Cleveland Sports Forum

EAGLES CIBAEÑAS WILL DISPUTE THE TITLE!

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GUADALARA, JAL. February 7, 2018 (LMP.mx) - If the first semifinal game did not detract, the second was not left far behind. A three-run attack in the seventh inning served to lead the Dominican Republic's Eagles to a 7- 4 win over the Alamas of Granma de Cuba and, with it, became the second finalist of the 2018 Caribbean Series.

This Thursday, the Dominicans will be looking for the championship of the 2018 edition of the Caribbean Series facing the Criollos de Caguas of Puerto Rico, the game agreed to be held at 8 o'clock at night, local time.

Great game in which the Dominicans knew they had to come from behind on the board to finish achieving the result in their favor, beating the Cuban team that fought to the end.

What came to solve the sensational game tonight was the attack in the seventh inning with which the Eagles took the lead, which they would not lose.
With the score 3 - 2 in favor of Cuba, a single by Yefri Pérez and walk to Abiatal Avelino against the defeated Miguel Lahera (0-1). Gustavo Nuñez ground ball to the pitcher was fielded but the throw to first eas errant and allowed the tying to be scored.

Then, Edwin Espinal singled with one that produced the remaining two runs of the rally to place the score at 5 - 3.

Still in the eighth came two more runs for the Dominican team produced with singles by Nuñez and Junior Lake.
The Alazanes did not give up Yuniesky Maya, the starter of the Eagles gave up three runs in the bottom of the second.

A walk to Guillemo Avilés, Frederich Cepeda connected on a base hit that went deep into the right field to produce one run and the same Cepeda scored taking advantage of an error.

Then came Carlos Benítez who connected for a double, advanced to third on Frank Morejón's grounder and from there he scored the third run of the rally thanks to Raúl González's single.
Maya left the game after just one and one third inning, a period in which he admitted those three runs and four hits, giving away a walk, hitting one and notching one strike out.

Just opening the game, in the upper part of the first inning, the Eagles filled the bases without an out but Lázaro Blanco figured out the problem in a sensational way by striking out consecutively Edwin Espinal, Christian Bethancourt and Ronny Rodriguez.
From then on he imposed his pitching on the Dominicans until in the sixth they found the way.

This was after Lake opened the inning with a triple to center and with two outs, Ronny Rodriguez was responsible for connecting on a two run homer cutting the lead to 3 - 2.

The starter of the Alazanes went after five and two-thirds, two runs with five hits, leaving him without a decision. The righty gave three walks and struck out five in his work of 106 pitches.
Cuba cut into the lead in the eighth thanks to Cepeda's home run against Wirfin Obispo. The Águilas defense made four errors.

W : Ramón Ramírez (1-0)
L : Miguel Lahera (0-1)
S : Josh Judy (2)

HOME RUNS
D0M. Ronny Rodríguez (1)
CUB: Frederich Cepeda (1)

Dominican Republic:

Batting
2B : Spinal, E (2, White).
3B : Lake (1, White).
HR : Rodriguez, Ro (1, 6th inning against Blanco, 1 in base, 2 out).
TB : Avelino; Lake 4; Espinal, E 3; Perez, Y; Rodriguez, Ro 4; Bethancourt; Nunez, G 2.
RBI : Rodriguez, Ro 2 (3); Spinal, E 2 (6); Nunez, G (3); Lake (4).
2-out RBI : Rodriguez, Ro 2; Nunez, G; Lake.
Runners left on base, 2 out : Rodriguez, Ro 2; Bethancourt; Paulino, C; Perez, Y.
SAC : Nunez, G.
Team with Runners in Scoring Position : 4-16.
Team with Runners Left ion base : 11.

Base Running
SB Perez, Y (3, 2nd base to Sanchez / Morejon); Nunez, G (2, 2nd base to Sanchez / Morejon); Rodriguez, Ro (1, 2nd base to Yera / La Rosa).

Defense
E : Rodriguez, Ro (2, throw); Maya (1, throw); Espinal, E (1, missed catch); Avelino (3, throw).
DP : 3 (Avelino-Nunez, G-Espinal, E 3).

