The Dominican Dream: Baseball

Robinson Cano, Jose Bautista, David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Jose Reyes are only a handful of the players that make up 10% of players currently playing on MLB rosters. That does not even include the 25% of minor league players that also hail from the small island of the Dominican Republic with about 10 million people. As fellow 'The Sports Complex' contributor and study abroad classmate Alan Liang discussed his amazing and once in a lifetime experience in the Dominican Republic in yesterday's post, he touched on some prominent topics often overlooked by baseball fans. In this article, I plan to delve further into the topic of the baseball culture and how the Dominican Republic has turned into an "incubator" for MLB talent, as NYY Assistant GM Jean Afterman stated in our brief discussion during a visit to Yankees Spring Training.

My Study Abroad Reflection: Dominican Republic

Yankees Academy

Once in a lifetime opportunity. That is what I will say about this study abroad trip to Tampa and the Dominican Republic to study baseball player development.  If I had to describe this trip in one word….awesome (Dr. Giddings favorite word. No one could even count the number of times she said “that’s awesome”). I just wanted to reflect on our trip with this post as this class was my last class as an undergrad. Our first stop was in Tampa where we visited the Yankees and Phillies Spring Training facilities, George Steinbrenner Field and Bright House Field. We had tours of the facilities and although they were interesting, they were not as interesting as what we learned in the Dominican Republic in my honest opinion.

It's Almost Baseball Season...kind of

Brand New Padres Outfield (NY Post)

We are about two months away from baseball season and there have been a number of offseason moves that will impact Major League Baseball. From the likes of Jon Lester to the Cubs, Max Scherzer to the Nationals, this season will be quite an interesting one. Our hometown Phillies will likely still be one of the bottom feeders as it is probably time to blow that team up as they began to with trading Jimmy Rollins and Marlon Byrd. They still have a decent one, two punch with Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee in the rotation, but the offense will probably struggle this year. With that being said, other than the Phillies it’s time to take a look at a few teams who made big moves this offseason.

MLB Games Are Over, Business Begins

sun-sentinal.com

The Year of the Backloaded Contract. I'll admit that it doesn't quite have a ring to it, but for Giancarlo Stanton and Russell Martin it's a reality nonetheless.


On Monday, Stanton signed the biggest contract in North American professional sports history at 13 years, $325 million. Regardless of Stanton's current talent-level and potential to still grow, it surely surprised many to see the Miami Marlins -- yes, the lowly Marlins! -- open up the checkbook wider than ever before.

World Series Ratings Down Again

The World Series this year featured great stories, the kinds that don't need media manufacturing and fluff. 

The Kansas City Royals find themselves in the World Series for the first time since 1985. Madison Bumgarner is now a cult hero. The series came down to Game 7 with a runner on third base, which apparently was only the third time ever. And the Giants themselves won their third World Series in five years.

Postseason Hero: Madison Bumgarner

A calm, cool and collected Madison Bumgarner is about to earn his third World Series ring in his first five full seasons. You can see how calm and humble Madison Bumgarner is on any of the interviews he has. This was a postseason to remember for World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner. This performance by Madison Bumgarner in the postseason is something we will probably never see again. Pitching 52 and 2/3 innings for the postseason is a single postseason record as he broke the record of 48 and 1/3 innings. His earned run average in the World Series was a sizzling 0.43 making his career World Series ERA 0.25. I can assure you there were some of you who had no idea who Madison Bumgarner was before this postseason. Obviously he stepped up in the big stage winning the NLCS MVP and the World Series MVP.

Sport for Thought: The Expansion of Roc Nation Sports

It is not everyday when a rap superstar decides to become a sports agent and represent some of the biggest names in sports. When Jay Z announced the launch of Roc Nation Sports in April of 2013 with the acquisition of ex- Scott Boras client Robinson Cano, the entire sports world was shocked. At the time, not many people took the new agency seriously and thought it would turn into another Master P situation and not last. But just last week, company president Michael Yormark announced the agencies interest in expansion through the acquisition of other agencies as well as the hiring of qualified agents.

Who to Blame? Fire the GM or the Manager

The baseball playoffs are in full swing, which usually means the teams that ended up in the basement of the standings are starting to make changes to their managerial staffs. Teams this postseason shopping for a new manager include the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers, as the Arizona Diamondbacks just hired Chip Hale, who was the Athletics bench coach. Although the Rangers lost manager Ron Washington to personal reasons, the Astros let Bo Porter go for needing someone to lead them in a "new direction." But wouldn't you expect everybody to lead their teams in the same direction, a winning direction?

MLB Needs to Own Holidays

It's a popular narrative: Baseball is dying! What will we ever do without America's pastime! Never mind that Major League Baseball is pulling in record revenues, pushing a Goodellian $9 billion. Sometimes the facts are inconvenient.


But national television ratings are down relative to years past. That's not really up for debate. While the league continues to reel in billions with a "B" from television contracts, I suppose you could debate whether or not the current ratings matter or not. (Local ratings are going strong, though.)

However, there's one spot that for two days a year, the MLB could win the day. In fact, I think they should be winning these days. They need events that are ripe for appointment viewing. They need to own Independence Day and Labor Day.

MLB Postseason: Two Surprises?

The MLB postseason is right around and the corner and who would have thought with the moves the Detroit Tigers made at the deadline that the Kansas City Royals would be leading the American League Central with three weeks left in the season. Also before the season began, did anyone give the Seattle Mariners a chance to making the postseason? I sure didn’t. I laughed at Robinson Cano when he left the Yankees for the Mariners but I guess he knew what he was doing. The Mariners are in the second Wild Card spot as of today with the Tigers right behind them. I can guarantee you the first Wild Card team is scared to death if they have to face the Mariners in the lose and go home game. Felix Hernandez is the reason for that. Let’s take a look at the Royals and Mariners and their chances of making a run in the postseason.

