursday's finale, which starts at 7 p.m. MT and is the first of its kind at the Caribbean Series, will pin Escogido against the team with the second-best record. In the previous format, which was strictly double-round robin play, they would've already been champions -- like last year, when they clinched with two days left.

Mexico, Venezuela and Puerto Rico are all 2-3 with one game left for each. The first tiebreaker to determine teams that advance to the final is head-to-head matchups; the second is run differential.

Earlier on Tuesday, Puerto Rico's Criollos de Caguas notched a second straight victory by beating Venezuela's Navegantes de Magallanes, 4-1. Efrain Nieves pitched five innings of one-run ball, Jesus Feliciano had three hits and Ramon Castro homered for the Criollos.

Caribbean Series showcasing flying camera

HERMOSILLO, Mexico --

Is a future component of Major League Baseball broadcasts on display at this Caribbean Series? Alejandro Mendivil, CEO of the startup company DVL Productions here in Mexico, sure hopes so.

Eight months ago, Mendivil began experimenting with a helicopter-like remote-control camera at different sporting events, and now it can be seen hovering over the fans at Estadio Sonora.

Mendivil's company was hired by Caribbean Series organizers to shoot a documentary of the event, and the floating camera -- one of four they're utilizing -- has been capturing unique bird's-eye views pregame, postgame and between innings in real time.

Its first appearance at a baseball game in Mexico was the Mexican Pacific League opener for the local Naranjeros de Hermosillo. Mendivil, who can be seen standing on top of the third-base dugout with bulky remote in hand for most of the Series, said it costs less than any other video camera used in baseball stadiums.

His hope is that it's eventually used in broadcasts for Major League games.

"Hopefully it can catch on like that," Mendivil said. "That's one of our goals."

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Miguel Tejada (right) celebrates with Ricardo Nanita after Tejada home run against Mexico in the Caribbean Series on Sunday. (Andres Leighton/AP)


Tejada returns to roots in Caribbean Series

By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com | 2/6/2013 2:06 A.M. ET


HERMOSILLO, Mexico --

In his heyday, as one of the best shortstops in baseball, they called him "La Guagua," as in, "The Bus," because he brought everybody home.

Now, as he makes his 12th trip to the Caribbean Series, Miguel Tejada is known to Latin Americans simply as "El Pelotero de la Patria," which roughly translates to, "The Patriotic Ballplayer" -- because he represents his native country like few big league stars ever have.

"I feel a lot of pride, a lot of respect for this game," the Dominican-born Tejada said in Spanish. "I try to respect the game as much as possible and play hard. And I think these fans [in the Caribbean], who love me and enjoy what I do, are what motivate me."

Tejada played his first Caribbean Series right by here, in Hermosillo's now-vacant Hector Espino Baseball Stadium, in 1997. A few months later, he debuted in the Majors, kick-starting a career that would include an American League Most Valuable Player Award, six trips to the All-Star Game, 304 home runs, 2,362 hits and -- regrettably -- a Mitchell Report link to performance-enhancing drugs.

Now, after a four-year absence, the 38-year-old is back in the Caribbean Series at Estadio Sonora, as a reinforcement for a Leones del Escogido club looking to win its second straight title and third in the last four years.

"He's sent a message to young players who are either rising or established in the big leagues," Escogido manager Audo Vicente said. "And that is: It doesn't matter what status you've achieved in the Majors. If you like to play baseball, and you have permission from your organization, it's important to represent your country."

In the meantime, Tejada is sending a message to the Royals, who signed him to a Minor League deal this offseason and will give him a chance to compete for a bench spot this spring.

For the Aguilas in winter ball, Tejada hit .284 with four homers and 19 RBIs in 34 games. And as the starting shortstop in this Caribbean Series, Tejada has batted .389 (7-for-18) with a couple of homers and five RBIs, so far looking like a favorite to nab his first Caribbean Series MVP in what could be his final stint in the illustrious tournament.

If it is, he'll finish with his name all over the record books.

On Tuesday night, in an 11-6 win over Mexico that clinched a spot in the championship game, Tejada hit a two-run shot that gave him a record 46 RBIs, surpassing countryman Tony Batista (45), and padded his own home run mark with No. 15. He also scored two runs, upping yet another record he already held to 54.

"I'm proud to say I can hit high-caliber pitching at my age," said Tejada, who spent 2012 away from the Majors.

"Playing for the Dominican at this level, it's almost big league level. The pitching is really good. There's a lot of good, young arms here. And I think that's really going to help me going into Spring Training."

Question is: How many more of these Spring Trainings does Tejada have in him?

"I don't know," Tejada said. "I like baseball, love baseball, and I know that when I retire as a player, I'll be involved in this game one way or another."

I have to give credit to Jose for hanging in there. After three throwing errors and two strikeouts earlier in the game, Ramirez had the resilience to bounce back with that three run homer that put the game out of reach.