Cuba:

Batting
2B : Benitez (1, Maya).
3B : Cepeda (1, Maya).
HR : Cepeda (1, 8th inning against Bishop, 0 on base, 0 out).
TB : Benitez 3; Gonzalez, R; Cepeda 8; Gracial 2; Santos 2.
RBI : Cepeda 2 (4); Gonzalez, R (4).
Runners left on base, 2 out : Gracial 2; Morejon; Despaigne.
Team with Runners in Scoring Position : 1-11.
Team with Runners Left on base : 9.

Base Running
OIR : Santos (2nd, 2nd base by Judy / Paulino, C).

Defense
E : Martinez, R (1, throw).

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HIGHLIGHTS

https://youtu.be/4jIVw4PBn_4




CRIOLLOS DE CAGUAS BICAMPEONES OF THE CARIBBEAN SERIES

GUADALARA, JAL. February 8, 2018 (LMP.mx) - The Criollos de Caguas feel good playing in Mexico, so well so that today they can be called Champeones of the Caribbean Series. Jonathan Morales' three run homer in the seventh and Johhny Monell's two run double in the eighth served as the pair of shots that gave the representative team of Puerto Rico victory to the sound of 9 - 4 over the Eagles of the Cibao Dominican Republic in the game for the championship of the Caribbean Series 2018.

The Criollos would repeat the title achieved in Culiacán during the 2017 series, its fifth gem in history and the 16th championship of Puerto Rico in the Latin series.

The result obtained by today's champions after trailing by three runs after six innings scored eight times in the seventh and eighth innings.

Trailing 4 - 1, the Criollos armed themselves in the seventh and ambushed the Eagles on consecutive walks to Anthony Garcia and Johnny Monell with one out. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch to scored on Ruben Gotay's two run single.
Dayton Verano followed immediately with another base hit against defeated Ramon Ramirez (1-1). Bishop Wirfin came on in relief and Jonathan Morales unleashed a tremendous home run to center turning the game around and placing the cards in the Criollos hands 6 - 4 in their favor.

Already in the eighth, Puerto Rico rallied for three runs, two of them thanks to Monell's two run double that brought home Jesmuel Valentin and García to write the final score.

Adalberto Flores, Puerto Rican starter, had as lack of control just after starting the game. In the first inning he gave consecutive walks with one out to Gustavo Nuñez and Junior Lake so that after striking out Edwin Espinal, Juan Carlos Pérez stepped to the plate and his two run base hit brought two to the plate.
The Dominican team continued attacking and in the second they scored again on a walk again to Nuñez and that soon after, Lake punished him with a run producing double to left.

Flores left the game early after throwing just three full innings in which he gave up a pair of hits and three runs, striking out four and giving away three costly walks.

In the fourth, again the lack of control by the Puerto Rican pitching meant trouble. Carlos Paulino received a walk off of Joe Colon. A wild pitch put him at second and after an error by third baseman Hector Gomez, put him at third where he crossed the plate for the fourth run of his team thanks to an error by second baseman Yefri's Pérez.
The Criollos cut into the Eagles lead in the top of the third thanks to Rusney Castillo's long solo homer to the left-center field alley off of Valdez.

The attack of the Puerto Rican team in the seventh inning spoiled the good work by the Dominican starter Valdez, who left the game on a winning note after working six innings and a third on just two hits, three runs charged to his account, gave away pair of walks and struck out five .

Anthony Garcia was the MVP of the series.
The meeting tonight began with a delay of 30 minutes because of the rain, not being a factor for registering a great attendance of more than 15 thousand spectators to the home stadium.

W : Andrés Santiago (1-0)
L : Ramón Ramírez (1-1)
S : Miguel Mejía (2)

HOMERUNS
PR: Rusney Castillo (2), Jonathan Morales (1)
Dominican Republic:

Batting
2B : Perez, J 2 (3, Flowers, A, Colon); Lake (2, Flowers, A).
TB : Lake 3; Espinal, E; Perez, J 5; Nunez, G.
RBI : Perez, J 2 (4); Lake (5).
2-out RBI : Perez, J 2.
Runners left on base, 2 out : Rodriguez, Ro 2; Perez, J; Nunez, G 2; Gomez, H.
Team with Runners in Scoring Position : 1-13.
Team with Runners Left on base : 8.

