Fantastic four: Wladimir Balentien celebrates after his solo home run on Wednesday. | KYODO

Baseball / Japanese Baseball

Balentien equals record in Swallows victory

Kyodo

Jun 13, 2013

FUKUOKA –

Tokyo Yakult Swallows slugger Wladimir Balentien became the 18th player in Japanese baseball history to homer in four consecutive at-bats with a two-run drive in the first inning of a game against the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks at Yafuoku Dome on Wednesday. The Swallows would go on to lose 7-3.

Balentien, 28, is the first to homer in four consecutive at-bats since Atsuya Furuta achieved the feat in 2003. The record has been accomplished a total of 19 times.

Balentien homered in the ninth inning starting in game against the Nippon Ham Fighters on Saturday and homered in three straight at-bats, in between a pair of walks, over the course of three games, featuring his 20th homer, a blast to deep center off Kazuyuki Hoashi in his first at-bat on Wednesday.

He had a chance to homer in five consecutive at-bats for a new Japanese record but singled to left in his second turn at the plate the same day. Balentien has won the Central League home run title for two consecutive years since joining Yakult in 2011.

Cuba’s Post-Season: No Crisis but Plenty of Reigning (Pun!) Confusion

by Peter C. Bjarkman

Jun 11, 2013
Freddy Asiel Alvarez has proven the early Cuban post-season hero with a record 25 consecutive scoreless innings now to his credit.

Against the backdrop of a most historic if admittedly confusing National Series #52 campaign, Cuban baseball has now struggled through a rain-plagued post-season semifinal playoff round that has only served to underscore the circuit’s ongoing struggles – disruptions mostly brought on by continued administrative tinkering and radical experiment. Convinced that the island game needed an upgrade in the wake of renewed player defections and several years of disappointing international tournament showings, the Cuban Baseball Commission this year introduced a novel split-season format and a host of related adjustments that have largely now rendered the traditional National Series almost unrecognizable. The drastic overhaul has also served to muddy the waters related to league statistical records and also cloud an upcoming international tournament season with its own dose of troublesome uncertainty.

But confusion and chaos aside, this year’s newly tweaked opening playoff round has been anything but dull or uninspired. Regular season champion Cienfuegos has quickly fallen by the wayside in the face of a three-game pitching performance by Villa Clara veteran ace Freddy Asiel Alvarez that has proven as brilliant as any individual post-season outing in the quarter-century of Cuban playoff baseball. Alvarez has singlehandedly lifted the surprising fourth-place Naranjas on his back with three straight shutout masterpieces that have rewritten the league record book. The Matanzas-Sancti Spíritus series proved even more dramatic with neither club winning on the road until the final fateful night, when the Crocodiles of Victor Mesa orchestrated the most shocking last-minute comeback in recent memory. Trailing 5-0 with but six outs remaining in the deciding seventh match Matanzas exploded for ten runs during an unlikely outburst that has now lifted that club into their first-ever final championship series.

But first let’s examine the troublesome backdrop to all these recent on-the-field heroics. Several radical adjustments to the current 2012-13 domestic Cuban campaign at the season’s start were more than enough to assure that this year’s playoffs would have a very different and not altogether comfortable appearance. The new league structure not only eliminated a full half the provincial clubs from further championship contention before a mid-year March World Baseball Classic intermission, but it also featured a re-enforcement draft (each of the eight remaining clubs picking up star players from the already eliminated teams) that in effect meant a second-half pennant race now featuring teams fielding lineups different from those they had played with across the season’s initial 45 contests. The radical change torpedoed more than a quarter-century of league tradition that always provided each Cuban province with its own home ball club and also staffed those local teams exclusively with home-grown regional talent. For the first time in memory there would be a host of ballplayers not only competing outside their native provinces but also wearing two different uniforms within the same campaign. This would not be a novelty in most leagues, but it certainly was for Cuban baseball which has long eschewed the North American pro staple of year-long ballplayer trades.

Of course the new scheme has had its upside. There admittedly has been a very large dose of highly novel entertainment for those eight regions still owning squads in the first division after March; a healthy number of the vital replacement players – especially shortstop Yunior Paumier (Holguín) and rookie pitcher Norge Luiz Ruiz (Camagüey) now with Sancti Spíritus, slugging outfielder William Luis Campillo (Camagüey) on loan to Cienfuegos, and outfielder Edilse Silva (Santiago) plus bullpen ace Jonder Martínez (Artemisa) transferred over to Villa Clara – provided the sparks that ultimately lifted their new teams into the post-season semifinals. Campillo tied new Elefantes teammate José Dariel Abreu for the league home run crown (19), Norge Luis emerged in his new surroundings as a runaway rookie-of-the-year choice (boasting a 1.97 ERA), and Paumier (not even an original lottery choice in February but an add-on when top pick Yadier Pedroso was killed in a tragic car crash) immediately shored up the previously leaky Gallos mid-field defense.

But any such gains in ballpark excitement have been largely nullified by the numerous resulting confusions – especially for any fans trying to study Cuban League statistics or analyze individual ball player on-field performances. The Cuban Federation website simply abandoned the practice of posting updated individual and ball club statistics after the pennant-race entered its second phase in late March and early April. Players on the eight clubs relegated to the “second division” were simply out of the running for any prestigious individual league titles (home runs, batting average, ERA etc.); those teams played for a consolation prize that was eventually won by a stripped-down Granma squad (minus batting champ Alfredo Despaigne who was now in Pinar del Río, Yordanis Samón wearing the colors of Isla, and Ciro Silvino Licea who was enjoying a late-career rebirth with Victor Mesa and Matanzas). Needless to say, the Second Division playoffs, featuring skeleton Granma and Holguín squads, passed almost without any fan or media attention. Worse still, there is currently no on-line site where the curious fan can obtain full year-end batting, pitching and fielding stats for all players on each of the league’s original sixteen teams. In short, we have a virtual mess.

Part of the recent veil of distraction admittedly followed from an odd fact that the Cuban semifinals were destined to reach their climax against the unexpected backdrop of yet another sensational big league debut by a former league star who earlier abandoned the island to seek his fortunes with major league baseball. In recent seasons flamethrower Aroldis Chapman and slugger Yoenis Céspedes have turned heads with their quick MLB starts, but none among the recent Cuban imports (which also include Yunieski Maya with the Nationals, Leonys Martin with the Rangers, José Iglesias in Boston, and Adieny Hechavarria with Toronto) has made anything like the splash produced this past week by strong boy Yasiel Puig out in Los Angeles.

Although he has only been on the big league scene for six days, it is not an exaggeration at this point to claim that no Cuban native of the past century has entered baseball’s big time with more thunder than the 22-year-old statuesque Cienfuegos outfielder. After tearing up spring training with a .517 BA and numerous power displays, Puig was dispatched to Double-A Chattanooga (where he slugged at a .328 clip) by Dodgers front office brass that were perhaps being overly cautious about rushing the debut of the number one franchise prospect. But when the injury-riddle LA club (with starting outfielders Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp both relegated to the DL) issued the call Puig was more than ready. He singled in his first big league plate appearance Monday night against San Diego and then capped an eye-popping debut with a two-for-four outing and a sensational game-saving throw from deep right field to double up the potential tying run at first base.

