Every now and again it hits you, you know, those moments where you remember you're blessed to be alive and taking in every detail carefully and consciously.  In my younger days, I would often find those moments in that slightly blurred walk from the barstool to the bathroom, the silence surrounding the urinal in comparison to the din of the barroom.  For some reason these would be the moments where I was most grateful for my life, when I would reflect on the people I was sharing the evening with, the grandiosity and mystery of it all, and smile sheepishly at my reflection in the plastic of the poster frame hanging over the pisser.  

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To be honest, it was one of the more boring baseball games I have ever seen.  The normal chaos that is watching Dominican baseball was surprisingly absent.  The stadium was maybe 4/5 empty and the whistles and air-horns were few and far between, the Philly Fanatic looking blue mascot of the Licey Tigres was MIA, and even the cheerleaders with their short shorts and provocative gyrations were no where to be seen.

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It has been a particularly complicated year.  Checking the date of my last fanpost, it strikes me that the world has made quite a few rotations in its annual slow-steady progression around the sun since I last shared anything signficant on this site.  It is interesting to how the blog community works; I still read this page everyday, follow the team, and more or less keep up with the conversations on the site, but once you slip out of the conversation it can be challening to wiggle back in again.

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I have just returned home from my local colmado where I witnessed an interesting moment in the Reds' offseason: The people's wagon, Edinson Vólquez, on the mound against the one and only Niño Destructor, Juan Francisco, during a crucial game in the DR winter league round robin playoffs.  The following is a dramatic interpretation of what may or may not have occured within the minds of V-dub and el Niño during thier encounter in the 4th inning of a 2-1 game with one out and Nelson Cruz on third:

(Note: beer was also consumed during this event)

The Wagon: Pues... looks like Nelson cruz just rocked a hanging breaking ball off the wall to knock in a run.  Debo no throw the ball belt high in the middle of the plate to good hitters so much.

Niño Destructor: Soy el niño destructor.  I eat kids for breakfast.  Roar.

The Wagon: ¡Eat this! (throws a fastball low and away that Francisco swings at and manages to pop up off the third base line.  The third basemen sprints toward the stands in shallow left field and the ball drops just out of his reach)

Niño Destructor: Soy el niño destructor.  You can't throw your fastball by me.  Roar.

The Wagon:  ¿Que lo que Niño Destructor? ¿Te gusta another fastball? (throws a fastball, this time belt high but in on the hands.  Francisco swings, fighting the pitch off and what seems at first to be a harmless liner foul over the dugout sails deep into the outfield landing in the bullpen less than 15 feet outside of the left field foul pole)

Niño Destructor: Soy el niño destructor. ¡Put one of those sobre el plato and we will see what happens!  Roar.

The Wagon: Hmmm.  Vamos a change it up a bit.  If he wants a fastball lets give something different. (throws the classic changeup and Juan is way out and front.  He gets a good swing on it but lines it foul well outside of the first base line). 

Niño Destructor: Soy el niño destructor. No puedes fool me with a change up. I am all over that la proxima time. Roar.

The Wagon:  This kid could stand to take a pitch or two. Tal vez if I just throw him garbage I can strike him out sin problema.

Niño Destructor: Soy el niño destructor. ! I like to swing! ! Jim Rice never brought me no pheasant took a walk! Roar.

The Wagon: Vamos a ver, entonces.  (Throws a breaking ball at the dirt that is completely unhittable.  Francisco swings anyway and misses but the ball skirts under the catcher's glove)

Niño Destructor: ¡Coño! Soy el niño destructor and now I have to try and run really rapido to first base.  Maybe I shouldn't eat so many chimis en la calle.  Roar. (The ball rebounds neatly off the backstop and the catcher scoops and fires to first getting Juan easily)

The Wagon: ¿You dare joder con the wagon of the people? ¿Haven't you seen Slyde's graphs of my stuff? .000 porciento de los batters hit that pitch last year.  Ya tú sabes.

Niño Destructor: Soy el niño destructor.  You haven't seen the last of me. ¡Nos vemos en Sarasota en Febrero! Roar.

