Cleveland Sports Forum

Carlos Zambrano ahead of schedule for his debut with the Caribbean
CARACAS .-

Carlos Zambrano and the Caribes of Anzoategui decided to move the debut of Carlos Zambrano to Sunday November 6, against the Magallanes Navigators in the Jose Bernardo Perez de Valencia.

This was announced by general manager of the tribe, Samuel Moscatel, who said that anticipation for the right-hander was high "and he is ready to go," he said.

PANAMA WINTER STATS

Calhoun keeps Magallanes in first place

Angels prospect reaches base five times, scores go-ahead run

Venezuelan Winter League

Magallanes 6, Caracas 5 (12 innings)

Former eighth-round Draft pick Kole Calhoun (Angels) went 3-for-4 with two walks and a double to help the Navegantes move 1.5 games ahead of La Guaira at the top of the Venezuelan Winter League. Calhoun scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th inning when his two-out double was followed by former Yankees prospect Marcos Vechionacci's RBI triple. Bryan LaHair (Cubs) was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two doubles, Ezequiel Carrera (Indians) recorded two hits and scored twice and second baseman Jose Altuve (Astros) was 2-for-4 with a run. Pedro Guerra (Twins) worked a perfect final inning for his first save.

Margarita 13, Zulia 2

Catcher Henry Blanco (D-backs) went 2-for-3 with a first-inning grand slam, and former Major Leaguer Sean Burroughs was 2-for-3 with three RBIs, a triple, a walk and three runs scored to help the last-place Bravos to their fifth victory of the year. Ernesto Mejia (Braves) slugged his second homer of the season and plated both of the Aguilas' runs. Darin Mastroianni (Blue Jays) singled and scored a run in the losing effort, and he has now crossed the plate at least once in each of his last seven games.
Kole Calhoun hit .324 with 22 homers and 99 RBIs for Inland Empire this year. (Fernando Gutierrez/MiLB.com )

Aragua 10, La Guaira 8

Shortstop Luis Hernandez, who appeared in 121 games with the Buffalo Bisons in 2011, went 3-for-5 with an RBI double and two runs scored to lead the Tigres (8-7) to victory. Rich Rundles (Cardinals) struck out three batters in the eighth inning to earn his second win of the season. Aragua starter Sergio Perez (Astros) surrendered five runs on five hits and four walks while fanning two over 2 2/3 frames after allowing two runs in his first three starts combined. Former big league outfielder Gregor Blanco fell a triple shy of the cycle for second-place La Guaira, who entered the day half a game back of the league lead. Oscar Salazar was 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI.

Caribes 5, Lara 0

Venezuelan Leaguer Ramon Ramirez scattered two hits and a walk over seven shutout innings to help Anzoategui improve to 6-9. Leadoff hitter Jeremy Moore (Angels) and shortstop Luis Nunez (Yankees) each reached base twice and plated a run, and Mike Wilson (Mariners) scored teo runs in the victory. Brayan Villarreal (Tigers) struck out two batters in a scoreless eighth frame for the Caribes to lower his ERA to 6.43. Left-hander Luis Avilan (Braves) took the loss for Lara, yielding one run on five hits and four walks over 2 2/3 innings. He was previously unscored upon in his first two starts.

Dominican Winter League

Licey 4, Cibao 1

Hector Noesi (Yankees) allowed one unearned run on four hits and a walk while striking out five batters over six innings, and the Tigres bullpen allowed just one base runner the rest of the way. Victor Marte (Cardinals) completed the victory, tossing a perfect ninth inning to record his fourth save of the year. Lenny DiNardo (A's) lost his second Dominican Winter League contest, surrendering three runs -- one earned -- on six hits and two walks over 5 1/3 frames. He struck out seven in the defeat.

Este 3, Aguilas 1

Right fielder Ricardo Nanita (Blue Jays) reached base three times and scored once, and Jose Constanza (Braves) added two hits out of the No. 9 spot to raise his average to .467 as the Toros improved to 8-4 and remained in a tie for first place. Right-hander Chris Leroux (Pirates) allowed an unearned run on five hits and a walk while fanning three batters over six frames to earn his first win. Aguilas southpaw Greg Smith (Red Sox) tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings in his Dominican Winter League debut, but did not factor in the decision.

