Skip to main content

Serie Del Caribe es Presente

By
The culmination of the baseball winter leagues is upon us. Beginning this afternoon, the annual Caribbean (World) Series will pit the league champions from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. Mexico & Puerto Rico will face off, while Venezuela faces the DR on the first of six days for the series. Venezuela's Margarita Island will play host to the event.

After months of highlights, classic games and hot stove coverage...LIVE baseball will return to television today. All games of the Caribbean Series will be broadcast on MLB Network. Those stuck at work or away from their television will be able to follow each game via MLB.com's game day feature.

Not sure who to root for? How about the Leones from the DR? Recent Phillies pitching acquisition Jason Standridge is on the Dominican pitching staff. In 4 games this winter, Standridge has been excellent, going 2-1 with a 1.09 ERA and 21 strike outs in 24 2/3 innings pitched. Switch hitting outfielder Freddy Guzman is also on the Dominican squad. Guzman is batting .259 with 4 RBI and 7 steals in 14 games this winter. Standridge and Guzman were both signed this offseason to increase depth in the minors. Former Phillies infielder Juan Bell is also the hitting coach for the Dominican champs. Also on the Dominican Republic team are former Phillie, and current Metropolitan, Nelson Figueroa as well as Marlins utility man Emilio Bonifacio.

In a bit of a twist, the series allows the champions who enter the Caribbean Series an opportunity to reenforce their rosters with additions who weren't actually on their roster during their nation's season. One addition that the Dominican team has made is Pablo Ozuna, who was a 2009 Phillies minor leaguer and illegal drug offender/suspendee. Ozuna is the expected starter at second base for the DR team.

Also in the series, former Phillies Chris Roberson and Karim Garcia are on the roster of the Mexico champions. And the championship team from Venezuela also features some names familiar to Phils phans...Eric Junge and Yoel Hernandez, who were each Phillies pitchers in 2002 and 2007 respectively. Lastly, former Phillies minor leaguer & Trenton Thunder slugger and current Blue Jay Randy Ruiz is on the Puerto Rican team's roster.

The Dominican team is typically favored, as they have walked away with 17 total Caribbean Series titles, 11 since 1990. Tune in daily, today through Sunday, February 7th for all the winter baseball action. Mitch Williams will be on the commentary for MLB Network throughout the series.

----------------------------------

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE ! It'll make you feel good.


BallHype: hype it up!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

By
Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...
5 comments
Read more

Jason Knapp Q&A

By
PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...
5 comments
Read more

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

By
**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...
5 comments
Read more