If that was not enough of a stunning curtain-lifter, in Game 2 Puig (Cuba’s big leaguer number 171) homered twice, collecting three hits and a game-high five RBIs to become the first Dodger since Spider Jorgensen back in 1947 to turn that trick (knocking home five in his first two outings). Puig’s first shot (439 feet to left center) came off lefty starter Clayton Richard to knot the came in the fifth; his second was a two-run opposite field blast the following inning struck off righty Tyson Ross. The flood of emails I have received the past two days from Cuban friends suggests that Puig’s LA power displays have drawn nearly as much attention on the island as have the post-season struggles of his old team in Cienfuegos. Since the once-potent Elephants lineup was eventually blanked in half of the six games versus Villa Clara, one has to wonder what the early post-season favorites might have accomplished if they still had Puig in their lineup alongside current Cuban home run co-champs Abreu and Campillo.
After the disappointing Classic defeats in Japan, controversial manager Victor Mesa has now led Matanzas to its first-ever Cuban League championship round appearance

Once the playoffs themselves finally commenced during the last week of May – capping the most bizarrely configured National Series season in decades – it would be Mother Nature (in the form of a couple of weeks of persistent rains across the western half of the island) and not precisely the heavy-handed manipulations of the commissioner’s office that would have the most disruptive effect. Of course an earlier decision to once again curtail league action for nearly eight weeks in mid-stream, in order to accommodate MLB’s World Baseball Classic festivities did after all play a major role in bringing on a clash with the natural elements. Once again the Cuban post-season had been ill-advisedly pushed back well into June, the worst rainy-season month when baseball is most likely to be impeded by tropical showers. In the end it would take fifteen days to get through a semifinal round that suffered multiple postponements along with an inevitable constant reshuffling of the original schedule.

If the repetitive rains have not been entirely surprising, other developments have certainly had their elements of the highly unexpected. The biggest eye-opener of the late season has unarguably been the unlikely resurgence of Villa Clara’s Orangemen under manager Ramon Moré. Engaged in a tense tussle with Industriales, defending champion Ciego de Avila, and Isla de la Juventud for much of the April and May stretch run, the Orangemen caught fire at just the right time to open plenty of final daylight between themselves and the trio of close challengers for a final playoff spot (finishing five games ahead of fifth-place Industriales and only six behind pacesetter Cienfuegos). Had the season lasted a few more weeks Moré’s club might even have overhauled both Matanzas and Sancti Spíritus, two clubs that wilted down the final pennant stretch. And in their opening-round clash with the first-place Elephants the Orange-clad club again quickly seized an early advantage, jumping on top in a classic 1-0 opener, then taking two-of-three tight games on home turf to maintain a 3-2 lead heading into the scheduled final pair of deciding road matches at 5 de Septiembre Stadium.

Easily the biggest story of the Villa Clara-Cienfuegos series was the outstanding pitching of national team ace Freddie Asiel Alvarez. Alvarez always seems to pitch far better in international competitions and in the domestic post-season when championships are squarely on the line; his regular-season mark this winter was an unimpressive 8-6, although he did sport a solid 2.68 ERA. This time around when the playoff bell once again rang he was only an eye-lash away from perfection, not allowing a run or even a legitimate enemy threat in three stellar victorious outings. Freddy Asiel’s performance has already been one of the record books – setting a new league mark of 25 consecutive scoreless post-season innings that he will now carry into an opening-game start in the finale with Matanzas. Reinforcement pickup Jonder Martínez (after a disappointing couple of years in Artemisa) also seems to have found new life with his role out of the Villa Clara bullpen. Jonder appeared in five of the six contests (picking up one of the losses) and gained the “save” credit for all three of the Alvarez shutout victories.

Semifinals Series #1 (Villa Clara wins in six games, 4-2)
Game 1 - May 25 (5 de Septiembre) Villa Clara 1, Cienfuegos 0 (WP: Freddy A. Alvarez)
Game 2 - May 26 (5 de Septiembre) Cienfuegos 4, Villa Clara 2 (WP: Leorisbel Sánchez)
Game 3 - May 30 (A. César Sandino) Villa Clara 3, Cienfuegos 3 (WP: Freddy A. Alvarez)
Game 4 - June 1 (A. César Sandino) Cienfuegos 4, Villa Clara 3 (WP: Duniel Ibarra)
Game 5 - June 2 (A. César Sandino) Villa Clara 4, Cienfuegos 3 (10) (WP: Robelio Carrillo)
Game 6 - June 5 (5 de Septiembre) Villa Clara 2, Cienfuegos 0 (WP: Freddy A. Alvarez)

A less noticed subtext of the Villa Clara resurgence was the impactful return of star Ariel Pestano, the heart and soul of the Naranjas over the past decade and more. Controversy swirled when Pestano was left off the WBC team, reportedly because of an ongoing squabble with manager Victor Mesa, thus ending a near decade-and-half run for the rock-solid national squad backstop. There were also rumors of a deep rift between Pestano and Mesa that stretched back to their days together in Villa Clara; the ultimate result of it all found the veteran catcher (obviously bitterly disappointed by his WBC exclusion) announcing a surprise retirement at mid-season. But late in the year Pestano was back in the Villa Clara lineup and also contributing heavily; Ariel caught all six semifinal games (including the record-setting trio of Alvarez shutouts), and also collected three hits and an RBI. Now he may soon taste his sweet revenge against his old mentor with a Villa Clara-Matanzas finale that could bring Pestano’s first National Series title since the earlier three straight captured under manager Pedro Jova at the dawn of his illustrious 22-year career.

The second semi-final set was equally entertaining even if it didn’t feature quite as many intriguing subtexts. Victor Mesa’s Matanzas club – last year’s regular-season Cinderella outfit before stumbling early in the playoffs – was extended to the wire before surviving their collision with the rival Sancti Spiritus Gallos under rookie manager Yovani Aragón. Neither club has every enjoyed much notable post-season success over the years with but one National Series crown between them. The Gallos won it all way back in 1979 (the pre-playoff era) and also reached the finals in 2002; the Matanzas club in its current manifestation has never been there (although Matanzas Province does boast several championship appearances by a ball club once known as Henequeneros, the last one coming in 1992 versus Industriales). This series would follow true to form with both clubs collecting three victories on their home turf in what was largely a replay of last year’s see-saw quarterfinals clash. The shootout also featured two notable head-to-head matchups between the league’s top pair of regular-season winners, Ismel Jiménez (13-3, 2.02) and Joel Suarez (14-1, 1.73). Each came out on top once and also stood on the losing end once; but in a crucial third meeting they both imploded and neither survived the second frame of a 15-7 Gallos slugfest win that forced a seventh game.