What Happened to the Red Sox?

From first to worst; a transition that no team wants to make. But with their loss today, the Red Sox were officially eliminated from any chance of winning the American League East, and currently sit in the basement of the division. A team fueled by the spirit of "Boston Strong" in 2013, had all the charisma and talent needed to inspire the city and bring a championship to Beantown. But the 2014 team is nothing like the team of yesteryear, and has made a lot of Red Sox fans call into question if last year was a fluke.

Well Worth the Investment: Roberto Hernandez

Newly Acquired SP/RP Roberto Hernandez

On December 18, 2013 it was reported that the Phillies were indeed inking Roberto Hernandez to a 1 year deal with a base salary of $4.5 million.  Included in the deal, are several incentives of varying amounts based off the amount of innings pitched by Roberto in 2014.  Hernandez was coming off a rather poor 2013 with the Tampa Bay Rays, turning in a 4.89 ERA at seasons end.  What he did provide the Rays with was innings every 5th day in the rotation.  This kind of pitcher was sorely missed on the 2013 Phillies' squad.  Going along with Bert's ability to eat up innings all year, he has a very healthy career 57.1% ground-ball rate, a stat that plays well within the confines of hitter friendly CBP.  I'd say the Phillies' front office realized that information, along with the fact the NL and more specifically the NL East is a much easier league & division to pitch in, and decided that Hernandez was their man for the 5th spot in the 2014 rotation.  

MLB Labor Lessons in 'Ball Four'

In the current day of free agency, eye-popping contract terms and super agents like Scott Boras, it's hard -- and for some of us, not possible -- to recall a point in time where these things didn't exist. It's even harder to recall a time when the major league minimum salary was in the four figures and the reserve clause was still holding players hostage.

What do you think it was like to be a player back in those times?

Jim Bouton's Ball Four illustrates exactly what it was like. And so much more.

Sport for Thought: What exactly Tanaka's injury means...

Another day of baseball has past, and yet another MLB pitcher receives the news of an unfortunate and dreaded elbow injury. However, in the case of Masahiro Tanaka (the brand new $155 million Yankees acquisition and ace of the staff), is hoping to avoid the unavoidable...the now infamous Tommy John surgery. This season has been plagued with pitching injuries, but this instance has to be the most crucial. No team has more invested (money and on-field success) in a pitcher than the Yankees do with Japanese superstar Tanaka.

The Culture Change in Baseball is Happening

Baseball is America's pastime, and will be for the rest of its existence. And every so often, certain circumstances and events arise that cause a culture shift in the baseball community. Many more of these have happened recently, partially due to medical advances, and practices that are becoming more commonly accepted. As society progresses, all the cultures will follow suit, and baseball will not be left behind.

Memorial Day Checkpoint for MLB

 As we celebrate those who put their life on the line for us every day, the MLB got under way early today starting off with the American League, Boston Red Sox paying a visit to the National League, Atlanta Braves.  So far these two teams have been complete opposites.  Shockingly, the Red Sox, defending World Champions, have tumbled as of late and find themselves in the AL East cellar.  Meanwhile the Braves are in the midst of a classic Braves season, leading the NL East with good pitching and enough offense.

Fernandez Down: The MLB Loses Another Young Star to Injury

Earlier today, May 12, the Marlins announced that young, phenom, ace, all-star, rookie of the year winning (he is pretty good) pitcher Jose Fernandez underwent an MRI in Los Angeles.  It got worse from there.  Slowly through out the afternoon information made its way to the public that Fernandez was headed to the DL with an elbow sprain.  A couple hours later it was reported that Jose underwent a second MRI back in Florida, unfortunately confirming the worst.  Not long after that announcement, it was made known that Jose Fernandez is expected to have season ending elbow surgery.

Getting the Call: Moving Up to the Majors

Every kid who has ever played catch in their backyard has had the dream of hearing their name being played through the PA system. For many young baseball talents, that day may not be far away as baseball is the only professional sport from the big four in America that allows players to be drafted out of high school. This has allowed for talents such as Mike Trout and Bryce Harper to make their debuts at the ripe ages of twenty and nineteen, respectively. Bringing up Trout and Harper at young ages has not effected them in the slightest, as they are both All-Stars, and are the faces of their respective franchises. Here are some young players who have a shot to get the "call of their life" this year, and possibly turn their team's season around:

Under Further Review No. 5: Greg Hanlon

Every so often, a piece of writing comes your way, hits you in the face and really makes you think about human behavior and how things work. Greg Hanlon's recent story on Sports on Earth about former Major League Baseball player Chad Curtis did just that for me. I could say it's about a 10-year outfielder now behind bars on multiple counts related to sexual misconduct with minors. But that doesn't even begin to tell the horrid and uncomfortable tale. I highly suggest you take some time to read it all as Hanlon laid it out.

The Flaws of Instant Replay in Major League Baseball

The expansion of instant replay has been an interesting transition into Major League Baseball. You can follow @MLBReplays on Twitter to see every play that is being reviewed. We are about three weeks into the season and people have different opinions on instant replay. Obviously, Major League Baseball is trying to get all the correct calls, however even with replays they have still botched a few calls. John Farrell was the first manager to get ejected over arguing an overturned call. He thought there was not enough conclusive evidence to overturn the initial call. This got me thinking whether or not expanded instant replays should have been part of Major League Baseball but there is no turning back now. They implemented it and now it will be here to stay. There will definitely need to be some tweaks to the system. Here are some things that bother me about instant replay.