From the Diaro Libre last Tuesday, November 18:

SANTO DOMINGO. El comité organizador del equipo dominicano que participará en el Clásico Mundial 2009 presentó este lunes a Mario Soto como el nuevo coach de pitcheo de la novena quisqueyana en sustitución de William Castro, quien fue designado en las mismas funciones por los Cerveceros de Milwaukee en Grandes Ligas.

Hablando para los periodistas en presencia del doctor Leonardo Matos Berrido, presidente de Lidom, el gerente general Stanley Javier resaltó que tanto él como Felipe Rojas Alou se sienten muy contentos porque saben el tipo de persona que es Mario Soto.

"Tanto Felipe como yo estamos muy contentos porque conocemos a Mario y sabemos la persona que es", destacó Javier.

Aprovechó para anunciar que fueron integrados, en adición a los ya existentes, nuevos coaches entre los que cuentan Luis Pujols, Luis Silverio, Mariano Duncan, Nelson Silverio y Miguel García. Anteriormente se dieron a conocer los nombres de Alfredo Griffin y Junior Noboa. 

Dijo que otros nombres aún no pueden salir a la luz pública debido a que los reglamentos del Clásico así lo impiden, aunque resaltó que jugadores como Robinson Canó, Santiago Casillas, Edinson Vólquez y Aramis Ramírez firmaron el acuerdo de participación.

El recién designado dio las gracias a todos los miembros del comité organizador y de manera especial a Felipe y Stanley, con quienes dijo tener magníficas relaciones.

SANTO DOMING.  The organizing committee of the Dominican team that will participate in the 2009 World Baseball Classic announced yesterday former pitcher Mario Soto will be their team's pitching coach.  Soto will replace William Castro who was recently named the pitching coach of the Milwaukee Brewers.  The general manager of the Dominican team, Stanley Javier said that both he and team manager, Felipe Rojas Alou are very content with this selection because the understand the value of Soto.

"Both Felipe and I are very happy because we know Mario well and we know the kind of person he is," said Stanley.  Stanley also announced the selection of other new coaches who will join the existing managers, including Luis Pujols, Luis Silverio, Mariano Duncan, Nelsion Silverio, and Miguel García.   Alfredo Griffin and Junior Noboa had already been neamed as coaches on the team.

Stanley mentioned that other names of participants still have not been announced to the public due to the rules of the Classic, but he did highlight that players like Robinson Canó, Santiago Casillas Edinson Vólquez, and Aramis Ramiraz have signed up to play.

Soto thanked the organizing committee of the Dominican team, and gave special thanks to Stanley and Alou.  Dating back to their years as players, Soto said he has a great relationship with both Stanley and Alou.  "I give thanks a everyone who has made it possible for me to replace Castro on the team," said soto. "Everyone is involved the Classic and for that reason the Cincinnati Reds organization didn't have any problem with granting me permission to participate." 

Could this be the experience/recognition that Mario Soto needs to become the next Reds' pitching coach?  After his work with Vólquez and Cueto, and his general ability to teach his devastating backdoor slider ("puerta atras") shouldn't he be a pitching coach somewhere, preferably with the Reds?

How do we feel about Vólquez participating in the Classic?  Weren't a lot of players, especially pitchers, kind of wiped out last time around going straight into the season after the competition?

In other Dominican news, the governement here is trying to push through a a youth emplyment act that is very similar to the law that led to so much unrest in France in 2006.  It is a law that basically says that folks between 18-30 who are enterng their first formal job, should have limited rights including the right to be fired without warning or reason, and also are exempt from severence pain.  The idea is to stimulate the economy by making young people more exploitable, I mean, hirable.  

Here in Justicia Global we are currently working on mobilizing young folks to take action against the law which is now in the senate after gaining approval in the house.  Our goal is to use this event as an entrance point for young people into the work of creating a broader, more long term movement towards more fundamental socio-economic change.

Things seem to be getting pretty bad in terms of unemployent in the States.  What is the feeling like there these days?

Ok, so I am started to really getting into thinking about what is the best statistical measure of offensive ability.