Base Running
SB : Nunez, G (3, 2nd base a Flores, A / Morales).
Puerto Rico:

Batting
2B : Monell (2, Grullon).
HR : Castillo, R (2, 3rd inning against Valdes, R, 0 in base, 2 out); Morales (1, 7th entry to Bishop, 2 on base, 1 out).
TB : Morales 4; Varona; Castle, R 4; Monell 2; Gotay 2; Garcia, A; Valentin, J 2.
RBI : Castillo, R (3); Gotay 3 (4); Morales 3 (5); Monell 2 (4).
2-out RBI : Castillo, R.
Team with Runners in Scoring Position : 4-5.
Team with Runners Left on base : 2.

Defense
E : Falu (1, fielding); Vidal (1, fielding).
DP : 2 (Falu-Valentin, J-Gotay, Valentin, J-Falu-Gotay).

Anthony Garcia is the Most Valuable Player of the Caribbean Series

The Puerto Rican Lino Rivera, who led the Dominican Republic team to the final for the first time since 2013, was chosen as the best manager of this edition.

Guadalajara - Puerto Rican Anthony Garcia, right fielder of the Caguas de Puerto Rico Criollos, champions of the Caribbean Series - Guadalajara 2018, was named this Thursday as the Most Valuable Player of the competition that was played from February 2 to 8 in this city.

"We put the name of Puerto Rico on high, the key to winning was the motivation of the team, we did not decay and the spirit was always present at the important moments," Garcia told the media after the final in which they won 9-4 over the Cibaeñas Eagles of the Dominican Republic.

In addition to the Most Valuable Player, Garcia was the batting champion and was the all star right fielder, which was worth the integration.

In the all star team was lead by receiver Willians Astudillo and first baseman Balbino Fuenmayor, of the Caribes de Anzoátegui of Venezuela were also selected; the second baseman Irving Falu and the third baseman David Vidal, of the Criollos de Caguas, and the Dominican shortstop Abiatal Avelino, of the Aguilas Cibaeñas, of the Dominican Republic, were among the infielders.

In the outfield they selected Dominican left fielder Junior Lake; in the central to the Cuban Roel Santos, of the Alazanes de Granma and the Puerto Rican García in the right.

The best starting "pitcher" was the American Bryan Evans, of the Cibaeñas Eagles of the Dominican Republic, while the Mexican Isidro Márquez, of the Tomateros de Culiacán de México was designated the best relief pitcher.

Puerto Rican Lino Rivera, who led the Dominican Republic team to the Caribbean Series final for the first time since 2013, was chosen as the best manager of this edition.

Quite the amazing fete.

The Puerto Rico team, because of the hurricane, had their season cut to less than half of their winter ball season.

Their season consisted of 18 games!

They had to change the format of their playoff season using part of their regular season to do so.

They faced challenges of having to condense play limited to Thursday's and the weekend.

They had to play on fields that had to be repaired and stadiums that had to be refurbished due to the hurricane.

Add that to the fact that almost all of the games had to be played during the day because power was not yet restored another factor they had to overcome.

There was serious consideration to cancelling the season all together.

Some serious challenges had to be overcome and yet, there they are, champions. A great gift to the island's inhabitants who have suffered through a terrible ordeal and are still suffering to this day.

Just saw where the officials have in place a "suicide" hot line for people in distress.

Viva Puerto Rico.

Without Joe this folder is inactive. No word on the winter antics of our kids or the latest cheerleader pix.
Joe successfully "discovered" Jose Ramirez as a winter success. Now we live in a less-informed world.

Civ! Happy New Year!

Well! Truth be told, I thought that the last couple of years were lean winters for Cleveland Indian baseball representation across the winter leagues. Wrong! Looks like 2018-2019 just may be the worst. No top prospects representing the Indians this winter. GianPaul Gonzalez is the best of the best this winter.

Only news from winter ball this year may be on the political side.

Trump administration aims to stop professional baseball deal with Cuba:

WASHINGTON

The Trump administration is expected to take steps to block a historic agreement that would allow Cuban baseball players from joining Major League Baseball in the United States without having to defect, according to an official familiar with the discussions.

The administration wants to reverse an Obama-era ruling (What's New ?) that says the Cuban government doesn’t run the island’s professional baseball league. Such a position gave MLB space to negotiate and reach the deal with Cuban baseball and circumvent the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, who vowed to fight the deal between Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball federation, has been pressing the State Department to review the 2016 ruling and asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo personally to rule that the Cuban government controls the island baseball league and therefore nullify the deal.