Semifinals Series #2 (Matanzas wins in seven games, 4-3)
Game 1 - May 26 (José A. Huelga) Sancti Spíritus 5, Matanzas 4 (WP: Ismel Jiménez)
Game 2 - May 27 (José A. Huelga) Sancti Spíritus 6, Matanzas 5 (WP: Yohari Panama)
Game 3 - June 1 (Victoria de Girón) Matanzas 4, Sancti Spíritus 0 (WP:Joel Suárez)
Game 4 - June 2 (Victoria de Girón) Matanzas 3, Sancti Spíritus 1 (WP: Jorge Martínez)
Game 5 - June 3 (Victoria de Girón) Matanzas 4, Sancti Spíritus 3 (WP: Lázaro Blanco)
Game 6 - June 7 (José A. Huelga) Sancti Spíritus 15, Matanzas 7 (WP: Noelvis Hernández)
Game 7 - June 8 (José A. Huelga) Matanzas 10, Sancti Spíritus 5 (WP: Frank Navarro)

The Gallos jumped to an early series lead on home turf, but that advantage was quickly dissipated on the road where the Orange and Blue couldn’t muster a single victory and in fact scored in only two innings (the third frame in both Game 4 and Game 5). There were some truly heroic late-game rallies which flipped the series back and forth. Yulieski Gourriel won Game 2 with a clutch ninth-inning hit that seemed to put the Gallos squarely in the driver’s seat. But José Miguel Fernández responded twice in similar fashion once the Crocodiles returned to the more friendly surroundings of Victoria de Girón. Given the way this series has unfloding the Gallos might have appeared to own on the edge since the final matches were slated for José Antonio Huelga Stadium. Then the whole affair was seemingly derailed for Aragón’s club with an announcement that slugging star Freddie Cepeda had been lost for the remainder of the year due to a hand injury. Ironically the departure of Cepeda was not much of a factor in the end; the Gallos plated 20 runs during the final two games in Huelga yet their sunk with an epic bullpen collapse when ultimate victory was only six outs away. José Miguel Fernández proved the ultimate hero for the third time for Mesa and company with a bases-loaded double that capped the Cocodrilos historic eighth-inning ten-run miracle rally.

This year’s Cuban League championships are rumored to hold special value since it was earlier announced that the league winner would be rewarded with a trip abroad during the summer’s international travel season. But that whole matter has now also cast further elements of shadow and confusion over the island scene. The problem seems to be that the Federation is caught between a rock and a hard place if the actual plan is to have the full squad of league winners trek to Holland (World Port Tournament, starting June 28) and a completely distinct but representative national team travel to the USA (to face the USA Baseball College All-Stars) only a few weeks later. If Matanzas were to win the title that would mean that Mesa might have to choose which club to manage. Sending any of the four semifinal squads to Rotterdam would likely mean a significant dent in the USA-bound club (Cienfuegos boasts Abreu and Arruebarruena; the Gallos feature Jiménez, Gourriel and Cepeda; Matanzas also owns a pair of national team starters in Fernandez and Guillermo Heredia, plus this year’s most successful hurler in Suárez). Would any of these players (or Victor Mesa himself) make both trips? It is this conundrum which has obviously delayed far longer than desirable any announcement on what kind of a squad would actually attend the World Port Tournament in The Netherlands at the end of the month. And those rain-delayed semifinals series that have now extended the post-season schedule even further haven’t helped the scenario in the least.

A constant theme in the Cuban press this winter – first motivated by the odd National Series format and later stoked further by still another distasteful early elimination from the WBC – has been the time-worn debate about whether or not Cuba is now facing yet another hour of crisis with its cherished national pastime. Crisis, however hardly seems the appropriate conclusion. The national squad indeed played well in Japan (MLB scouts universally agreed that Cuba showcased the best talent in the Asian region). The season for all its innovations in the end proved exciting and highly entertaining. The playoffs themselves are already proving to be among the most competitive of recent years. And there may yet be some image-saving during tournament trips to Rotterdam and the USA. Hopefully the weather will improve during the final round and the news of the coming week or two will be dominated by an action-packed climactic shootout that already promises as many side-plots as could ever be hoped for: Freddy Asiel versus the potent Matanzas lineup; the clash of Victor Mesa and Ariel Pestano; the final chapter of a much-anticipated baseball resurrection for the long-suffering fans of a beleaguered city known appropriately as the Athens of Cuba.

Matanzas (June 12). -


AGAIN righty Asiel Freddy Alvarez led the team of Villa Clara to a 4-0 win over Matanzas, an important opening win in the finals of the National Baseball Series. Alvarez allowed four hits in the Crocodiles of Matanzas win at Victoria de Giron Stadium. "I had a good start and I felt stronger after the third inning "he told JIT's Freddy Asiel. Pitching in front of more than 20 thousand fans, he had five strikeouts and one walk.

Jonder Martinez was responsible for closing out the game and preserving the win for Freddy Asiel.

Yordan Manduley was the offensive hero of the game with two RBIs. In the game Ariel Borrero had a solo homer.
Ariel Borrero sealed the first win of Villa Clara with a homer in the sixth.
Two Orange players provide victory in Game # 1 of the Finals of Cuba. From left to right Yordan Manduley batted in two important runs in the fifth inning and Jonder Martinez closed out the game.

The Record-Breaking Scoreless Streak of Cuba’s Freddy Asiel Alvarez

by Peter C. Bjarkman

Jun 12, 2013
Freddy Asiel Alvarez has proven the early Cuban post-season hero with a record 33 consecutive scoreless innings now to his credit

There have indeed been some rather memorable individual performances down through the years to spice Cuban National Series post-season play. Outfielder Alexei Bell (2007) once smacked two homers in a single inning for Santiago during one playoff session and the same Bell also registered the oddity of three base knocks in the same frame during another post-season fray. Ernesto Molinet repeated the single-inning pair of homers for Habana Province only two seasons later. Omar Linares once homered in six straight playoff games (during the 1997 Revolutionary Cup post-season). But so far there has never been anything to quite match the rare performance authored over the past two weeks by veteran (but still young at 24) right-hander Freddy Asiel Alvarez of the Villa Clara Naranjas. Alvarez has now tossed four consecutive near-complete-game playoff shutouts (8 or more innings during each start) and has already written a new chapter in the Cuban League record book with his 33.0 consecutive scoreless innings. In the process he has also single-handedly launched his surprising underdog Villa Clara team (fourth-place regular season finishers) straight into the driver’s seat in the chase after this year’s Cuban League championship title.