I realize I had a very mistaken impression of slugging.  I thought walks were included, and that slugging measured the average number of bases traveled by the batter with each plate appearance.  That, of course, is not slugging at all.  Slugging is the average bases traveled with each AB, only taking into account hits.

Which then brought me to why I was thinking wrongly about slugging: it seems like a better measure of offensive ability would be to measure (TB + BB)/(AB + BB) .  If I am thinking correctly, this stat would give you the average number of bases a batter travels with each plate appearance on a scale of 0 to 4.  Not sure if it already exists with another name, but for the sake of this post, I will call it a batter's "milage."

The challenge to this all seems to me how much to value getting on base and how much to value traveling more bases on average with each plate appearance.  For example, a player that hits a home run every ten PA but gets out the other 9 would have a score of .4 on the "milage" scale.  Another player, who gets 3 singles and a walk every ten PA, also has a .4 score on the same scale.  Which player is better?  According to OPS the first player scores .500  (.100 obp + .400 slg) and the second .733 (.400 obp + .333 slg). 

Part of me thinks that what matters most is averaging more bases per plate appearance, partly because we know for a fact that the first player scored a run where the second player may or may not have.  On the other hand, we know for a fact that the first player only scored one run, where the second player may have scored up to four.  Similarly, we know that the first player drove in one run for sure, while the second player may not have driven in anyone.  The second player, however, could have driven in up to 7 runners though (3 hits with runners on second and third, and a walk with the bases loaded).

I am actually learning a lot as I write and think about this now, and am starting to see the complexity of measuring individual stats in a team game.  This was Bill James' struggle too right with the RC formula?

Speaking of James and RC, I was looking at definitions of Runs Created and not quite understanding why basic RC, (H + BB)TB/(AB +BB), is calculated the way it is, and not the way that I did "milage" above.  Can someone explain that or point me towards a good simple explanation of the RC stat?

This is me diving head first into this world so please excuse the obvious ignorances to the history of a lot of these things.  I probably should just read that book, what's it called?  Money Ball? 

I also make no claims at doing math well.  I studied peace in college.

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool.

Golaso. Goooooooooooooooooooooool.   Gol. Gol. Gol.  Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol.Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol. Gol.  Goooooooooool.

Turkey 1, Germany 0.

An attempt at starting an open thread.

I have been in the Cincinnati for a few weeks now and the weather here has been incredible.  I have enjoyed seeing the family, and friends, and have spent many evenings playing soccer late into the night with random folks at UC.

In other big new for me, I just had the letter I wrote to Naomi Klein published in online journal.  I spoke a bit about this in one of our earlier conversations about sabremetrics and the global economy.  You can find the letter here, with an introduction from the Director of the  Peace Education Center at Columbia University, Betty Reardon,  here.

Not to steal the Turtle's thunder about big news from the Dominican Republic, but I saw this in Hoy online this morning.  We are getting to a point with Volquez , knock on madero, where this is not a stretch at all:

Vólquez en ruta para el Cy Young

El dominicano es favorito. El abridor de los Rojos de Cincinnati, Edinson Vólquez ha tenido un gran desempeño en la temporada del 2008 y es el principal candidato al premio Cy Young

Escrito por: DIONISIO SOLDEVILA

d.soldevila@hoy.com.do
Llegando ya casi a la mitad de la temporada del 2008, podría comenzarse a hablar de proyecciones.

Y no solo de lo que serían números individuales sino también para los posibles premios a repartirse en las diferentes ligas.

Y para el Cy Young de la Liga Nacional aparece el nombre de un hombre que hasta el momento ha logrado asombrar por la perfección que ha registrado en el montículo jornada tras jornada.

Ese es el derecho dominicano Edinson Vólquez, quien lanzando con los Rojos de Cincinnati ha presentado unas credenciales de un peso específico tal que ha llenado los ojos de todo el mundo del béisbol.

 Y lo más grande de todo es que en la actualidad, domina dos de las tres categorías que son tomadas en consideración para la Triple Corona de pitcheo.

Con una efectividad de 1.71 carreras limpias por cada nueve entradas, Vólquez supera por casi una carrera completa (0.83) a su más cercano rival en dicho encasillado, que es Tim Lincecum, de los Gigantes de San Francisco.