Escogido 7, Estrellas 4

Former Major Leaguer Freddy Guzman went 4-for-4 with a walk and an RBI and Braves shortstop Diory Hernandez smacked a two-run homer to carry the Leones past Estrellas. Graham Godfrey (A's) allowed a run on two hits and a walk over five innings in his third start. Third baseman Luis Jimenez (Angles) hammered two solo homers, his third and fourth of the year, but starter Ryan Edell (Phillies) gave up four runs on eight hits over five innings in a losing cause.

Mexican Pacific Winter League

Aguilas 4, Mayos 1

Veteran first baseman Mike Jacobs slugged a three-run homer to lead first-place Mexicali. Former Major Leaguer Jorge Campillo allowed a run on five hits and struck over six innings to improve to 3-1 and Oscar Villareal allowed a hit in the ninth to earn his fifth save. Matt Young (Braves) was 2-for-3 in a losing effort for Navojoa.

Caneros 7, Venados 1

Former Indians' prospect Jose Chavez was 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored for Mochis. Saul Soto slugged a three-run homer and infielder Jermaine Curtis (Cardinals) smacked a pair of hits and swiped two bases for the Caneros. Kevin Howard (Blue Jays) was 3-for-4 with an RBI for Mazatlan.

Yaquis 8, Tomateros 5

Former Major Leaguer Victor Diaz slugged his fifth homer of the season, a three-run blast to lead Obregon. Doug Clark was 2-for3 with a two-run homer and two runs scored while Luis Durango (Astros) reached base four times and scored a run. Cole Gillespie (D-backs) had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and drove in a run for Culiacan.

Algodoneros 5, Naranjeros 3

Jose Rodriguez slugged a key two-run homer to help Guasave snap its four-game losing streak. Garrett Parcell (Marlins) earned his first win of the season after fanning one in a perfect inning of relief and Gabriel Gutierrez had three hits and a run scored. Minor League veteran Val Majewski (Rangers) hit a two-run homer for Hermosillo.

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Dominican Winter League

•Jerad Head (RF, Tigres del Licey): 1-for-4, K. Head is getting a chance to play every day this fall and is hitting .310 in 12 games. He's slowly moving up the offensive ladder and is hitting cleanup.

Venezuelan Winter League

•Ezequiel Carrera (CF, Navegantes del Magellanes): 2-for-5, 2 R, 2B, RBI, K. Carrera’s third game this fall and he continues to show his top of the order ability getting on base two times and scoring two times.

•Hector Rondon (RP, Leones del Caracas): 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R/ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 HR. Forget that he gave up a run. It’s great to see Rondon being stretched out to 2.1 innings and throwing 22 of his 33 pitches for strikes.

•Luis Valuena (2B, Cardenales de Lara): 0-for-4, K. Valbuena continues to be the everyday 2B for his team and has done okay this fall hitting .250/.357/.438.

Raul Padron (1B Leones del Caracas): 1-for-2, 1W, 1R.

Argenis Reyes 2B Estrellas de Oriente: .292, 0-for-1, 1W.

Another day washed out in Panama.

Magallanes Takes the First Game of the Storied Rivalry

The Magallanes Navigators weathered its worst defensive night but still carried the day in the duel that faced their arch rivals, the Lions of Caracas by a score of 6x5.

Proverb says that the bad days only last 24 hours. It was a good night for Jose Altuve and Darwin Perez. Much less for Carlos Garcia and Leones' Josh Satin. The imported one of the Lions of Caracas has not brought good news for Leones. The fans whistle him, grabbed him and sentenced him perhaps because he was fired. It must surely be the talk of the Leones fans.

Caraca lost the first of the series against arch-rivals the Magallanes Navigators 6x5 in twelve episodes. An exciting game in the last part, but atypical and unusual in its first eight innings. Eleven defensive errors, six of them by the Navigantes who helped the Leones of Caracas to stay alive throughout the game and forcing the extra innings.

Kole Calhoun does not have a good batting average but has been quietly an important piece to the Navigantes. Yesterday stolen bases, reached base three times and hit two sngles negotiated with two runs scored.