The fourth straight brilliant outing for the Naranjas ace came last night in Victoria de Girón Stadium (Matanzas) during the lid-lifter of the league finals, a 4-0 victory for Ramón Moré’s overachieving ball club which is shooting for its first Cuban title in eighteen years (the last coming back in 1995 under manager Pedro Jova). Alvarez breezed through eight innings allowing a mere four safeties (all tame singles) and benefiting from a game-clinching fifth-inning uprising sparked by a pair of RBIs from former Holguín shortstop Yordan Manduley, plus an insurance-proving solo homer in the sixth off the bat of Ariel Borrero. For the fourth straight time Freddy Asiel was assisted by the stellar closing ninth-inning relief of Jonder Martínez, currently on loan from Artemisa courtesy of this winter’s mid-season reinforcement draft. As impressive as the Alvarez outings have been, it his perhaps more remarkable still that three of the four have come on the road – a vital factor given that Villa Clara has suffered from a home field disadvantage in both playoff rounds.
A review of the historical record confirms the rather unmistakable conclusion that Freddy Asiel has proven over his short career to be a far different (and better) hurler under the pressures of international tournament outings or post-season league games – games when there is little margin for error and when championship banners are the ultimate prize. His playoff winning percentage is considerably higher than his won-loss standard for regular-season action; over the course of the past couple of campaigns Alvarez has been little better than a .500-level pitcher and he has rarely dominated league hitters in domestic play the way he often has in a number of brilliant international outings. Most memorable are his brilliant starting labor versus a big league-laced Dominican lineup at the 2011 Panama IBAF World Cup and also his stellar losing effort in late relief against the Americans during the 2009 World Cup finals in Nettuno, Italy. Why a different Freddy Asiel seems always to show up for the most tension-packed games is now a conundrum to be deeply pondered.
Somewhat overlooked in the brilliant glare of recent Alvarez starts has been the mostly spotless relief effort (he did lose once) turned in by Martínez, who had largely faded from the scene in recent years. Jonder earlier enjoyed a number of top seasons as a starter with the recently disbanded Habana Province club where he won a league ERA title (1.55) in 2008 and a league championship under manager Esteban Lombillo a year later. Jonder was once a mainstay of a Habana Cowboys team that for a few short years boasted the island’s best mound staff and also the main corps of Cuban national team aces; but along with Martínez the remainder of that contingent (including Yulieski González, Yadier Pedroso, Miguel Lahera, Miguel Alfredo González, José Angel García) all fell on hard times when they were shifted en masse to a punch-less expansion Artemisa ball club, a team suddenly stripped of almost all its heftiest hitting offensive support. With saves in four of Villa Clara’s five post-season victories Jonder Martínez (who was the successful closer in Cuba’s 2011 Intercontinental Cup gold medal victory over the Dutch) has now apparently found a new life in the bullpen with Ramón Moré’s revamped and currently high-flying Naranjas outfit.

To place Freddy Asiel’s ongoing spotless streak in proper perspective a few comparisons and parallels are useful. On the big league front, New York Yankees Panamanian closer Mariano Rivera currently holds the all-time post-season record of 33.1 consecutive scoreless frames (only one out better than Alvarez) but this mark was established over several different seasons. The major league World Series mark is also 33.0 innings and once again it is a multi-year record. Hall-of-Famer Christy Mathewson of the erstwhile New York Giants still holds the single-season World Series record of 27 frames with his three consecutive 1905 whitewashes of the Philadelphia Athletics – a record so ancient that neither of those teams have existed for more than half a century. While Freddy Asiel now owns the Cuban league post-season mark by himself, he still stands some distance short of the all-time Cuban League standard of 46.1 frames set by Maximiliano Guitierrez (Vegueros) during National Series #17 (1978). Three other Cuban Leaguers have also topped the 40-inning scoreless-string plateau and they are: Eliecer Velazquez (Mineros, 44.0 innings in NS#11, 1972), Manuel Hurtado (Industriales, 41.1 innings in NS#10, 1971), and Maximiliano Reyes (Occidentales/Industriales, 40.2 innings over two separate seasons in NS#3 and NS#4, 1964-1965).

Final 2013: Game # 2-VCL 8 MTZ 1
Again Yordan Manduley was perfect on defense and at the plate. The Holguin was designated as the MVP of the second game of these Series Finals of Cuba.

Matanzas (June 13). -

The right-hander Siverio Misael enjoyed his 24th birthday after winning 8-1. Villa Clara took the second game of the seven game series from Matanzas.

The left-handed starter recorded seven strikeouts in a game played at Augusto Cesar Sandino Stadium in the city of Santa Clara with superiority.

In seven innings Siverio dodged attacks. Guillermo Heredia [a fine young centerfielder with a strong arm hits for average and has some power] hit a solo homer in the second inning, the only run given up.

Yordan Manduley, shortstop was the offensive leader for Villa Clara. Manduley collected 3 hits in 5 at bats, scored twice and batted in a run. On of his three hits was a double.
Keys in the triumph of Villa Clara in Game # 2 was a home run by Yeniet Perez that tied the game in the second inning, and righty Jonder Martinez worked one inning for the save against Matanzas.

Fan favorite: Hanshin rookie Shintaro Fujinami came top in fan votes for Central League starters in next month's All-Star Series. | KYODO

Baseball / Japanese Baseball

Fujinami tops fan votes for All-Star Series

Jun 18, 2013

Article history

Highly praised Hanshin Tigers rookie Shintaro Fujinami was the top vote-getter in fan balloting among Central League starters for the upcoming All-Star Series after results were announced at the halfway point on Monday.

Fujinami received 96,322 votes, ahead of second-place Hiroshima Carp right-hander Ken Maeda (89,995) in the category for starting pitcher. Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters rookie right-hander Shohei Otani came third for Pacific League outfielders with 133,466 but failed to make the top 10 among PL starters.

By far, Orix Buffaloes outfielder Yoshio Itoi is the most popular in both leagues with 258,969 votes. Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles stalwart Masahiro Tanaka has garnered the most votes for a PL starter with 101,371.

Rakuten had four top vote-getters, also including Motohiro Shima (catcher), Kazuo Matsui (shortstop) and Andruw Jones (designated hitter).

Orix matched its PL rival for top in four categories, among them Yoshihisa Hirano (closer), Lee Dai Ho (first base) and Aarom Baldiris (third base).

Hanshin second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka amassed 180,493 votes to top the category in the CL. Tigers players, including shortstop Takashi Toritani, topped three categories.

Final results of fan balloting will be released next Monday, and the results of the players’ votes will be announced three days later. The managers’ picks of players will be announced on July 1 before each league adds an additional member on July 10 as a special entry.

Game 1 is scheduled for July 19 at Sapporo Dome, followed by Game 2 at Jingu Stadium on the 20th and Game 3 on the 22nd at Iwaki Green Stadium in Fukushima Prefecture.

Baseball | SPORTS SCOPE

Ramirez keeps focus, waits for next opportunity to contribute

by Jason Coskrey

Jun 18, 2013

It’s the waiting that’s the hardest part for Alex Ramirez. The wait for the next at-bat, for the next opportunity to contribute to the Yokohama BayStars, for another chance to show there is still life in his bat.

The BayStars’ final interleague series of the year, a two-game set at Seibu Dome over the weekend, yielded just one pinch-hit at-bat for Ramirez, and trips to the plate will continue to be scarce as Yokohama returns to Central League competition, where the designated hitter is not used, later this week.

Ramirez isn’t used to not playing. For over a decade, he was an indispensable part of lineups for three franchises — including on a pair of Japan Series-winning teams. Now he doesn’t know when the next at-bat will come.

Then again, he also isn’t used to being in a slump as severe as the one he’s currently mired in. A slump that, combined with defensive issues, has consigned the outfielder to a place on manager Kiyoshi Nakahata’s bench.

“I can’t blame anybody for me not hitting,” Ramirez told the Japan Times. “The bottom line is, I’m not hitting, I’m not producing. These are the consequences. Right now I’m not playing too much, and that’s the reason why. I’m not producing for the team.

“Japanese baseball is ‘what have you done lately,’ and it doesn’t matter what I have done in my 13-year career here in Japan. I’m not producing right now. The best thing is to be on the bench.”

The season has been a grind for Ramirez, who is hitting .194 with a pair of home runs and 13 RBIs in just 132 at-bats.

With his playing time diminished, Ramirez has made himself useful in other ways. He’s the first out of the dugout to give support and congratulate his teammates during games, and has been lending a helping hand to Nyjer Morgan, Takehiro Ishikawa and other Yokohama players.

As for his own situation, Ramirez remains eternally positive and is determined to make the most of his next opportunity.