Igualmente, Vólquez encabeza la Liga Nacional en hombres abanicados, con 110, también superando a Lincecum, siete ponches.

Su labor con los decepcionantes Rojos de Cincinnati ha sido uno de los pocos puntos luminosos que ha tenido la organización de la División Central en el viejo circuito del béisbol de las mayores.

De hecho, cabe señalar que de los 35 triunfos que han conseguido los Rojos este año, 10 de ellos han sido conseguidos por el lanzador que lleva el apodo de “Pequeño Pedro” por el aprecio que profesa hacia el tres veces ganador del premio Cy Young, Pedro Martínez, hoy de los Mets de Nueva York.

Y aunque tiene rivales con nombres de mucho peso como el ya ganador del Cy Young, Brandon Webb, el caso del mismo Lincecum y también del venezolano Johan Santana, Vólquez tiene buenas probabilidades de unirse a su ídolo y compatriota Martínez como los únicos quisqueyanos en toda la historia en conquistar un premio Cy Young, algo que no es nada fácil y muy valioso.

Las claves

1. Mejor efectividad

Edinson Vólquez encabeza la Liga Nacional en efectividad con un promedio de 1.71.

2. Mejor en ponches

  Con 110 rivales abanicados, Vólquez encabeza el viejo circuito en esta categoría de poder.

3. Duro en victorias

 Solo Brandon Webb (11) supera en triunfos en lo que va del año al dominicano Vólquez, quien tiene posibilidades de repuntar.

4. Rivales fuertes

 Vólquez tiene rivales de calidad en la competencia por el premio, pero a pesar de ello sus números se imponen hasta el momento.

5. Salidas de calidad

 Vólquez ha sido el  abridor que más aperturas de calidad ha registrado en la temporada. De hecho, todas sus salidas lo han sido.

Brandon Webb

El abridor de los Diamondbacks es líder de triunfos, con 11.

Tim Lincecum

Segundo en efectividad (2.54) y ponches (103) en la Nacional.

Johan Santana

Tiene 7-5 y 3.04 de efectividad, pero ha sido sólido.

Ryan Dempster

Tiene 9-2 y 2.63 de efectividad y sus Cubs están en la cima.

Ben Sheets

Apenas una derrota, con ocho triunfos y 2.74 de efectividad.

Carlos Zambrano

Suma 8-3 y 3.13 con los líderes de la División Central.

Tim Hudson

Acumula 8-5 y 2.96 de efectividad en lo que va de año.

 

Now the English:

Vólquez en route for Cy Young

The Dominican is the favorite.  The Reds’ starter, Edinson Vólquez has performed very well in the 2008 season and is the principal candidate for the Cy Young award.

Written by: Dionisio Soldevila d.soldevila@hoy.com.do

Arriving at almost the halfway point of the 2008 season, we can begin to speak about projections.

And not just about individual numbers but also about the possible awards that are given in the different leagues.

With regards to the Cy Young award in the National League, a person's name pops up whose perfection on the mound start after start has been amazing.

He is the right handed Dominican, Edinson Vólquez, who, pitching with the Cincinnati Reds, has presented credentials so weighty that he has caught the attention of the entire baseball world.

Most importantly, he currently leads two of the three categories that of the pitching Triple Crown.

With and ERA of 1.71 for every nine innings, Vólquez leads his closest rival, Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants, by almost an entire earned run (.81)

Similarly, Vólquez leads the National League in strike outs with 110, also better than Lincecum by seven.

His work with the disappointing Reds has been one of the few bright spots that this organization in the Central Division has had this major league season.

In fact, it should be a sign that of the 35 wins the Reds have this year, 10 have been made by the pitcher who goes by the name “Little Pedro” due to his admiration for the 3 time Cy Young award winner, Pedro Martínez, who now plays for the New York Mets.

And even though he has rivals with bigger names than him like the Cy Young winner, Brandon Webb, or Lincecum, or the Venezuelan Johan Santana, he has a good chance of uniting with his idol and fellow countryman, Martínez, as the only Dominicans in all of history to win a Cy Young, something not easy and very valiant.

