World Baseball Today

WORLD BASEBALL TODAY Sunday, February 8, 2009

VENEZUELAN TEAM WINS 2009 CARIBBEAN SERIES The Aragua Tigres of Venezuela have won their first Caribbean Series championship after going 5-1 in the week-long tournament in Mexicali, Mexico. The Tigres reeled off five straight wins out the gate at the Series, clinching the title Friday night with a 5-3 win over Mexico’s Mazatlan Venados for Venezuela’s seventh CS crown. Third baseman Luis Maza led the Tigres regulars with a .300 batting average as the team hit just .235. Aragua had only one homer in the Series, but it was a big one. Hector Gimenez’ bomb gave the Tigres a 1-0 win in 11 innings over Mazatlan Tuesday. The pitching was better, as Tim Harikkala shut out Mazatlan over six innings in his only start, and closer Francisco Butto had four saves in as many chances for manager Buddy Bailey’s team.

GONZALEZ BROS LEAD MEX PAC TITLISTS TO SECOND PLACE It was the Gonzalez Brothers Show at the Caribbean Series for the Mazatlan Venados, who finished second at 3-3. Adrian Gonzalez, a National League All-Star for San Diego in 2008, led all batters with three homers and eight RBIs. All three homers came Wednesday night against Licey in a wild 12-9 Venados win. Edgar Gonzalez, who hit .274 in 111 games playing next to his brother in San Diego last year, won the CS batting race with a .457 mark. Mazatlan shortstop Heber Gomez added a solid .400 average to the Mexican lineup. Among Mazatlan pitchers, Mexican veteran Walter Silva was outstanding Monday night against Ponce, shutting out the Lions on three hits over seven innings. Although Silva lost the Series finale to Licey Saturday, he ended up with a 2.25 ERA and 13 Ks in 12 frames.

LACK OF OFFENSE DOOMS PUERTO RICAN CHAMPS The Ponce Leones finished the Caribbean Series with a pair of wins after combining with past Puerto Rico League champions to lose eleven straight games dating back to 2006. Ponce scored just six runs over their first four games this year, all losses, before notching three against Licey on Friday and nine more against Aragua on Saturday to end up at 2-4. Luis Figueroa batted .389, Carlos Rivera hit .360 and Andy Gonzalez finished at .333, but Puerto Rico League MVP Jorge Padilla batted just .182 while MLB veteran catcher Raul Casanova hit .091 (going 1 for 11). Pitcher Josue Matos hurled five shutout innings in Ponce’s 3-0 whitewashing of Licey Friday, while Giancarlo Alvarado won Saturday’s game over Aragua. Alvarado struck out 16 batters in 11.2 innings for manager Eduardo Perez’ club.

DOMINICAN KINGPINS FAIL TO DEFEND 2008 CS TITLE The Goddess of Fortune has finally stopped smiling upon the Licey Tigres. One year after the Tigres won the Caribbean Series after being the number two team from the host Dominican Republic due to no winterball in Puerto Rico, Licey barely slipped in the Dominican League playoffs this winter before winning their 20th pennant in the posteason. Things went sour early for the defending champs, as the Tigres lost four of their first five games and were never in contention. Licey was not without some good performances, however. Catcher Ronny Paulino led Dominican batters by hitting .381 with two homers and five RBIs. Pitcher Alfredo Simon pitched shutout ball over seven innings to win his only start. AGREEMENT REACHED TO SELL PADRES San Diego Padres owner John Moores has signed a contract to sell the National League team to former player agent Jeff Moorad. Moorad is currently a general partner in the Arizona Diamondbacks MLB team. According to Moores, Moorad and his partnership group will have five years to buy out controlling interest in the Padres. Until then, Moores will retain control of the San Diego franchise. He bought the team in late 1994 for $82 million. Last year, Forbes Magazine valued the Padres at $385 million, 19th among the 30 Major League teams. According to MLB rules, no person can own more than five percent in two franchises. Moorad owns about 12 percent in the Diamondbacks, and thus will have to divest himself of most of his holdings in the Phoenix club.

DODGERS TO HOST MEXICAN LEAGUE GAME IN MAY The Los Angeles Dodgers will become the first MLB team to host a regular season Mexican League game in its home ballpark this season. Dodger Stadium will be the scene of a May 16 game between the Mexico City Diablos Rojos and Monterrey Sultanes. The game is being staged with support from the Los Angeles Angels, Minor League Baseball and both the Mexican and California Leagues. Former Dodgers ace Fernando Valenzuela was in Mexicali Thursday for a press conference announcing “La Serie Azul,” as was Jaime Jarrin, the 1998 Ford Frick Award winner who has announced Dodgers games in Spanish on the radio since 1959. Valenzuela is one of 17 Mexican natives to have suited up for the Dodgers over the years. The team has long had ties to baseball south of the border, having played exhibition games in both Mexico City and Monterrey (including a two-game series against the Diablos Rojos in 1964).