“I think this is probably one of the good things about me,” he said. “I adjust well to Japanese baseball. There is nothing I can do. It’s shoganai (it can’t be helped). I have to just be ready whenever the manager needs me ready to play. The days that I’m not playing, I’m going to cheer for my teammates.

“I do what I can. I’m preparing myself pretty well, just waiting for the right time.”

The right time may never roll around in Yokohama, but Ramirez could still find his way into another lineup.

According to a report by the Hochi Shimbun last week, the Chiba Lotte Marines were exploring the idea of trading for Ramirez with the intention of installing him in the cleanup spot as a designated hitter.

“It’s a great feeling to know there are a couple of teams interested in me and in giving me the opportunity to be an everyday player again,” Ramirez said. “I strongly believe that I can hit 20 home runs in the second half of the season and finish up strong as I always do.

“I love DeNA and I came here for a reason. But if this team is not going to use me, and another team is willing to use me, I think it’ll be a great idea for me to go to another team and finish there.

“Like I said, I love this team. I want to be here, but I also want to play. I want to be able to play and show that I can still produce at a high level.”

For now, Ramirez is focused on doing what he can for the BayStars. He’s not bitter about his current circumstance, and says he’ll be ready when and wherever his number is called again.

“I have a strong belief in God, and God is in control,” Ramirez said. “There are a lot of things you can’t control, but as long as you put your trust in God, just let it be. This year, it’s just the situation that I’m in. I just gotta continue doing what I can, doing my best every single day, being professional and showing my leadership here in the dugout.”

Japanese All Star Voting System

Besides from the fan voting and managers’ votes, the players have a say in the All-Star game as well. Players are able to vote who they would like to play with or who they would like to see in the event. Players and coaches are not allowed to vote for players on their own teams.

The Amazing Debut and Untold Saga of Cuban Sensation Yasiel Puig

by Peter C. Bjarkman

Jun 14, 2013


It has now been little more than two weeks since the latest refugee from Cuban baseball settled into the big leagues and Puigmania has now apparently taken full root in the City of the Angels (appropriately enough, since LA was also erstwhile home to a phenomenon known as Fernandomania more than three full decades in the past). Former Cienfuegos outfielder Yasiel Puig became Cuban big-leaguer number 171 (and counting) on June 3 with a considerable splash and already speculations have mounted concerning whether this latest five-tool athlete is perhaps the most talented Cuban-born prospect ever to hit the big time. There is little question in this camp that Puig is indeed a genuine prospect and also one of the better talents to come off the baseball-crazy island in years – perhaps the even best since the free flow of Cuban ballplayers to professional baseball stopped in the early-1960s aftermath of Fidel Castro’s socialist revolution. But one or two weeks does not make a full-fledged major league star and it is well to remember that there have been other phenomenal debuts over the decades that have quickly transformed into fast-fading comets or sad paragons of quickly lost promise.

One thing is certain. None among the previous 170 Cuban-bred major leaguers ever enjoyed a debut that can come close to matching Puig’s first curtain call with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Céspedes drew raves in Oakland last April by homering in his second big league contest and rode his early momentum through a solid rookie campaign that produced 23 dingers and a respectable .293 batting mark; but Céspedes was largely overshadowed by the sensational rookie campaigns of Mike Trout in Los Angeles and Bryce Harper in Washington. Aroldis Chapman was the “talk of the town” in the spring of 2010 with his $30 million rookie paycheck but yet didn’t actually start proving his worth until last summer when he found a true home with 38 saves out of the Cincinnati bullpen. Six decades ago a flashy prospect named Orestes Miñoso made history as the first big leaguer of African roots to don a uniform in the Windy City of Chicago (stealing the headlines that day from another promising prospect named Mickey Mantle, who also belted his first home run on that same May 1951 afternoon); but at the time of his historic Comiskey Park splash Miñoso was already two years beyond his original big league debut with Bill Veeck’s Cleveland Indians. Certainly neither the recent “Cuban Missile” (Chapman) nor the original “Cuban Comet” (Miñoso) produced initial fireworks anything like the ones resulting from Puig’s recent coming-out party at Dodger Stadium.

After tearing up spring training in March with a .517 BA and numerous eye-popping power displays, Puig was nonetheless dispatched to Double-A Chattanooga (where he slugged at a .328 clip) by Dodgers front office brass perhaps overly cautious about rushing the nascent career of their number one franchise prospect. But when the injury-riddle LA club (with starting outfielders Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp both relegated to the DL) issued the call in early June Puig was more than ready. He singled in his first big league plate appearance Monday night (June 3) against San Diego (impressive enough) and then capped his head-turning inaugural outing with an overall two-for-four night at the plate plus a sensational game-saving throw unleashed from deep right field to double up the potential tying run at first base.

If that was not enough for a truly stunning curtain-lifter, in Game 2 the new “Cuban Cannonball” (I am certain something like that will catch on with the LA media soon enough) homered twice, collecting three hits and a game-high five RBIs to become the first Dodger since Spider Jorgensen back in 1947 to turn that trick (knocking home five runners in his first two outings). Puig’s first shot (439 feet to left center) came off lefty starter Clayton Richard to knot the came in the fifth; his second was a two-run opposite field blast the following inning struck off righty Tyson Ross. After being shut out in his third outing (and struck out twice) Puig renewed the onslaught a night later with home run number three, this one a grand slam that punctuated a resounding victory over the Atlanta Braves. But it wasn’t over. In his fifth appearance in a Dodger uniform at the end of the week the rookie sensation launched home run number five, a game-tying solo “moon shot” into the left field pavilion off Braves starter Paul Maholm that was one for the record books. Ten RBIs in the first five career games was enough to tie the existing big league standard in that department held jointly by Danny Espinosa (2010 Washington Nationals) and Jack Merson (1951 Pittsburgh Pirates). For a further bit of historical perspective, the only other major leaguer with four homers in his first five games is Mike Jacobs (2005 New York Mets).

But now it is time to pause for a collective breath. Atlanta pitcher Maholm had some perspective to shed on the explosive start in a post-game press briefing following Puig home run number five. “On the home run, to be honest I missed by about three feet … I wasn’t even trying to throw it anywhere near the zone … it was supposed to be bounced two feet in front of the plate to set up another pitch.” Maholm reminded the press that he had fooled Puig easily during the first two at-bats and that although the rookie was both “talented and considerably hot” he was also a free swinger who was going to have to make some adjustments to survive against big leaguer hurlers who will soon enough begin exploiting his weaknesses. And to add perhaps a further dose of raw reality to the sensational start, one only has to remember that the names Danny Espinosa, Jack Merson, and Mike Jacobs (fellow rookie headliner grabbers) were all rather quickly relegated to the dust bin of baseball’s voluminous historical trivia.

Take heed here. I am not claiming that Yasiel Puig is not an immense physical talent with a large potential for future big league stardom. I am only cautioning that the road between Cienfuegos and Cooperstown is indeed a lengthy one, riddled with numerous pit falls and even potentially insurmountable mountains. Puig also started fast in Cienfuegos, surviving an injury-plagued rookie campaign to enjoy a bust-out third season (including a clutch home run in the league all-star game) as a mere 20-year-old. But then overnight he largely self-destructed, never made the top Cuban national team, and missed a full league winter due to sanctions for disciplinary infractions (penalties that had nothing to do with any attempt to flee the island as often erroneous reported). By age 22 was already seeking his promised future outside of his native homeland.