The reinforcement opened with double in the twelfth inning and would score on a hit by the prospect of the New York Mets Vechionacci with two outs. "I was looking to put the ball in play, especially because I made an error in the ninth inning that let them tie the ballgame," said the slugger.

The pilot of Magallanes stressed that he had never seen a Caracas-Magallanes ballgame played in these conditions. "It was a strange game, but it was strange emotionally. We did everything to lose but we won. So this the game, it's baseball. Luck was on our side. "
Daniel Mayora attempts to place the tag on the speedy Ezequiel Carrera / Photos: David Garcia

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Nice Grab By Adonis García

Josh Satin is in the worst slump of his career

Do not get the expected concentration and will serve as a learning curve in Venezuelan baseball
The foreign gardener showed deficiencies on the defensive on Friday at La Guaira Sharks

CARACAS -.

Josh Satin had never gone through a big slump like the one he is currently facing. Imported by the Leones , a man who entered the country under the label of the Mets' top prospect in New York, could not meet the expectations that were surrounding him.

"It's hard because I had never faced a situation like this," said Satin, who arrived yesterday with a batting average of .158. "You get very anxious and this means that not all the time you swing at good pitches. I've been working hard but I could not perform as well as was expected of me, "he said.

Brian McCarn, assistant hitting coach of the Leones agreed that the problem has to do with the mental aspect. "For Josh, one must keep in mind that a player who has hit in all the leagues in which it has been participating in and being unable to do it here, you can lose your confidence" said the coach.

Satin, who has one. .864 OPS lifetime minor league average will pass through the Venezuelan League and will leave with a learning experience "I think I learned a lot here, and I'll know how to react when something happens to me in the majors. At this point I'll keep working hard to begin to deliver what we all had hoped for and what the Leones expect of me, "said Satin.

In Friday's game, Satin committed two errors in left field, something he attributes to the lack of playing the position. "In the minors I did not play in the outfield and the Mets sent me to work on that," he said. "I do not think it has affected my play in a stadium, on the contrary, that's always exciting."

Lions on verge of Korean Series title

By Yi Whan-woo

Game 5 of the Korean Series will take place in Jamsil, Seoul today as the Samsung Lions seek a decisive win against the SK Wyverns to clinch their fourth championship title.

The Lions are on the brink of clinching the best-of-seven round, having taken a 3-1 lead with an 8-4 victory Saturday on the Wyverns’ home turf in Incheon.

While each squad relied on their bullpen in the first three games, Game 4 saw the batters being able to draw out hits from the relievers, especially those from the Wyverns.

For this reason, the teams are looking to their respective starters to do their job. The Lions will go with Cha Woo-chan, who has a 10-6 record with a .625 ERA in 148 2/3 innings as the team’s ace this season.

The Wyverns will turn to American import, Brian Gordon, appearing as a starter for the first time in the playoffs having been used as a relief pitcher so far.

The former Major League player joined the club in July and has a 3.81 ERA with six wins and four losses in 75 2/3 innings, not the most remarkable figures.

He has, however, proved to be reliable in the playoffs, taking the mound in five games with a 1.59 ERA and two wins while losing once.

Observers predict much of the Wyverns’ fate may well will depend on just how rested Gordon is. The regular season’s fourth-ranked Wyverns bullpen has begun to show signs of fatigue, enduring nine games in the previous rounds; four against the third-placed Kia Tigers and five against the runner-up Lotte Giants.

In Game 4, Wyverns starter Kim Kwang-hyun allowed three runs in three innings but the relievers could not contain the Lions’ batters.

The Wyverns managed to build scores to trail 5-4 in the seventh, thanks to a three-run homer by Park Jae-sang. The team’s third reliever, Park Hee-soo, then allowed the Lions to extend their lead in the eighth with two runs, including a four-ball walk with the bases loaded. Lee Seung-ho also failed as he gave up a run to make the final score of 8-4.

Seibu manager Watanabe hails gutsy win in Game 1

SAPPORO, Oct. 29 (21:04) Kyodo

Seibu Lions manager Hisanobu Watanabe praised his players for
staging a late comeback to pull out a 5-2, 11-inning win over the
Nippon Ham Fighters in Game 1 of the first stage of the Pacific
League Climax Series on Saturday.