“The deal between MLB and the Cuban Baseball Federation is both illegal and immoral,” Rubio told McClatchy. “This terrible one-sided agreement will only enrich the regime and further exploit the Cuban people.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation ... 95430.html

[ The agreement allowing Cuban players to join league without defecting. The agreement would provide Cuban baseball players with a safe and legal path to sign with a team in the majors. The deal, which took over two years of negotiations, will run through October 2021. It's modeled after similar agreements with leagues in Japan, Korea and Taiwan which use posting systems that allow players to transfer to MLB teams. ]

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb- ... t-to-know/

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Well, I think that if mlb wants to expand, let Cuba be an expansion team.

None of the Latin kids from the Arizona League teams in action ? Marcos Gonzalez? Aaron Bracho, who missed the summer? George Valera who missed nearly all the summer? Brayan Rocchio? etc

I like the optimism EocMcDoc

You would have to field an all-star team and even at that you would maybe have a AAA-AAAA level team. The league as a whole would be comparable to AAA in my opinion.

Can you imagine the home field advantage that Cuba and Puerto Rico would have with those cheerleaders.

Love those cheerleaders! However, I think Cuba is more reserved. I've watched a lot of Cuban baseball games but I haven't seen a cheer leading team at any of their games.

Caribbean Series might be canceled after move from Venezuela

Jan 24, 2019

Enrique Rojas

ESPNdeportes

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The member leagues of the Caribbean Professional Baseball Leagues Confederation voted on Thursday to halt plans for the 2019 Caribbean Series in Venezuela and left open a period of 24 hours to find an emergency alternate venue or cancel the event this year, a source told ESPN Deportes.

Political unrest is rocking the country, with president Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido both claiming leadership. At least a dozen people have been killed since demonstrations began Wednesday.

The Confederation postponed until Friday the announcement of the immediate future of the 61st edition of the Caribbean classic, which was originally scheduled to be held Feb. 2-8 in Barquisimeto, in northwestern Venezuela. The Series, also called the Caribbean World Series, is held each February and pits the champions of the winter tournaments of Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Panama are some of the options that were considered to organize the event as emergency venues, although according to the president of the Mexican Pacific League, his counterparts from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and his league would have declined to organize.

Meanwhile, the Mayor of Barranquilla, Colombia, Alejandro Char, told ESPN Deportes that he informed the Confederation of his willingness to assume the responsibility to organize the tournament at the Edgar Rentería Stadium in Barranquilla.

"All the options are being studied, but the possibility that the series will not be held this year, taking into account how late it is to move the tournament, is also very big. During [Thursday's] conversation, everyone agreed that right now there are no conditions in Venezuela to carry planes loaded with players and fans," said a source, who had a direct and active role in the conversation.

Moving an event that costs close to $3 million dollars to a new host country within a week of starting is not an easy task. While Panama and Colombia would have the disadvantage of not having participating teams, the Dominican Republic would only host the event if each participant agrees to cover their expenses, said the source.

That leaves Mexico as the most logical option, although it has organized the last two editions. Omar Cañizales, the president of the Mexican Pacific League, said early Thursday that he is not interested in hosting for a third consecutive year.

Meanwhile, Ana Gabriela Guevara, director of Mexico's National Commission of Physical Culture and Sports (CONADE), said that Mexico has the conditions to host the Caribbean Series if it cannot be held in Venezuela.

"There are conditions for this, but we would have to see the cost issue and if it continues for the same dates or we would have to extend the time; I have not spoken with Omar, I hope to do it [soon], but Mexico has possibilities to bring it," said Guevara during the flag ceremony of the Mexican baseball team that will seek a spot in the Pan American Games.

Cañizales thought otherwise.

"It's not Mexico, it's not Dominican [Republic] or Puerto Rico [the possible venues], the three of us said that we are not in position [to do this], but something is evaluated so that it can be done. We look for guarantees of total security for the delegations and everyone who goes," said Cañizales before the third match of the final series of the Mexican Pacific League between Obregón and Jalisco.

"We do not believe that it is healthy for our country to bring such a beautiful series for three consecutive years. We do not want to wear out the series. We like to do things well in Mexico, and we run the risk that seven or eight days after starting a Caribbean Series, we had to start working on it," Cañizales told ESPN's SC5 on Thursday.

"We are always willing to collaborate with our sister leagues, but on a personal basis, I do not think it would be convenient," Cañizales added.