Puig’s brief ball-playing history in Cuba was something of a checkered one. Despite loads of early promise and one rather sensational breakout season, he never found a slot with the top Cuban national team and he definitely was not yet ready to do so at the time of his surprising banishment from Cuban League action. He did make one notable appearance on the Cuba B squad that reached the finals of the 2011 Rotterdam World Port Tournament only to drop a heart-breaking “Schiller Rule” extra-inning match to Chinese Taipei. Given a shot in Rotterdam Puig did not fail to impress the big league scouting corps; in the gold medal 5-4 11-inning defeat Yasiel Puig was the Cuban batting hero with a single, double and triple in five plate appearances. He also socked his team’s only four bagger of the tournament to decide a one-run Game 4 victory over spunky Germany. But of course it was also on that same Rotterdam trip that the young prospect unfortunately got involved in the scrapes that eventually led to his league suspension.

Puig was also a genuine star on the Cuban national 16-18 junior team a half-dozen years back and was widely touted as a future “can’t-miss phenomenon” when he broke into the senior-level Cuban League (as a 18 year old) for the 2008-09 season. He enjoyed a solid but not eye-popping rookie season with one of the league’s better ball clubs (70 Games, 174 ABs, 42 Runs, 48 Hits, 5 HR, 26 RBI, .276 BA), and if he didn’t immediately meet soaring expectations that was partially due to a series of nagging injuries (shoulder and leg) that would cause him to miss the entire 2009-10 campaign. When he next returned for the 2010-11 National Series (now age 20) he did post a more impressive breakout year (89 Games, 327 ABs, 78 Runs, 108 Hits, 17 HR, 47 RBI, .330 BA). He also made the league All-Star Game, but it should be pointed out that his .330 BA was only the fourth best mark on his own Cienfuegos team and only 37th best in the entire offense-heavy league. Those are hardly numbers that might support any overstretching claim about being one of the best prospects Cuba has ever produced. It should also be noted that among top young talents on his own club (Cienfuegos) he was easily outshone by league batting champion (and near Triple Crown winner) José Dariel Abreu (three years older) and current flashy national team shortstop Bárbaro Arruebarruena (same age).
It was Puig’s strong showing during the 2011 domestic-league season that earned his roster spot on the Cuba B World Port Tournament club, and on that team laced with top Cuban national team hopefuls he did indeed lead the way (9 Games, 33 AB, 8 Runs, 12 Hits, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .364 BA). He was in fact arguably the third most impressive prospect on that 2011 team, but he definitely took something of a back seat to another pair of up-and-coming young Cuban stars – slick-fielding Cienfuegos teammate Arruebarruena (who would emerge that fall as the starting national team shortstop at the World Cup matches in Panama) and Ciego de Avila outfielder Rusney Castillo (who also starred in Panama as the top Cuban newcomer and not only made the World Cup all-star squad but also led the entire IBAF tournament field in batting with a .500-plus BA).

But the other shoe was waiting to drop – quite literally in this case. It was in Rotterdam that Puig got himself into considerable hot water, being apprehended by Dutch authorities for shoplifting (tennis shoes!) while the Cuban team was on an organized team shopping tour. The Dutch officials quietly turned youngster over to Cuban team authorities and made no official announcement of the unfortunate incident; manager Roger Machado allowed his left fielder to play in the finale a day later (the game where Puig came up a home run short of hitting for the cycle). But the Cuban Federation bosses who definitely take such disciplinary infractions very seriously suspended Puig from the league when the team returned home. It was that banishment from league play for at least the 2011-12 campaign (no limit for the ban was ever made public) that led to Puig’s eventual hurried departure from Cuba.

I am quite certain that even had the suspension not occurred Puig would not have been on the Cuban national team that first went to Panama for the IBAF World Cup and then journeyed on to Mexico for the Pan American Games in October 2011. League home run champion and record holder Alfredo Despaigne was already anchored in left field, the rather superior newcomer Rusney Castillo was slated to man center, and veteran Alexei Bell was still a fixture in right. A backup fourth outfielder (and DH) was the entrenched team captain Freddie Cepeda, easily Cuba’s most talented and effective international slugger. There simply was no opening for the future Los Angeles Dodger. While Puig might have eventually found his way onto the Cuban national team, it was certainly no lock that he would ever have made it, especially given the plethora of raw young island outfield talent that now also includes switch-hitting Guillermo Heredia from Matanzas and WBC sensation Yasmani Tomás from Industriales.

It must also be noted that Yasiel Puig was no Yoenis Céspedes back in Cuba. Céspedes produced mightily for the Cuban national team (he joined Cepeda as a tournament all-star selection at the 2009 MLB Classic) and was at the front of the pack among top sluggers for several seasons in the domestic league. While Puig was an exceedingly bright but unfulfilled newcomer, Céspedes was an established National Series headliner. A closer parallel might be Dayan Viciedo who was also heavily touted as a “future can’t-miss” during a handful of seasons while playing third base in Villa Clara. Viciedo like Puig never reached widely expected national team status. Viciedo was plagued with similar off-the-field problems (the most prominent being a notable personality clash with his manager, the charismatic Victor Mesa) that may have slowed his own development. But even Viciedo had a longer and larger Cuban League track record than did Yasiel Puig. Evidence for such comparisons can be readily drawn from the composite league stats for the three headlining “defectors” provided below.
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Have no doubts about it, Puig has several things going for him. He is a definite five tool player and if he doesn’t have quite the raw power of Céspedes or Viciedo he nonetheless can outrun and out throw both. Because of the injury problems and other distractions in Cuba he cannot be measured solely but the numerical records compiled in his homeland. But three seasons in Cuba may tell us equally as much as two or three weeks in the big leagues. He may yet be the best Cuban big leaguer of the post-revolution era. At the same time he was definitely not the best slugger on the island when he left, any more than Aroldis Chapman was Cuba’s best pitcher at the time of his own departure.

The above comparisons reveal that Puig’s brief Cuban legacy does not match those of either Viciedo or Céspedes, likely his too closest parallels. And he certainly does not stand comparison with such current island sluggers as José Dariel Abreu and Alfredo Despaigne (if you have doubts about that, check in with the many MLB scouts taking notes at the Japan venues of the recent WBC). My own assessment is that another young Cuban outfielder of the same age (22) named Yasmani Tomás is an even more promising five-tool player – more power, less free swinging, equal foot speed, and an identical arm. For those who didn’t catch a glimpse of Tomás in Japan, you should definitely monitor his talents when they again go on international display next month in Rotterdam. The future is indeed bright for Puig. But let’s not get too excited after a single torrid week. Just recall Bod “Hurricane” Hazle (who hit .473 and smashed 5 of his 9 career homers over mere a three-week torrid debut stretch with the 1957 Milwaukee Braves), or Clyde Vollmer (two grand slams, 13 homers, and 30 RBI during a single month with the 1951 Boston Red Sox, and then mere oblivion), or the aforementioned Jack Merson and Mike Jacobs. Let’s wait a bit and merely watch the dust settle.