Key Points

1. Lowest ERA

Vólquez leads the National league with an ERA of 1.71.

2. Most Strike Outs

  With 110 punch outs, Vólquez leads the major leagues.

3. Strong In Games Won

Only Brandon Webb (11) is better in number of wins, but the way the year is going, Vólquez has a shot at passing him

4. Strong Competition

 Vólquez is competing with quality rivals for the award, but up to now his overall numbers are better than them all.

5. Quality Starts

 Vólquez has been the starter with the most quality starts this season.  In fact, all of his starts have been quality starts.

Brandon Webb

The Diamondbacks starter is the leader in wins with 11.

Tim Lincecum

Second in ERA (2.54) and strikeouts (103) in the National League.

Johan Santana

7-5 with a 3.04 ERA, but has been solid.

Ryan Dempster

Is 9-2 with a 2.63 ERA and his Cubs are in first place.

Ben Sheets

Just one loss with eight victories and a 2.74 ERA.

Carlos Zambrano

8-3 record and a 3.13 ERA with the division leading cubs.

Tim Hudson

8-5 on the year with a 2.96 ERA.

 

On Wednesday I started my trek from Santo Domingo back to Cincinnati.  I flew through Miami into Richmond, VA where a friend came down from DC (yup, BDuk the friend with the sweet potato butter who knows Ben Olsen) to pick me up.  I had a chance to catch up with him for a day and a half and watch a little bit of the Euro 2008.  Who'da thunk- Croatia and Turkey...

My family swung through DC to pick me up and we headed to Norfolk Virginia to the wedding of my sister.  I say sister not in the traditional sense; this was a student of my mom's at Woodward high school who's family was still Nigeria and was not doing well living with an uncle here in Cincinnati.  So one day when I wa about 13, there was another member of our family.  Anyway, she got married this past weekend.  It was great to be with my entire family again after 6 months apart.

So I  am home in CIncinnati for a few weeks after an amazing year of learning to become a community organizer.  Learning about the subtle and not so subtle differences between being an "activist," or being "pc," or being an an academic with a "critical" perspective, and being an organizer of people towards radical social change has been a challenging and highly rewarding process- a process that I have tried to share openly with this blog over the past 3 or 4 months as I also tried to give some insight into how the Dominican press was covering our team.  Thanks for being open to that, whether or not we always saw eye to eye on the topic at hand.

Finally, I am heading to the game tomorrow with friends and family and was also thinking about going Thursday afternoon at 12:35.  Anybody up for a gathering Thursday with Tang on the mound?

Today, the Listin Diario ran an article based on an interview with Edwin Encarnacion.  I am translating from the paper and for some reason there is no link to the article on the net.  Some notable quotes follow.

Encarnacion on his relationship with Baker:

"I have never had such good communication with a manager.  Baker knows how to motivate me and I hope I can live up to his expectations."

On playing in the Dominican Winter league:

Playing in the Dominican is helpful.  We arrive to spring training pretty much ready for the season already.  It is a big advantage that we have in our country.  I am going to continue playing in the DR because I have matured a lot as a baseball player and it will help me to establish myself in the major leagues.

On his goals for 2008:

My goal is to hit 25 or more home runs, and I know I can do it.  I will be working hard not to commit more than 15 errors.  These are my two biggest goals.  I am very positive that I can reach them, I don't doubt it.

Cueto got some press for his win yesterday too.  Nothing too special was said but it did mention that he worked with Mario Soto:

Soto ...se unió al equipo y lo ayudó a componer su cambio de velocidad y a recuperar su confianza, lo cual se mostró de inmediato.

 

Soto joined the team to help [Cueto] with changing speeds on his pitches and regain his confidence, which was seen immediately.

 

Life is different, but okay without a computer here.  Post-traumatic stress is another story.  Every wierd noise or shadow that moves at home gives me a rush of adrenaline.  I will be fine, it just takes time.

Looking forward to Harang/Zambrano in the sports bar/gambling establishment a few blocks from my home tonight.   Go reds.

