3/13 WBC: Dom Rep (Odalis Perez) v Cuba (?) 1pm CT-ESPN

[Laura]

Cuba is 1-0 in Pool 2 play after beating Venezuala yesterday.

 

The D.R. is 0-1 after losing to Puerto Rico yesterday.

 

Team Cuba Preview

 

The Cubans are riding high after outlasting Johan Santana on Sunday and going on to beat Venezuela, the reigning Carribean Series champions. It was a stirring rebound from last Friday's 12-2 loss to Puerto Rico.

 

"People were saying that perhaps Cuba was not ready ... to play professional players or Major League players," manager Higinio Velez said through an interpreter. "But you forget, Cuba is a world and Olympic champion, so we're used to playing against all these Major League baseball players. You just have to wait and see what we're able to do. You just have to be patient and you will see Cuba do what it does best, which is play ball."

 

Velez did not name a scheduled starting pitcher for the game. Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Oliver Perez is the anticipated starter for the Dominican Republic.

 

Team Domincan Republic Preview

 

"This is like the real kind of Caribbean Series, having Cuba here, and I think like everybody was thinking or anticipating, the four teams here are going to have good baseball," Dominican Republic manager Manny Acta said. "It's going to be easy to keep the intensity levels up with our players because the three games are obviously going to be good games."

 

The intensity level will be high, along with the caliber of play. Acta admits he does not know a lot about Cuba, but is aware the team likes to bunt and play fundamental baseball. Acta also knows that Cuba is also aggressive on the bases and has not shown any signs of being intimidated by the big-league hitters in the competition.

 

"We had an advance scout following the series, the first round here, and we have some information on them," Acta said. "[Yulieski] Gourriel has been well-documented as one of the top hitters in this tournament. We are going to go about our business depending on what our advance scout has to tell us."

[rocket]

Cuba's uniform is ridiculous

[Laura]

They look like they're playing in sweatpants.

 

They also don't wear any sunglasses.

 

No score to the 3rd.

[Jon]

They are, but I'm guessing MLB designed them to deemphasize the blue since the DR and Puerto Rico use the same colors.

 

Now that's an airmail. Talk about costly. And he had Alou running.

[stitchface]

4-0 DR in the 3rd.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Cuba's uniform is ridiculous

 

Looks like a slow pitch softball team that takes themselves too seriously

[Laura]

2 Dominicans HBP'd so far -- Pujols and Beltre

 

6-0 D.R. in the 5th - Ortiz HR

Edited March 13, 2006 by Laura

[Transmogrified Tiger]

David Ortiz just hit a ball out of the stadium. And it wasn't even close.

[Jon]

475 feet? More?

 

Bat flip of about 30 feet, though.

[Laura]

Ha, everyone in the bleachers turns around and watches the ball sail away.

[Jon]

How many times has Hershiser said "head hunting" so far?

 

And did anyone else hear him compare these fans to, and I quote, the fans of "St. Louis, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia?"

[goonys evil twin]

And did anyone else hear him compare these fans to, and I quote, the fans of "St. Louis, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia?"

 

In what regard?

[da bears]

I just want to know why the Twins ever let Ortiz go. I'm sure thats probably one of the greatest mistakes that organization has ever made.

[Jon]

And did anyone else hear him compare these fans to, and I quote, the fans of "St. Louis, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia?"

 

In what regard?

Basically talking about the excitement and intensity. I think it was around the time when the action stopped as the security guards took away the Castro signs and t-shirts.

[goonys evil twin]

And did anyone else hear him compare these fans to, and I quote, the fans of "St. Louis, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia?"

 

In what regard?

Basically talking about the excitement and intensity. I think it was around the time when the action stopped as the security guards took away the Castro signs and t-shirts.

 

Are you saying you find that comparison unjustified?

[Jon]

And did anyone else hear him compare these fans to, and I quote, the fans of "St. Louis, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia?"

 

In what regard?

Basically talking about the excitement and intensity. I think it was around the time when the action stopped as the security guards took away the Castro signs and t-shirts.

 

Are you saying you find that comparison unjustified?

Yeah. The environment is not like your average major league game. But it was such a strange combination of teams. Dodger fans are a tad more laid back than Phillies fans, who don't exactly match these fans, either. And with everything that was going on in the stands, it didn't really remind me of Busch Stadium. It also goes against what a lot of the ESPN commentators have been saying since the beginning of the WBC.

[goonys evil twin]

I just want to know why the Twins ever let Ortiz go. I'm sure thats probably one of the greatest mistakes that organization has ever made.

 

Short answer: They are cheap.

 

Slightly longer answer: They didn't appreciate his value as a hitter.

 

 

At the time they let him go he was a 26 year old role player with decent numbers but nothing special. He was going to get a significant raise in 2003 due to arbitration, and Minnesota decided to go elsewhere. They didn't want to pay him more than a million in 2003, which was a terrible business and baseball move. They were paying a lot of other guys a lot more money, and ended up paying the Doug Mientkiewicz more than Ortiz got.