NOTE: There is one most interesting side note attached to the Yasiel Puig saga and that involves the World Port Tournament in Rotterdam. Those national team players that have left the island in recent years have rarely done so while accompanying a Cuban squad abroad. Yet all three recent instances of such disloyalty to teammates have all taken place in The Netherlands. At the 2009 WPT Rotterdam affair Aroldis Chapman abandoned his teammates before the first pitch was ever thrown; similarly, 2011 National Series rookie-of-the-year Gerardo Concepción (Industriales) repeated the same scenario in Rotterdam to years later. Puig never left the Cuban squad on the road, but his Cuban demise was triggered by the events that occurred in Rotterdam during the very same tournament that witnessed Concepción’s flight. The fourth case was infielder Aledmis Diaz who jumped ship in Haarlem last summer and is now toiling in the AAA Mexican League and still without a big league contract offer.

The loss of Gerardo Concepción was hardly a major blow for the Cuban forces: the undersized lefty was anything but impressive in the A-level Midwest League (Chicago Cubs) last summer (7.39 ERA over 12 games and more free passes issued than strikeouts recorded). Although Chapman has now emerged as a big league bullpen star, his history in Cuba before departing suggests that he would likely never have developed into a frontline pitching star back on the island. Puig was also likely headed for obscurity in his homeland after his fateful run-in with Cuban authorities. But given the brief history of young Cuban prospects playing on the road in Rotterdam, there has to be at least mild concern surrounding the top-level Cuban contingent which will again take the field next month at the showcase World Port Tournament event.

Possible End of Cuba 2013 Championships: Game # 5, Suárez vs. Siveiro Villa Clara Leads Series 3-1
Yeniet Perez, one of the inspirational figures of Villa Clara Cuba in this Final.

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Three pieces that Victor Mesa needs to stay alive in Game # 5 of the Finals of Cuba, from left to right Ariel Sánchez, José M. Fernandez and Guillermo Heredia.

[Guillermo Heredia is my personal favorite in these final games. He's a young centerfielder, built like a truck, is fast, hits for average, and has decent power. Most of all, like most Cuban outfielders has a cannon of an arm. In precision drills, fielded the ball at the centerfield wall and threw a perfect strike to home.]

June 18, 2013

Manny in Taiwan

Manny Ramirez is among the leaders is most major batting categories in Taiwan's CPBL, and his EDA Rhinos are a game out of first place (Getty Images).

By Brandon DuBreuil

TAOYUAN, Taiwan --

In December of 2000, the Boston Red Sox signed Manny Ramirez to an eight-year, $160 million contract and asked him to do what no one else had been able to do in more than 80 years: bring a World Series to the city of Boston. Four years later, Manny delivered.

Fast-forward through 13 years, four MLB teams and a slew of off-field issues, and Ramirez has been asked to come through again. This time the contract is a little smaller and the task is a little different: Manny's job is to help save Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League.

Numerous game-fixing incidents over the last decade have plagued the league, and 2012 was just about rock bottom. A once-prosperous, seven-team league was down to just four teams and an average attendance of 2,433 per game. One of those four, the Sinon Bulls, had to fold, putting the league in danger of having just three teams. The E-United Corporation then stepped in and bought the franchise -- not as a sound business investment, but simply out of goodwill. The Bulls were renamed the EDA Rhinos.

Enter Manny Ramirez. Unable to find a contract stateside after two suspensions for PED use, the man with 555 career home runs signed a short-term contract to play in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, or CPBL. It was a perfect fit: Manny needed a stage, and the EDA Rhinos needed some way of jump-starting a franchise that finished 31 games out of first place while averaging 2,086 fans in 2012.

Ramirez, one the highest-paid players in league history at $25,000 a month, was a risky move by the Rhinos, but one that has paid off handsomely. Through a quarter of the season, the 2013 EDA Rhinos are averaging more than 10,500 fans per game -- an increase of 412 percent from last year. TV ratings have jumped 221 percent. And the team that finished dead last in 2012 now finds itself just a single game out of first as it chases down the half-season championship and an automatic berth in the league playoffs.

"He has helped the team a lot," says Rhinos closer Zach Hammes, a native of Iowa and former second-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2002. "He is a big stick in the middle of the lineup. And his presence can affect how pitchers pitch the guys before and after him."

Some might question Ramirez's motivation for playing second tier professional baseball thousands of miles away from his home and family. It can't be money, seeing as Ramirez has earned over $200 million in his illustrious career. (The Rhinos did not make Ramirez himself available for comment.)

"He may have a laid back personality on the outside, but the beast of baseball in him still lives!" says Dallas Williams Jr., the Rhinos hitting coach who also worked with Ramirez as the Red Sox's first base coach back in 2003. "He has a great sense of preparation and still remains a great student of hitting and the game of baseball. His routine is pretty much the same as the other players, although he may spend a few minutes more in the batting cage."

Ramirez is enjoying a successful season as a 41-year-old designated hitter. Through 52 games played, he sits third in the league with a .352 average, second in home runs (eight), and third in runs batted in (43). He's also fourth in walks and fifth in total bases.

Has Ramirez had to make any changes as he enters his third decade of professional baseball?

"We all get older and things don't work as quick for us for all our lives so we make adjustments," Williams Jr. says. "For example, he doesn't hold his hands as high as he did and his lower half in his setup is just a bit lower now. Just a couple of minor adjustments to shorten his path to the baseball.

"My advice to him is just to swing the bat!" Williams Jr. continues. "[Coaching Manny] is not difficult because he basically knows what he needs to do, I just remind him of a couple little things."

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Three months into the CPBL season, the Ramirez signing has been a huge success, both statistically and financially. But if these were the only factors to consider when having a personality like Ramirez around, a MLB team likely would've given him the opportunity to work his way onto a roster at the league's minimum salary.

Former Cuban national team member Hinojosa defects

Cubs, Dodgers, Red Sox and Yankees among teams interested in right-handed pitcher

By Jesse Sanchez / MLB.com | 6/18/2013 4:13 P.M. ET

At least one more pitching prospect from Cuba could be on the market this summer.

Right-handed pitcher Dalier Hinojosa, former star for the Cuban national team, defected from the island in February and began petitioning Major League Baseball to become a free agent last month, according to an industry source. Hinojosa still has to be cleared by the U.S. government before he can enter into an agreement with a Major League club.

The Cubs, Dodgers, Red Sox and Yankees are among the teams that have expressed interest in the pitcher, according to the source. Hinojosa, 27, throws a fastball in the low-to-mid 90s, and his repertoire also features a slider, a curve, a two-seam fastball and a changeup.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Hinojosa has experience on Cuba's biggest stage.

Hinojosa starred for the Guantanamo Indios in the Serie Nacional, the island's top baseball league, but is largely known for throwing a seven-inning perfect game against Sri Lanka in the World University Championships in August 2010 and a five-inning perfect game against Hong Kong at the International Cup less than three months later.

In 2011, he pitched for the island's national team at the Rotterdam World Port Tournament in Holland, and suited up for the Baseball World Cup and the Pan-American Games teams. Hinojosa was also part of the country's team that toured Taiwan, China and Japan last year, and he was named to Cuba's preliminary roster for the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Last week, right-handed pitcher Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, Hinojosa's 2011 Baseball World Cup teammate, was declared a free agent. Gonzalez, who throws a fastball in the mid-90s, a changeup, a forkball and a curveball, is scheduled to throw three innings for Mexico's Toros de Tijuana in front of scouts as part of his showcase on Thursday in Tijuana.