''I'm glad we took the opener,'' Watanabe said. ''We battled
back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the ninth. The players did
exactly what they did late in the regular season -- never give up
until the game is over.''

After staying at or near the bottom of the standings for most of
the regular season, the Lions began their surge in September and
overtook the Orix Buffaloes on Oct. 18, the very last day, for third
place and the one remaining playoff berth.

''Today we didn't want them to take the lead, especially because
(Yu) Darvish was pitching for them,'' Watanabe said. ''(Hideaki)
Wakui wasn't good or bad. But I guess he was a bit nervous because he
couldn't allow them to score first. It would've been all over if we
had given up the third run.''

A Jose Fernandez RBI single pulled the Lions within 2-1 in the
seventh. The former major leaguer also kept the team alive in the
ninth with a two-out single that put runners on the corners for
Hideto Asamura, who followed with a game-tying single.

''The big key for all my at-bats was (Hiroyuki) Nakajima,''
Fernandez said. ''He had great at-bats in those situations. He hit a
double off Darvish (in the seventh). He kept us obviously closer.
We're trying to do not too much (at the plate). We're just try to
stay short and make something happen.''

Nakajima led off the seventh with a double to right-center and
scored on Fernandez's single to right, his second hit of the day off
Darvish.

Nakajima also doubled in the 11th to help the team load the
bases with no outs for Fernandez.

''We played a lot of must-win games after the All-Star break,''
Nakajima said. ''We've been through a lot this year. That experience
has helped us play a game like today's. We roughed up Darvish on
opening day, but we let him pitch a complete-game shutout late in the
season. We couldn't let him do that again today. We barely made the
playoffs, so we want to take advantage of this great opportunity.''

Miyamoto, Balentien deliver as Swallows win Game 1 of CLCS

TOKYO, Oct. 29 (22:16) Kyodo

Shinya Miyamoto had a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the sixth
inning and Vladimir Balentien followed with a RBI single as the
Yakult Swallows defeated the Yomiuri Giants 3-2 in Game 1 in the
first stage of the Central League Climax Series on Saturday.

In the teams' first meeting since Sept. 20, the second-place
Swallows prevailed over the third-place Giants to move one win from
setting up a meeting against the CL champion Chunichi Dragons in the
final stage of the Climax Series.

Shohei Tateyama and Kyohei Muranaka provided the tag-team to
keep the Giants bats flailing in the wind practically all night and
Lim Yong Chang closed out for the final out.

Tateyama, who went 2-0 with one shutout in three starts against
Yomiuri in 2011, had an 11-pitch battle against Hayato Sakamoto
before getting the leadoff batter to ground out to start off the game.

Hisayoshi Chono, who won the CL batting title with a .316
average, then created a chance with a two-out single to center before
Shinnosuke Abe walked to put runners at first and second, but
Tateyama induced a comebacker to Alex Ramirez to end the threat.

But Ramirez reached on a one-out infield single and somehow made
it to third on his tortoise-like legs when Michihiro Ogasawara
singled to right and came home on Yoshinobu Takahashi's RBI single
the same direction for a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning.

Yakult's offense came together in the fifth with a two-out
single by Ryosuke Morioka followed by Ryoji Aikawa's single to
center, placing runners at first and second, and pinch-hitter Atsushi
Fujimoto singled in the tying run before Morioka was called out
sliding in at third to end the inning.

The Swallows got their next chance in the sixth and didn't miss.

Hiroyasu Tanaka had a one-out infield single and Norichika Aoki,
who normally bats in the leadoff spot but was in the No. 3 hole,
reached on an error by first baseman Ogasawara before a free pass was
issued to Kazuhiro Hatakeyama to load the bases.

Miyamoto then lofted a flyball to center for the go-ahead and
Balentien added insurance with his bloop single to right.

Ogasawara injured himself but stayed in the game on Aoki's
groundball when he bobbled the ball in a failed attempt to get the
force out at second and ended up spraining his wrist on the bag when
he turned his attention to Aoki, who was safe at first.

Tateyama was lifted after allowing one run and six hits in five
innings. He struck out seven and walked two. Muranaka was credited
with the win after allowing one run in 3-2/3 innings.