First, the ugly:  My house was robbed on Sunday afternoon and my labtop was stolen.  If that wasn't bad enough, I happened to be in my home when the 3 thieves entered.  They held me, my partner, and my roomate at knifepoint before tying us up with phone cable and shoelaces and leaving with our computers, cell phones, and digital cameras.  They were not very experienced or proffessional.  Yes, you could say they lacked veteran presence and they definitely didn't play the game the right way.  We quickly escaped from our make-do shackles and called the police and the rest of our organization.  The police have not been so helpful; the organization has been amazingly supportive.

So, I haven't been able to post much in a few days and maybe be out of evening threads for good, at least for a while.  On  the upside, I am very happy to be alive.

Next, the Bad(ass):  Monday's El Caribe had a full color photo of the Wagon unleashing one of his heaters.  The headline read, "Van 4" (They go to four), as in Volquez has now reached the 4 win mark.  I can't give a link cause the page to the El Caribe archives is not functioning, I can only translate from the newspaper itself.

Finally, the good: Monday's El Caribe also had a two page spread with 3 articles exclusively about Johnny Cueto.  Here are the translations (again, no link because of the same problem above):

Cueto Tells El Caribe That He Feels Like A Veteran

     Johnny Cuetos is a young Dominican pitcher who, in his first year with the Cincinnati Reds, has made a big impression on many people with his vast baseball knowledge.  This has been clearly demonstrated in his starts on the mound.

      Cueto's stint in the Domincan Winter League with the Aguilas Cibaenas, where he compiled a 4-0 record, was an example of the potential possesed by this native of San Pedro de Macoris that has made the Reds take him more seriously.

     "I feel like I have been playing for a while in the Big Leagues.  I feel really good in my first year in the Majors.  I haven't felt fear in my starts, which is an important factor that every young player should have when they get the opportunity to play here.  Thank God that my nerves haven't gotten to me like so many other young players in their first year."

     Cueto is satisfied with his work so far, an opportunity he doesn't want to waste "even though I haven't recieved much run support from my teammates, which is normal in the Big Leagues."

     "I know that I have done a good job, but sometimes I feel bad because the team doesn't help me.  I have the faith of knowing that in the games to come my teammates will have my back.  This is just the start.  In baseball it is not how you start it is how you finish," indicated Cueto, who was signed by Johnny Almarzar in 2004 for $35,000.

    He expressed that the confidence that Dusty Baker has in him has helped him to find success on the mound with Cincinnati, a team that shares last place in the NL central with Pittsburgh.

     "He is an excellent manager.  He gives me confidence and support.  He leaves me to do my work in peace, where other managers are all over their players.  I feel really good with him around," revealed Cueto, who will go against St. Louis [today] for the first time in his career.   

   Calm.  Cueto has shown that he is a pitcher who remains calm when he takes the mound.  He is a young pitcher who is not intimidated by the batters he faces.  He has demonstrated this since his first Big League start this April against Arizona.

     "Thank God that I turned out this way.  I didn't choose it.  I am not afraid of anyone.  I always remain calm.  I don't let anyone intimidate me when I am on the mound."

     Johny (2-1 sic) has an era of 4.05 in 5 starts in which he has given up 16 runs, 15 earned, and 24 hits in 33 1/3 innings.  He has struck out 31 and only walked 5.  He has a big repertoire which includes a cureveball, a fastball , and a changeup that many have called "devastating."  If you ask him which pitch he feels most comfortable throwing the righty from San Pedro will tell you it is the fastball.

     "...Eventhough my breaking ball is just as good as the other pitches I throw.  Thank God I feel good with all of these pitches, and at least for the moment, they are getting the job done.  I hope it stays that way and they don't let me down," he explained. 

Studious From The Bench

     In Cueto's 5 starts with the Reds he has not watched video of his opponents before the game.  Instead, Cueto watches his opponents from the bench the day before his start.  "I don't walk around worrying about this.  When I am going to pitch, the day before, I begin to think about it.  I watch the opposing hitters to see how I am going to prepare when I face them," he expressed.  "That's how I study them: from the dugout.  I observe what each batter doesn't like- if it's a fastball, a change, high, low, or other type of pitch," he added.   

     Furthermore, Cueto says that the key to success that he has found in the Majors, in spite of his 1-2 record, is having confidence in yourself.