He really does seem to relish the pressure. So far during his short professional career, Ramirez hasn't had any major setbacks. I have to think that when that day comes, and it will, Id like to think he'll bounce back like he has so many times this winter.

Man! I love this kid. I hope he grows a little more and can add a little more weight to that frame. I'd like to see him develop a little more power.

Although, he has showed some power in this series. Two nighst ago, he just missed a homer in that same location as his shot last night. He ended up with a double missing the homer by inches. Three nights ago, he lined two drives just to the right of the right field foul pole but ended up popping out to short.

I gotta say that Jose Ramirez has made watching this series a special one for me. I can't wait to see his next play in the field or his next at bat. I just wait with anticipation. This really has been a fun winter baseball season with so many of our guys doing so well.

Jose Ramirez still hitting leadoff switched to shortstop this evening to make room for Julio Lugo at second. Jose had two chances at short but had a throwing error. Ramirez's average dipped to .208 when he was 0-5 failing to reach base for the first time in the series. He struck out twice. Two of his three contact plays were hard hit. One a line drive to first and the other a line drive to second.

The game was tied heading into the ninth, when with two out, Francisco Pena drilled a two-run shot to left for the game winner. Final score was 4-2 Dominican Republic over Venezuela.

The Dominicans end the regular phase of the series with a 5-1 record. With the new rules, the second place finishers will meet the Dominican Republic on Thursday for the championship game. Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Venezuela were tied for second place with 2-3 records heading into the games today. To have any chance at all, Venezuela needed the win in the day's first game to advance. It didn't happen. Mexico and Puerto Rico will play this evening. The winner meets the Dominican on Thursday for the series championship.

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Caribbean Series

Venezuela Defeated and Eliminated by the Dominican Republic 4-2

02/06/2013 10:37 PM - Ivan Feliz

With a two-run homer in the ninth by Francisco Pena, Escogido Leones of the Dominican Republic defeated 4 runs to 2 against the Magallanes Navigantes of Venezuela, in the sixth game of the Caribbean Series, held in Hermosillo Mexico.

Escogido who already qualified, just waits which team between Puerto Rico and Mexico that they will face tomorrow at 10:00 pm in the seventh game to determine the Champion of the Series.

The winning pitcher was reliever Armando Rodriguez and Marcos Tabata lost. Carlos Pimentel and Sergio Perez, who opened the for the Dominican and Venezuela respectively, left the game with no decision.

Francisco Peña became the hero of the game, although he did not start, but came to replace first baseman Donell Linares in the bottom of the second inning, who apparently showed mild physical discomfort.

In the game batting seventh, Julio Lugo, who played defense at second base, dispatched a homer in the fourth inning to tie the game at one apiece, as the Venezuelans had scored one in the third.

In the fifth Magallanes retook control of the game, when the shortstop Renny Osuna hit a triple and was was squeezed home with two outs by Cesar Suarez when thirdbaseman, Tejada could not control the ball. Suarez was credited with a basehit.

The Dominicans finished with 5 wins and one loss in six games, 2-4 Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Mexico are tied with 2-3 records.
DOM: Pimentel, Barceló (5), Rodríguez (8), Peguero (9) with Rosario;

VEN: Perez, Alfaro (6), Díaz (8), Moreno (9), Tabata (9) with Molina.

PG: Armando Rodríguez (1-0)

PD: Víctor Moreno (0-1)

SV. Jailen Peguero (1)

JONRONES

DOM: Julio Lugo (1), Francisco Pena (2)

Pito Abreu (Left) chases the batting Triple Crown and Ismel Jimenez (Right) cashes the pitching Triple Crown.


Cuba League Wraps Up Novel First Half of National Series #52 Campaign

by Peter C. Bjarkman

Havana, Cuba (February 3, 2013)

Against a backdrop of preparation and anticipation for the upcoming March MLB World Baseball Classic, the Cuban League has now wrapped up a “qualification” 45-game first stage in its newly structured National Series XLII season. For the third time (following 2006 and 2009) the Cuban Federation has been forced to suspend play midway through the winter in order to accommodate training for and participation in the MLB “Classic” event. But unlike those past two occasions, this time around the Cuban Federation has actually restructured its domestic league season into two phases – a preliminary round designed to eliminate half of the island’s 16 ball clubs from any further championship aspirations, and a post-Classic title round set to commence in early April. While reactions to the new format have been largely mixed across the island, the first two-month stage (begun at the end of November) provided an engaging and tense pennant race that found three teams still fighting off second-half elimination on the final day of competition.