Prospective CL Rookie of the Year Hirokazu Sawamura, who had a
losing 2-4 mark with a 2.32 ERA in six starts against Yakult, also
went five innings on one-hit ball, striking out five and walking none.

The final stage of the Climax Series gets under way next
Wednesday. Chunichi gets an automatic one-win lead and home field
advantage in the final stage.

Lions rally again to win Climax Series 1st stage vs F's

SAPPORO, Oct. 30 (17:31) Kyodo

The Seibu Lions advanced to the final stage of the Pacific
League Climax Series with an 8-1 rout of the Nippon Ham Fighters on
Sunday.

The Lions, who finished the regular season in third place,
defeated the second-place Fighters two games to none in the first
stage at Sapporo Dome.

Seibu took the lead for good at 2-1 in the eighth inning when
Nippon Ham's five-time Golden Glove-winning second baseman Kensuke
Tanaka misplayed a two-out line drive by Takeya Nakamura, allowing
Shogo Akiyama to score from second.

Seibu then broke open the game with a six-run ninth that
included Takuya Hara's two-run double and Nakamura's three-run homer.

Micah Hoffpauir homered to right-center to give Nippon Ham a 1-0
lead in the fourth. Seibu answered right back in the fifth as rookie
Akiyama delivered a two-out RBI single.

Veteran right-hander Fumiya Nishiguchi held Nippon Ham to one
run in seven-plus innings.

In Game 1 on Saturday, Nippon Ham ace Yu Darvish threw seven
innings of one-run ball and left with a 2-1 lead, but Seibu battled
back against the Fighters bullpen to tie the score in the ninth and
win 5-1 in 11 innings.

The Lions will face the PL champion Softbank Hawks in the final
stage beginning Thursday for a place in the Japan Series.

Rookie Akiyama shines as Lions eliminate F's from playoffs

SAPPORO, Oct. 30 (21:23) Kyodo

While Seibu Lions designated hitter Jose Fernandez was named the
best-performing player of the first stage of the Pacific League
Climax Series, rookie Shogo Akiyama also played a big role in the
team's victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters.

In Game 2 on Sunday, Akiyama hit a tying single in the fifth
inning and helped create a six-run ninth that broke open a one-run
game at Sapporo Dome.

''Asa (Hideto Asamura) set the stage for me in the fifth,''
Akiyama said. ''I wanted to come through in that situation. Things
get going if guys at the bottom of the lineup like me step up. We
have great players at the top and the middle of the order.''

The 23-year-old Akiyama tied the game at 1-1 against Nippon Ham
left-hander Masaru Takeda after the 20-year-old Asamura led off the
fifth with a base hit and stole second.

''I just try to get on base for (leadoff man Takumi)
Kuriyama-san,'' Akiyama continued. ''There are many players on our
team fighting for the three outfield positions. The manager doesn't
use me unless I make an impact on the field. I'll keep trying to
contribute to the team.''

Akiyama also singled to put runners on the corners with two outs
in the ninth before Nippon Ham reliever Hirotoshi Masui threw a wild
pitch to give Seibu a 3-1 lead.

Takuya Hara then added a two-run double and PL home run king
Takeya Nakamura put the icing on the cake with a three-run homer over
the center-field wall.

Akiyama, the Lions' third-round pick in the 2010 draft out of
Hachinohe University, was in the starting lineup on the April 12
opening day and played in 110 games in the regular season, batting
.232 with one home run and 21 RBIs.

Fernandez, meanwhile, went 6-for-10 in the series with three
RBIs, all of them in Game 1.

Utsumi deals, Abe homers as Giants grab Game 2 of CLCS

TOKYO, Oct. 30 (22:12) Kyodo

Left-hander Tetsuya Utsumi threw six solid innings and
Shinnosuke Abe homered as the Yomiuri Giants beat the Yakult Swallows
6-2 in Game 2 of the first stage of Central League Climax Series,
evening the best-of-three contest at one game apiece on Sunday.

The third-place Giants got late insurance from pinch-hitter
Yoshinobu Takahashi's bases-clearing double after bullpen struggles
in the middle innings, forcing a Game 3 against the second-place
Swallows on Monday night to determine who will play the CL champion
Chunichi Dragons in the final stage of the Climax Series.

Utsumi, who matched the league lead with 18 wins in 2011,
yielded one run and three hits, striking out four and walking two.