     "This has been part of the success- having confidence in myself and realizing tha all of my pitches are effective.  Sometimes I say I am going to throw a slider that starts over the plate and breaks outside, and I do it," explained Cueto, who throws up to 97 mph.

     Another part of this continuing development of a good resume with the Reds has been mental preparation.  "The first thing I do, a day before I pitch, is stay positive.  Sometimes I can't sleep because I am thinking about my next outing, how I am going to pitch, among other things.  These are part of my preparations," said the Dominican who considers himself a pitcher of location and power- a strikeout pitcher.

A Guiding Hand

     Every time a young Domincan player arrives to the Major Leagues on one of the 30 teams there is a mentor that takes him in and treats him like a son, that gives him the advice needed to cut his own path successfully.  Cueto has found Francisco Cordero to be this guiding hand.  "I have learned a lot from Cordero.  He has told me the good and the bad of the Big Leagues, how to do things to keep growing positively and for this I am very thankful.  It is like having an extra family member," the Dominican righty expressed.  Part of the progress Cueto has made on the mound can be attributed to the knowledge he has gained from Cordero.  "Cordero tells me certain things about opposing hitters.  I hope to keep getting advice from him because it is not just beneficial to me, but to the entire team- a team I am thankful to be a part of."

 Cool to hear that Cueto is feeling as confident as he looks and that Cordero has really taken him under his wing.  I have said it before, but I think this group of really talented Dominicans (yet with still a lot of unmet potential), will really be supportive of each other and lead to new levels of success for the Cincinnati Reds.

In my opinion, there is something about community that makes everything better.  I think that is no less true when it comes to rooting for the Reds.

Let me explain.  For about two years, I was a silent reader on this blog, enjoying the easy access to plentiful amounts of information, taking sides in my head during the numerous and sometimes heated debates(/rants), and always enjoying the humor that accompanied the threads.  Sometimes, though, I felt like I was a kid stuck inside on a sunny afternoon while the rest of the neighborhood was out playing ball.  Needless to say (and I have said it before), the last couple months of active posting has been really fun and rewarding for me.  I feel like I have joined a new community.

 The purpose of this post is to share some thoughts and questions about blog communities.  First, however, I am going to backtrack a bit here to place these thoughts and questions in context.

  Eight months ago today I moved to the Dominican Republic to become an organizer.  I joined a grass-roots organizing school called “Justicia Global,” an organization based out of Santo Domingo but with growing international connections.  I won’t spend too much time here describing what we do.  Instead, I will get to the heart of our vision: we believe the collective problems require collective solutions.  In other words, if we organize ourselves, we can work together to solve our own problems and improve everyone’s lives.

 Returning now to the theme of sports blogs and community, we can all probably agree that most communities gather for a reason.  On the surface, this community, like many others, has come together around living and breathing a specific sports team.  I would like to push us to think about the reasons that we are here at Red Reporter a little further.  Here comes my first question:  What other reasons do we blog about sports?

 For me, sports has always been an escape, a distraction from the daily grind, a way to forget about what is going on with me as I drift into a world of bright lights and perfectly trimmed grass, walk off home runs and dreams of October.

 Here comes question number two:  What am I (and maybe you too) trying to escape from with sports and why?

 Thinking of the problems in our world that affect me as an individual, and that I have seen affect my family and close friends, I can pretty quickly come up with four solid things that sports have helped me escape from: 

1.     The lack of opportunities to do meaningful, well paid work, that you feel happy about doing week in and week out; or the lack of opportunity to study topics in school that you passionately have an interest in.

2.     The stress of debt accumulation in a consumer culture where costs of living are generally rising faster than wages.

4.     The loneliness, isolation, and sometimes violence that come with a culture organized around a “nuclear family” (This can be understood both as people who are feeling lonely and isolated within a “nuclear family,” as well as people who are lonely and isolated because they are not a part of one).

As an organizer who is now an active member of a blog community, my third and fourth questions are these:  Are my reasons for escaping to sports shared by anyone else?  What are some other things the Reds help us escape from?