One obvious motivation for the new league structure was precisely the necessity of again suspending play in the middle of a winter pennant race in order to accommodate Team Cuba’s participation in the MLB-sponsored event. If nothing else, a clearly demarcated two-stage campaign provides a more natural breaking point than simply suspending traditional pennant races in mid-stream. But still another underlying motive was the apparent need (not universally acknowledged across Cuba) to give up on a traditional island-wide 16-team circuit in favor of a more competitive eight-squad structure. The downside of improving Cuban League quality by shrinking the league size of course is apparent in the abandonment of a system that has for decades provided every island province with its hometown ball club and thus its usually fanatical local rooting interests. The complicated current effort at meeting both goals simultaneously within the same lengthy season (maintaining island-wide participation but also achieving tighter league competition) seems already to be providing just as many problems as solutions.

For those who are not long-time followers of Cuban baseball, perhaps a brief explanation of the new league format is necessity here. Unlike the past two decades that featured 16 league squads divided into either two eight-team leagues (Oriental and Occidental) – or earlier still, four four-team groups divided between the island’s eastern and western sectors – this year’s structure has collapsed all 16 clubs into a single circuit playing a 45-game December and January pre-WBC round robin. Only eight clubs would qualify for the season’s second round, a 42-game affair in which surviving ball clubs play each of the opposing seven squads in home and away three-game sets. That second championship round will not begin until April 2, well after the two-month recess devoted to pre-Classic national team training and then the WBC event itself. Phase two will last until June 1 and then be followed by semifinal and final playoff rounds extending all the way to June 27 (if all playoff series reach the maximum seven games) – the latest finishing date for a National Series in a number of decades.

The island will not be entirely without domestic baseball play during the WBC resting period, as the eight eliminated provincial squads (minus players drafted by the qualifying clubs as reinforcements, and of course also minus any national team players involved in the Classic) will engage in a Division II short season competition that runs through most of March and wraps up on April 15. Each Division II squad will play 21 games (a single three-game set versus each of the other seven clubs); semifinals will match first and fourth and second and third-place finishers, with a five-game final series scheduled to determine the Division II champion.

When the regular National Series season resumes, the surviving eight squads will have already dropped five ballplayers from their current rosters and replaced them with a quintet of superior athletes drafted from the eight eliminated teams. One available “star” player will be chosen from the pool by each team drafting in the reverse order (the eighth-place team, Pinar del Río, will own the first selection and the first-place team, Sancti Spíritus, will choose last). This drafting of reinforcement players will be staged as a national television event on Sunday, February 10, and is already generating plenty of buzz among fans speculating about which teams will pluck such big-name star sluggers as Alfredo Despaigne, Alexei Bell and Joan Carlos Pedroso. In reality of course, it will be pitching and not hitting that will be coveted by such top contenders as Sancti Spíritus, Cienfuegos and Matanzas, and if any of the leaders can bag even one among the trio of Artemisa aces (Yulieski González, Miguel Lahera or Yadier Pedroso) their championship prospects will obviously be greatly enhanced. The remaining four replacements on each squad will not be selected openly but rather assigned by a blind draw conducted by the central league office.

One odd feature of the new championship structure is that it no longer requires a final clash between western division (Oriental League) and eastern division (Occidental League) winners. Since Villa Clara and Ciego de Avila were the only eastern sector teams to make it through the first round, and since both are currently buried near the bottom of the standings, an all-western region title shootout is now a very real possibility. But the prospect of an all-western finale is only one among several uncomfortable wrinkles in the new system. One special boast of Cuban baseball has always been that the long-standing structure featuring teams in all fourteen provinces (plus Isla and the city of Havana) meant that a strong rooting interest was sustained in all corners of the island. Baseball in Cuba has until now always been a truly national enterprise. But suddenly the season’s second half will find eight provinces (including traditional hotbed Santiago) with no team and thus without local top-level baseball. (The short 27-game Division II season ending as early as April 15 that now features clubs like Santiago and La Tunas – both already stripped on their top stars and only battling other tail enders is not likely to inspire much widespread fan interest.) And another long-standing boasting point of Cuba’s national pastime will now also fall by the wayside. Previously players remained with the local provincial club (with only a few odd exceptions) for an entire career. Now suddenly there will be 40 ballplayers appearing with two different squads during a single campaign – something unheard of in Cuba’s unique alternative baseball universe.

Most of the headlines of the final week here have been devoted to the thrilling race between five clubs to avoid second-half elimination. Isla and Villa Clara finally backed into the second round this past weekend although they both did so while losing rather than winning several key matches. Isla dropped a three-game set in Cienfuegos while Villa Clara struggled with visiting Santiago; but none of the trailing squads (with the exception of Pinar, who climbed out of the second division down the final stretch) could win consistently enough to make up ground. Pinar’s charge to the wire under rookie manager Giraldo González stretched to the final day and peaked with a Thursday morning clinching 11-1 romp in Mayabeque. Most of the heroics for the Green Tsunami club were provided by bulky DH Yosvani Peraza who hit safely in 11 of 23 plate appearances during the final two weeks, slugged four of his nine round-trippers in the same stretch, and took over the league RBI lead with 42. Peraza (a memorable game-saving hero versus Australia in WBC 2006) not only rescued the season for his surging team but also may well have earned a last-minute elevation onto the current WBC roster.