Abe, who was 2-for-4 with no homers against Yakult starter
Masanori Ishikawa during the regular season, put his team on the
scoreboard with a two-out solo blast off the lefty to right-center in
the fourth.

The Giants struck again in the fifth.

Yoshitomo Tani hit a one-out double to center and advanced to
third on Shigeki Furuki's line drive infield single, which had
deflected off Ishikawa's glove, placing runners at the corners.

Utsumi then benefited from his own cause, laying down the
perfect suicide squeeze along the first-base line to bring home Tani
from third for a 2-0 lead at Jingu Stadium.

But Yakult answered in the bottom half of the inning when CL
home run king Vladimir Balentien drew a leadoff walk and reached
third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout before pinch-hitter Ryohei
Kawamoto singled up the middle to cut Yomiuri's lead in half.

Right-fielder Tani made a fine defensive play when he dove to
catch Kazuhiro Hatakeyama's flyball to stop a runner from advancing
from first with one out in the sixth.

The Swallows moved a runner into scoring position at second with
one out after Balentien drew his second consecutive leadoff walk in
the seventh, but relievers Shun Tono and Tetsuya Yamaguchi escaped
the jam.

Yakult had the Swallows' faithful leaning on the edge of their
seats again in the eighth after putting runners at the corners with
two outs, but Yuya Kubo was called in to get Shinya Miyamoto to
ground out to shortstop to end the threat.

The Giants put the game to sleep in a four-run ninth, loading
the bases on two hits and a walk against closer Lim Yong Chang.
Takahashi then doubled into the corner in left with two outs to make
it a done deal. Takayuki Terauchi added an RBI single that added
insult to injury.

Ishikawa, who went 1-2 in four starts against Yomiuri this year,
was chased after giving up two runs in 4-2/3 innings.

Yakult won Game 1 on Saturday night 3-2, backed by the tag-team
of starter Shohei Tateyama and Kyohei Muranaka, who limited the
damage to two runs in 8-2/3 innings before Lim got the final out of
the game.

The final stage of the Climax Series begins at Nagoya Dome on
Wednesday. Chunichi gets an automatic one-win lead and home field
advantage.

MLB All-Stars arrive in Taiwan for expo series

By Doug Miller / MLB.com | 10/30/11 10:36 AM ET

TAIPEI, Taiwan --

The stars of Major League Baseball might have been a bit jet-lagged when they arrived in Taipei on Sunday evening for the beginning of the 2011 Taiwan All-Star Series, but the passion of the local fans and the media on hand to welcome them gave the players a boost of adrenaline that will likely last all week.

As soon as the team of Major League All-Stars cleared customs and walked through the Taoyuan International Airport concourse, they were received by adoring fans who snapped photographs, took video and cheered them on -- often chanting their names.

This continued at the Grand Hyatt in Taipei City, where a contingent that included the mayor and local baseball officials made it through a lobby packed with fans to a ballroom where the official greeting news conference took place.

Manager Bruce Bochy, sluggers Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson and reliever LaTroy Hawkins answered questions graciously. MLB Asia vice president Jim Small and MLB Players Association representative Tim Slavin also presented Washington Nationals jerseys emblazoned with the uniform No. 100 to local officials to honor the 100th anniversary of the Grand Old Game in Taiwan.

"After all these years waiting, we finally have Major League All-Stars in Taiwan, where we are so passionate," said Peng Cheng-hao, vice president of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association, in his opening statements. And soon after he spoke, the mayor of New Taipei City, Dr. Eric Liluan Chu, admitted to being a bit starstruck by the two Bronx Bombers in attendance, Granderson and Cano.

"I am the No. 1 fan of MLB because I lived in New York for seven years, so of course I am a fan of the Yankees," he said. "Baseball is the national sport of Taiwan. Everyone in Taiwan likes baseball very much. ... So today is a new start for Taiwan."

And for the players, it's a new experience.

Cano said he heard great things about Taiwan from his father, former pitcher Jose Cano, who played for a Taiwanese team called the Wei Chuan Dragons in 1998 and '99. However, young Robbie never made it all the way across the globe from his native Dominican Republic to watch his dad in action.