 

It's unfair to say you could predict Ortiz would go from where he was at 26 to where he was at 29 (last season), but it's not unfair to say Minnesota did a poor job of evaluating that situation.

[goonys evil twin]

Yeah. The environment is not like your average major league game. But it was such a strange combination of teams. Dodger fans are a tad more laid back than Phillies fans, who don't exactly match these fans, either. And with everything that was going on in the stands, it didn't really remind me of Busch Stadium. It also goes against what a lot of the ESPN commentators have been saying since the beginning of the WBC.

 

When you say it's not like your average major league game, are you saying it's more intense than your average major league game? There are only a couple games here in this series. And they are do or die. Put those major league teams in do or die situations and you'll be getting an intense environment from the fans.

 

I think the ESPN commentators have been full of BS on two counts so far. 1) That all these foreign players do such a better job on fundamentals than American born players. 2) That the fans have been comparatively more festive than American fans.

 

The baseball has been incredibly sloppy, with no better focus on fundamentals than major league games. And the fans, have been no more intense than your average playoff crowd, which is what you should compare these games to in the majors and not a mundane regular season game. Frankly, I'd say I've seen much more excitement from fans in regular season games against many rivals.

[RyCubsFan]

I just want to know why the Twins ever let Ortiz go. I'm sure thats probably one of the greatest mistakes that organization has ever made.

 

Short answer: They are cheap.

 

Slightly longer answer: They didn't appreciate his value as a hitter.

 

 

At the time they let him go he was a 26 year old role player with decent numbers but nothing special. He was going to get a significant raise in 2003 due to arbitration, and Minnesota decided to go elsewhere. They didn't want to pay him more than a million in 2003, which was a terrible business and baseball move. They were paying a lot of other guys a lot more money, and ended up paying the Doug Mientkiewicz more than Ortiz got.

 

It's unfair to say you could predict Ortiz would go from where he was at 26 to where he was at 29 (last season), but it's not unfair to say Minnesota did a poor job of evaluating that situation.

 

 

Add Seattle to the list of teams of that did a poor job of evaluating Ortiz. After all, they sent him to the Twins as a PTBNL for Dave Hollins.

[RyCubsFan]

Yeah. The environment is not like your average major league game. But it was such a strange combination of teams. Dodger fans are a tad more laid back than Phillies fans, who don't exactly match these fans, either. And with everything that was going on in the stands, it didn't really remind me of Busch Stadium. It also goes against what a lot of the ESPN commentators have been saying since the beginning of the WBC.

 

When you say it's not like your average major league game, are you saying it's more intense than your average major league game? There are only a couple games here in this series. And they are do or die. Put those major league teams in do or die situations and you'll be getting an intense environment from the fans.

 

I think the ESPN commentators have been full of BS on two counts so far. 1) That all these foreign players do such a better job on fundamentals than American born players. 2) That the fans have been comparatively more festive than American fans.

 

The baseball has been incredibly sloppy, with no better focus on fundamentals than major league games. And the fans, have been no more intense than your average playoff crowd, which is what you should compare these games to in the majors and not a mundane regular season game. Frankly, I'd say I've seen much more excitement from fans in regular season games against many rivals.

 

 

Well, the fans do have drums! Drums are cool!

[stitchface]

Ortiz up bases juiced - I'd say the excitement is pretty high right now.

[stitchface]

hahaha - Ortiz walks on 5 pitches. Alou grounds to SS on the first pitch. some things never change.

[Jon]

Yeah. The environment is not like your average major league game. But it was such a strange combination of teams. Dodger fans are a tad more laid back than Phillies fans, who don't exactly match these fans, either. And with everything that was going on in the stands, it didn't really remind me of Busch Stadium. It also goes against what a lot of the ESPN commentators have been saying since the beginning of the WBC.

 

When you say it's not like your average major league game, are you saying it's more intense than your average major league game? There are only a couple games here in this series. And they are do or die. Put those major league teams in do or die situations and you'll be getting an intense environment from the fans.

 

I think the ESPN commentators have been full of BS on two counts so far. 1) That all these foreign players do such a better job on fundamentals than American born players. 2) That the fans have been comparatively more festive than American fans.

 

The baseball has been incredibly sloppy, with no better focus on fundamentals than major league games. And the fans, have been no more intense than your average playoff crowd, which is what you should compare these games to in the majors and not a mundane regular season game. Frankly, I'd say I've seen much more excitement from fans in regular season games against many rivals.

I agree that it would be better to compare them in the playoffs, but comparing them to the average fan was an odd comment given what was going on. And like I said, it was probably more the combination of teams that was even weirder. It could have been a lot more accurate if he had chosen different teams and said it at any other time.

 

 

The DR/Venezuela rematch should be pretty entertaining. Either the winner will advance or Venezuela may have a chance to play spoiler.

 

Nice job on the HR trot, Paulino.

[stitchface]

Cuba with two in the ninth and still batting - now 7-3. these runs could be very costly if they end up in a 3 way tie.

[goonys evil twin]

Cuba with two in the ninth and still batting - now 7-3. these runs could be very costly if they end up in a 3 way tie.

 

And Alou looking as clumsy as ever.