JAYS SIGN JAPANESE VET PITCHER TO MINOR LEAGUE DEAL Longtime Hiroshima Carp pitcher Ken Takahashi has signed a one-year minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. The deal includes an invitation for Takahashi to attend the Jays’ major league spring training camp later this month. The 39-year-old left-hander was 8-5 with a 3.50 ERA over 31 appearances in Japan’s Central League last season for Hiroshima. Takahashi broke in with the Carp in 1995 and went on to compile a career record of 66-87 with a 4.23 ERA over 14 seasons. He racked up 1.049 strikeouts in 1,429 innings. Takahashi’s best year was in 2001, when he went 10- 8 with 132 whiffs in 173 innings.

CUBS SPRING CAMP TO INCLUDE FOUR KOREAN PROSPECTS Asia is becoming more and more attractive in the never-ending search for baseball prospects, especially South Korea. The country’s surge in recent years to baseball power status has big league organizations taking a closer look at young Korean players, including the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs will have four Koreans in camp when spring training opens this month in Arizona. One of them, pitcher Rhee Dae-Eun, was 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA in ten starts last year for Chicago’s Class A affiliate in Peoria. Rhee will be joined by fellow pitcher Jung Su- Min, infielder Lee Hak-Ju and outfielder Ha Jae-Hoon. Cubs director of international scouting Paul Weaver says one trait stands out: “They’ll go out and do plyometrics for one hour before they start practice. The Koreans work hard.”

JAPANESE SPRING TRAINING GETS UNDERWAY Baseball season starts earlier in Japan than in the USA. While American big leaguers are still making plans and packing their gear for spring training in Arizona or Florida, camp is already underway in the Land of the Rising Sun. Training camp opened February 1 for all 12 Japanese teams and, like spring anywhere, people are concentrating on different things. Among managers, Seibu Lions skipper Hisanobu Watanabe is hoping for an encore of last year’s Japan Series title, Yomiuri manager Tatsunori Hara will be splitting his attention between the Giants and managing Japan’s World Baseball Classic team next month, and rookie manager Koji Akiyama is taking over the Softbank Hawks after the legendary Sadaharu Oh stepped down for health reasons after last season. Among the players, Nippon Ham pitcher Yu Darvish started spring training by throwing 125 pitches in the Fighters’ bullpen, Hanshin Tigers first baseman Takahiro Arai took indoor batting practice for an hour, and Lotte Marines second baseman Tadahito Iguchi marked his return to Japanese baseball after four MLB seasons by doing some extra weight training. Exhibition games in Japan begin February 28, with the regular season starting April 3.

TAIWAN CHAMPIONS RE-SIGN KAO FOR 2009 The defending Chinese Professional Baseball League champion Uni-President Lions have signed first baseman Kao Kuo-ching to a one-year contract that will make him one of the highest-paid hitters in Taiwan. Kao will make the equivalent of $10,400US per month. The 30-year-old Kao batted .332 with seven homers for the Lions last season following a 2007 campaign in which he was named the league’s Most Valuable Player after hitting .358 with 20 homers and 89 RBIs. He helped lead the Lions to a first place finish in the regular season with a 67-33 record before defeating the Brother Elephants in the Taiwan Series.

EDUARDO RIOS SIGNS WITH ITALIAN TEAM Minor league veteran infielder Eduardo Rios is joining Telemarket Rimini of the Italian League this year. Rios spent four seasons in the Los Angeles Dodgers system before embarking on a long stint in the Mexican League. He led the Liga in homers with 33 in 2006. Rios also spent some time playing in Korea. In 2008, Rios split the season between the Lincoln Saltdogs and Brockton Rox of the, with a combined .275 average, 11 homers and 52 RBIs. He spent this winter in his native Venezuela playing for the Lara Cardenales, batting .244. The 36-year-old first baseman is expected to add power to a Rimini lineup that only managed 18 homers as a team in 2007.

CAIMANES COP SECOND CONSECUTIVE COLOMBIAN CROWN The Barranquilla Caimanes defeated the Monteria Leones in seven games to win the Colombian League Championship Series for their second straight pennant. Barranquilla trailed 3 games to 2 in the series before winning Games Six and Seven by scores of 9-2 and 10-7, respectively. Barranquilla, Monteria and the Cartagena Tigres all had 4-4 records in the opening stage round-robin, but the Tigres were bounced from the finals because they finished third behind the Caimanes and Leones in the regular season. Monteria’s Reynaldo Rodriguez won the Colombian batting title with a .378 average, while Caratgena pitcher Ryan Knippschild led the league with five wins and a 2.30 ERA.