"It's an honor to be here," Robinson Cano said. "I'm looking forward to playing against the best players in Taiwan. Also it's a dream come true. My dad played here for 11 months. Too bad I didn't make it here when I was young, but I'm happy now to be here and looking forward to the series."

Cano's sentiments were shared by Granderson, who played with Taiwanese pitcher Fu-Te Ni while a member of the Detroit Tigers, and said he still keeps the personalized glove with his name in Mandarin that Ni gave him as a gift. Granderson said he and Cano wanted to be a part of this trip when they first heard about it. Now, he can't wait to get started.

"We're looking forward to experiencing everything that Taiwan has to offer -- from the food to the culture to the great baseball," Granderson said.

And that's what Bochy promised. He admitted that it's been virtually impossible to scout the Chinese Taipei national team, which will be the All-Stars' opponent for five games played between Tuesday and Sunday in three different cities -- New Taipei City (XinZhuang Stadium) on Tuesday, Taichung (Intercontinental Stadium) on Thursday and Friday and Kaohsiung (Chengcing Lake Stadium) on Saturday and Sunday.

But Bochy said certain elements of baseball play know matter where you are in the world.

"In our game, we have so much video available and scouts, but we don't have very much info right now," Bochy said. "We'll work out tomorrow.

"This game's pretty simple, though. You go out there and you play hard, hopefully make your pitches, play defense and get your timely hits. That's what it always comes down to. Sometimes you get too much information. I know I've got orders from my general manager to bring back two outfielders. We need some help there in San Francisco. So I'll be scouting here, too."

As for Hawkins, expect him to scout the local noodle parlors, hot-pot shops and night markets for fresh local cuisine.

"Everyone talks about the food here and I like to eat, so that's one of the things I'm going to do. Stinky tofu. I want to try that," Hawkins said.

Taiwan baseball: It's not just for kids anymore

After years of Little League dominance, country producing pros

By Doug Miller / MLB.com | 10/30/11 11:13 AM ET

TAIPEI, Taiwan --

Baseball in Taiwan used to be all about Little League. Now it's big league.

A team of stars from Major League Baseball descended on this island off the coast of China on Sunday and was welcomed by joyous fans eager to take in the five games of the 2011 Taiwan All-Star Series. Turns out the players were also reminded of how far Taiwan has come in the progression of the Grand Old Game around the world.

"Baseball has been very, very important to Taiwan," MLB Asia vice president Jim Small said, "and Taiwan has been very important to Major League Baseball."

In other words, it's come a long way since March 1906, when the first official game was played in Taipei City, and since 1931, when the Chiayi School of Agriculture and Forestry team from the southern part of the country defeated a club from northern Taiwan, thereby expanding baseball to all parts of the island and qualifying for a tournament that would end with the Taiwanese team placing second in a field of over 600 teams from Japan. Taiwan was a baseball power for good.

That carried over into Little League, where Taiwan became a dominant force, winning 17 Little League World Series crowns from 1969-96, and pro ball wasn't far behind.

Taiwan won a bronze medal in baseball at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and took silver in Barcelona in 1992. That success led to the creation of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in 1989, which led to the later creation of the Taiwan Major League (TML).

It's been a gradual climb since. Taiwan hosted the 2001 IBAF Baseball World Cup and took bronze, and the viability of that tournament sparked a merger between the CPBL, TML and Naluman Corporation in 2003 that led to one governing body for the sport on the island.

In 2002, the Majors saw its first Taiwanese player when slugger Chen Chin-Feng signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and it's continued with the big league appearances of Fu-Te Ni, Hong Chih Kuo, and the most accomplished Taiwan native to ever lace up spikes: Washington Nationals pitcher Chien-Ming Wang, who posted 19-win sesaons for the Yankees in '06 and '07.

Wang has faced a long list of arm injuries since then, but he finished up last year strong and should be a factor in the Nats' rotation in 2012. First, however, he'll toe the slab for the Chinese Taipei team against some of his old MLB buddies, including Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, who said he'll be happy to play against the man he was originally called up with to the Majors in 2005.

"He was a great teammate," Cano said. "He was a great player, but he was a better person. It's good to see him back again on the field and healthy. I hope he continues to stay healthy, because if he stays healthy, I know he can put up some good numbers."