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Villa Clara Emerges as Cuban League Champ for 2013 National Series

by Peter C. Bjarkman

Jun 19, 2013

Hollywood script writers could never have provided a more dramatic or less predictable scenario. In March veteran catcher Ariel Pestano (by consensus likely the best backstop the island has ever produced) saw his glorious 14 year tenure (1999-2012) as starting national team receiver come to a rather inglorious end when he was overlooked for a slot on the Cuban World Baseball Classic roster. Many fans and most commentators in Cuba (without any actual concrete evidence) attributed the embarrassing exclusion solely to national team manager Victor Mesa; Pestano had endured a rather stormy relationship with Mesa during the latter’s lengthy tenure as skipper of the Villa Clara ball club.

The rumored Pestano-Mesa flap was of course based mainly on speculation; there might have been numerous defensible reasons for overlooking Pestano and certainly the decision was never made Mesa alone: Pestano’s career was on the slide after 21 long and productive seasons; he was employed now mainly as a DH by his own league club; and there were plenty of other options (especially given the recent power displays of veterans Eriel Sáncez and Yosvani Peraza). But the surprise decision nonetheless created a firestorm and resulted in a premature retirement announcement by the celebrated Villa Clara star.

Two month later Ariel Pestano was back in uniform and again handling the backstop duties while a surprising Villa Clara club under manager Ramón Moré changed down the stretch to a fourth-place finish and a slot in the revamped and truncated National Series #52 playoffs. When Villa Clara upended regular-season pacesetter Cienfuegos to reach the finals, I immediately wrote in this column two weeks back that Ariel Pestano had now been handed the ultimate scenario to exact a full measure of revenge on his former charismatic skipper – now the manager of championship opponent Matanzas.

And in the end it all played out precisely that way, and with a heavy dose of Hollywood hyperbole to boot. During a string of five incredible outings by Freddy Asiel Alvarez (three in the semifinals) it was Pestano who was calling the signals behind the plate while the ace Naranjas right-hander rang up a record skein of 40-plus consecutive scoreless post-season innings. And then with the league championship finally within reach, it was none other than Ariel Pestano who drove a final nail into the Matanzas post-season coffin with his dramatic sixth-inning grand slam smash that clinched victory and brought home the trophy in Tuesday night’s National Series wrap-up game.

The championship was the first for the Naranjas in 17 long years and provides perfect bookends to Pestano’s illustrious career with the Villa Clara ball club. The Orange-clad ball club reigned as league kingpin for three consecutive seasons at the dawn of Pestano’s two-decade tenure, those titles earned under manager Pedro Jova in 1993, 1994, and 1995). Previously the same province had earned one additional crown under the Villa Clara name back in 1983 with Eduardo Martin at the helm. In more recent years the Orangemen had reached the league finals on six different occasions (five under Mesa and once more under Eduardo Martin) only to come up short on consecutive outings in 1996 and 1997, 2003 and 2004, and 2009 and 2010. Four of those final-series disappointments came at the hands of Industriales, the other two being defeats at the hands of Pinar del Río (National Series #36) and Habana Province (National Series #48).

National Series Finals Results
The true hero of the final series and clear post-season MVP choice was of course Freddy Asiel Alvarez. The talented 24-year-old right-hander – one of Cuba’s leading starting pitchers of the past couple seasons, alongside Sancti Spíritus ace Ismel Jiménez and Ciego de Avila workhorse Vladimir García – built a string of 25 scoreless frames in the semifinal series shootout with heavy-hitting Cienfuegos (three starting 8-plus-innings winning efforts), then stretched the string to 33.0 with another 8-inning whitewash in the final-round lid-lifter. The league’s 125 pitch restriction ironically prevented the Villa Clara ace from registering a single complete-game, with closer Jonder Martínez doing the ninth-inning mop-up chores on all four occasions. In Game 4 of the finals the mark was stretched to a final record 40.2 innings; it only ended in the most bizarre of fashions when a pair of infield errors in the eighth frame (with the last two batters Alvarez was allowed to face due to the pitch count regulation) opened the door on an unearned run surrendered by Martínez but credited to Freddy Asiel. The previous league post-season mark had been 29.1 frames once registered by retired Pinar del Rio stalwart Pedro Luis Lazo. The all-time regular-season standard in Cuba remains the 46.1 innings logged by Maximiliano Gutierrez (Vegueros) in National Series #17 (1978), but Alvarez does become only the fifth hurler ever to cross the 40-inning plateau in any season of Cuban League play.
Villa Clara benefitted immensely from this year’s odd precedent-breaking legislation that allowed the eight second-half qualifying teams to draft reinforcements from the league’s cellar dwellers. Both the defense and offense of Moré’s ball club enjoyed a huge boost with the pick-ups of Edilse Silva (Santiago) in right field and Yordan Mandulay (Holguín) at shortstop. But the biggest gain came when former national team hurler Jonder Marínez joined the squad from cellar-dwelling Artemisa and immediately fortified the Villa Clara starting rotation (regular season) as well as the bullpen (post-season). Posting a lame 2-4 (3.56) mark during the season’s first half with an Artemisa outfit that provided little offensive support, Martínez went 3-0, earned three saves, and dropped his ERA to 3.06 once given new life in Villa Clara. Then in the post-season he switched roles – becoming the team closer – and performed that new assignment rather brilliantly. Jonder outpaced his full-season saves total with four playoff rescues, appeared in five of six semifinals matches (7.0 innings), and saved three of the club’s four victories. In the finals the new bullpen workhorse reached the field in all five contests (8.2 innings) and not only racked up a fourth save but walked off with the title-clinching Game 6 victory. If it were not for the unsurpassed brilliance of Freddy Asiel, Jonder himself might well have merited post-season MVP honors.

This year’s league champion will now enjoy a very special and truly historic prize with a ticket punched for next winter’s Caribbean Series winter league championships in Isla Margarita, Venezuela. Cuba was an early major player in the half-century old post-winter league tournament that once flourished with all-star big leaguers but which has recently fallen on hard times due to the MLB gutting of the traditional Caribbean winter circuits. Cuba was a showcase participant in the original Caribbean Series (Phase I) between 1949-1960, hosting the inaugural meeting (won by Almendares in 1949 at what is now Latin American Stadium), capturing seven of the dozen titles, including the final five straight, and also hosting the event on seven different occasions. Cuba’s return for the first time since the banning of MLB-affiliated professional baseball in 1961 is expected to pump a healthy dose of new life into the dwindling week-long round robin. Under the Caribbean Series rules the Cuban League winner (Villa Clara) will be allowed to draft six additional league players to fill out a 28-man tournament roster. Opponents will be the 2013-14 champions from the Mexican (Mexican Pacific League), Dominican Republic, Puerto Rican and host Venezuelan winter pro circuits. What has now finally become a reality as the new spruced-up showcase for Caribbean winter baseball was only achieved with the aid of considerable lobbying from the Cuba-friendly host Venezuelans. The re-introduction of Cuba has been rumored for a number of years but has always received strong opposition in some quarters (especially in Puerto Rico) due to the lack of any kind of working relationship between the Cuban Federation and the MLB-controlled world of North American professional “organized baseball.”