In the end, then, it came down to a three-team struggle that stretched beyond the eleventh hour. Entering Thursday’s final morning and afternoon clashes, Las Tunas, Pinar del Río, and defending champion Ciego de Avila were all still staring at potential elimination. Pinar’s victory in Mayabeque was decisive because it meant that Las Tunas would finish with one less victory than the Vegueros, despite their own rain-delayed 7-5 afternoon triumph versus Isla. It then all came down to the final televised Thursday night affair between Granma and defending champion Ciego (with ace Vladimir García on the hill) and the result was a 10-0 cakewalk for the Tigers that quickly sent Las Tunas packing.

Far and away the single standout individual star of the season’s first half has been Sancti Spíritus ace Ismel Jiménez; the clever right-hander has cruised to an unblemished 9-0 mark (on the heels of last season’s league-best 18-5 ledger) and now stands of the verge of a possible rare pitching triple crown achievement – as league leader in wins, ERA and strikeouts. The Triple Crown feat has been achieved on four previous occasions in the Cuban National Series (a slightly smaller percentage than in the major leagues) with the first to turn the trick being Modesto Verdura (1963 NS#2). Subsequent Triple Crown winners were Omar Carrero (1976 NS#15), José Ibar (1998 NS#37) and Maels Rodríguez (2001 NS#40). Ismel rang up his ninth victory with a rare relief appearance on the final day, after authoring two brilliant 9-inning efforts (allowing only a single run in his 18 frames) over the previous ten days that both ended in no-decisions. This year’s surge has upped Ismel Jiménez’s career record to a brilliant 102-38 which has currently bumped his lifetime winning percentage (.729) a notch above that of El Duque Hernández as the best in league annals. And at 9-0 Jiménez now is also in potential striking range of Yulieski González’s 2008 15-0 ledger which is also an unmatched league standard.

Ismel Jiménez is not alone in his Triple Crown hunt this winter. Cienfuegos slugger Piti Abreu is now also (for the third straight season) threatening to achieve an even rarer feat among Cuban League batsmen. There has never been a National Series offensive Triple Crown winner, although Abreu missed by only a single RBI (being topped by Yoennis Céspedes) only two seasons back. Last year Piti also remained in the hunt all the way to the season’s final weekend. At the halfway point this season Abreu is the current home run pacesetter (now two ahead of Despaigne), stands second in batting average (his .382 mark is within easy striking distance of the .393 posted by José M. Fernández), and is a mere half dozen RBIs in arrears of Yosvani Peraza (after posting 8 with pair of double-homer games in the closing series versus Industriales). The Triple Crown fortunes of both Abreu and Ismel Jiménez during the season’s second half may actually prove as engaging as the league pennant race itself.

Final First Stage Standings

Qualifiers (Team, Record, Games Behind)

Eliminated Teams (Team, Record, Games Behind)

*Tie broken by results of head-to-head series between teams with identical records

Batting Leaders

Average: José M. Fernández (Matanzas) .393
Runs: David Castillo (Pinar del Río) 39
Hits: Lorenzo Quintana (Pinar del Río) 60
Doubles: Andy Ibañez (Isla de la Juventud), Alexander Mayeta (Industriales) 17
Triples: Lázaro Rodríguez (Cienfuegos) 5
Home Runs: José Dariel Abreu (Cienfuegos) 13
Slugging: José Dariel Abreu (Cienfuegos) .735
RBI: Yosvani Peraza (Pinar del Río) 42
Stolen Bases: Marino Luis (Camagüey), Yunieski Larduet (Las Tunas), Lázaro Rodríguez (Cienfuegos) 10
Walks (Received): Frederich Cepeda (Sancti Spíritus) 46

Pitching Leaders

Winning Percentage: Ismel Jiménez (Sancti Spíritus) 1.000 (9-0)
Wins: Ismel Jiménez (Sancti Spíritus) 9-0; Wilber Pérez (Isla de la Juventud) 9-2
Game Appearances: Alexander Quintero (Cienfuegos), Isbel Hernández (Pinar del Río), Diosdani Castillo (Villa Clara) 24
Starts: Vladimir García (Ciego de Avila) 13
Complete Games: Wilber Pérez (Isla de la Juventud) 4
Relief Appearances: Alexander Quintero (Cienfuegos), Isbel Hernández (Pinar del Río), Diosdani Castillo (Villa Clara) 24
Shutouts: Vladimir García (Ciego de Avila), Maikel Martínez (Matanzas), Danny Betancourt (Santiago) 2