The recent political events in Venezuela forced the Confederation to schedule an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the different options available to try to rescue the event. Last year, when it was also scheduled to be played in Barquisimeto for the first time, the Caribbean Series had to move to Guadalajara, Mexico, although on that occasion the decision was made several months in advance.

After the meeting on Thursday, the president of Puerto Rico's Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League, Juan A. Flores Galarza, reported details of the teleconference between the Caribbean directors.

"We spent an hour-and-a-half discussing the issue, and the decision was made to have a deadline to evaluate the possible scenarios, and at the meeting, we were given a report on the situation by the organizing committee. Within 24 hours, the final decision will be made," Flores Galarza said.

"We are preparing the team to compete in the Caribbean Series," said José Mallén Calac, general manager of the Estrellas Orientales team, which was crowned champion of the Dominican Republic league on Wednesday for the first time in 51 years.

When ESPN asked the GM if he would have any problems taking his team to Venezuela, he chose a diplomatic answer.

"That's not a decision of the teams, but of the leagues, we'll see what they decide," Calac said.

The second game of the final of the Venezuelan league between the Leones del Caracas and the Cardenales de Lara in Barquisimeto was about to be suspended, after the Caracas players left for the hotel. Later they returned and it was played after the start was delayed two hours.

Due to the uncertainty, Caracas' American pitchers Craig Stem and Logan Darnell left the country on Thursday, the club said. Other foreign players and at least one Leones coach also requested to be allowed to leave.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred recommended the personnel of the 30 MLB teams, including those from the minor leagues, refrain from traveling to Venezuela at this time.

Official Calendar of the Caribbean Series Panama 2019

Dominican Republic (Estrellas Orientales) and Puerto Rico (Cangrejeros de Santurce) will launch the tournament

on Monday, February 4, at the Rod Carew National Stadium in the capital of the Canary Islands.

Caracas.- Next we present the official calendar of the Caribbean Series 2019, which will be played at the National Stadium of Panama from February 4 to 10:

04/02
3:00 pm Rep. Dominicana vs. Puerto Rico
8:00 pm Mexico vs. Venezuela

05/02
3:00 pm Cuba vs. Mexico
8:00 pm Rep. Dominicana vs. Panama

06/02
3:00 pm Cuba vs. Venezuela
8:00 pm Panama vs. Puerto Rico

07/02
3:00 pm Mexico vs. Cuba
8:00 pm Puerto Rico vs. Dominican rep

08/02
3:00 pm Panama vs. Dominican rep
8:00 pm Venezuela vs. Mexico

09/02
3:00 pm Venezuela vs. Cuba
8:00 pm Puerto Rico vs. Panama

10/02
4:00 pm Winner Group A vs. Winner Group B

The championship of the 2018 edition was won by the Puerto Rican ninth Criollos de Caguas.

Mariano Rivera in the Caribbean Series Copa Airlines Panama 2019

Feb 03, 2019

Panama, Panama, February 3, 2019.- The organizing committee of the Caribbean Series Copa Airlines Panama 2019 informed that the opening ceremony will be on Monday, February 4, starting at 6:45 p.m. And it will have the presence of Panamanian baseball pride Mariano Rivera.

Mariano Rivera will launch the first ball prior to the Mexico vs. Venezuela game, an event that will take place around 7:00 p.m., just after the opening ceremonial ceremony.

Prior to the ceremony, at 6:00 p.m. Mariano and the Organizing Committee will give a press conference in the conference room of the 3rd. Floor of the National Stadium Rod Carew, this event will only be able to enter the specialized press accredited for the event.

The inaugural ceremony will be short and will be attended by the Caribbean Commissioner and the Presidents of the leagues representing this great event, as well as the Presidents of the 6 teams that form the base of players in each country.

With the presence of the professional champion teams of Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico and Panama, as well as MLB and Panamanian Hall of Fame Mariano Rivera, the inaugural ceremony of the Caribbean Series Copa Airlines Panama 2019, it will be an opportunity that no sports fan in Panama should miss.

Tickets for the entire event and game days are now on sale at Ticket Plus, http://www.ticketplus.com.pa , and at the stadium's box office on Monday, starting at 12:00 noon.

Game 1
Dominican Republic 3 Puerto Rico 1.
Roberto Perez 0-2 with 1 strikout.
Puerto Rico trying to defend their championship.