Finally, I want to make clear that I understand that while baseball can be a means to escape from our lives, it can be- and is- a way to live as well.  I want to make clear that I understand that this blog community is not just a way to avoid the world out there, but is in fact a part of that world too.  Moreover, it is a fun, intelligent, creative, and informative part of this world.

 And this is where hope lies for me when I think of all of the problems we face today.  There are countless communities of people gathering, not just to support each other in their escape from “reality,” but also to build new realities together.

Which brings me to my fifth and final question: what would it mean to begin to use this blog space, or other community spaces we are a part of, to not only help endure the problems in our lives, but to help resolve them collectively?

Cueto was all over the Dominican press this morning including a color photo on the top left corner of the front page of Hoy.

The headline reads "Johnny Cueto- Un debut como los grandes," which can be understood as, "Johnny Cueto- A debut like the legends."  The gist of the article is that Cueto's start is the best by any Dominican pitcher since hall of famer Juan Marichal:

Ayer, en su debut en las Grandes Ligas, el derecho de apenas 22 años de edad hizo historia para la República Dominicana, con un debut tan auspicioso que solo es superado por el que tuvo el inmortal Juan Marichal al comenzar su carrera el 19 de julio de 1960.

Yesterday, in his major league debut, the 22 year old right hander made history for the Dominican Republic, with a start so auspicious that only the immortal Juan Marichal was better the day he began his career, July 19, 1960. 

It continues on to compare Cueto's seven innings of one hit, one run ball with 10 strike outs to Marichal's incredible debut 48 years ago- nine innings, 12 strike outs, one hit and no runs.

It also gives a chart of other  debuts of "Grandes Lanzadores" Domicanos (Legendary Dominican Pitchers):

Nombre           Fecha            rival    ip    h  cl (r)  so    BB
J. Marichal      19-7-1960        Filis   9.0    1    0     12     1
P. Martínez      24-9-2002        Rojos   2.0    2    1      1     1
J. Rijo           5-4-1984       Reales   5.1    4    1      5     2
J. Andújar        8-4-1976       Astros   0.2    1    1      0     2
M. Soto          21-7-1977      Piratas   2.0    3    2      1     0
B. Colón          4-4-1997      anaheim   5.0    6    4      4     0
F. Liriano        5-9-2005      Rangers   1.0    1    1      2     0
F. Carmona       15-4-2006       Tigres   6.0    5    1      4     2
J. Cueto          3-4-2007       Dbacks   7.0    1    1     10     0

(Pedro's debut date has to be wrong, but I think the other info is correct)

My favorite part is the last line of the article:

El debut de Cueto es para la historia.

Cueto's debut is one for history.

Brazil was really a great place to be for a week.  I had a great time visiting friends and seeing Sao Paulo a bit, before going through a really intense training to be a staffer at an international summer camp in Lyon, France this coming July.  And no, I did not "get myself a Brazilian."

Anywho, a lot has changed in a week with the team and I have a few questions and points of clarification:

-How did Belilse hurt himself, how long is he out?

-Is Ryan Freel really battling Corey Patterson for the starting CF job, or is Corey still the man, or is some sort of platoon in the works?  And NoHo?

-What is Bailey still doing with the major league club?  Is he really still in contention to make the rotation, or, after last night is he headed to Kentucky in the next few days?

-Did something happen to Paul Bako?  Is Chad Moeller available?

-Votto is still being considered for the starting 1B job, eh?  How has he looked the past week?  Should he go to Louisville if he is not the starter?

-Bray?  Is he healthy?  Is he pitching well?

-So JC superstar and the People's Wagon are locks to make the rotation... Seems allright to me.  I can teach you all how to hum the Dominican National Anthem if you like.  Then you could all bring kazoos to GABP and whenever J-Cuest and V-Dub are doing nasty things with baseballs, you can bust out in a flurry of collective buzzing.    

-Anything to be concerned about with any of the regulars- Harang, Arroyo, Weathers, Griffey, Dunn, Encarnacion, Phillips, etc?

I am exhausted.  After a weekend of working all day and drinking caipirinhas all night it I really need a good night's rest.  Also,  I managed to hit Lima and San Jose on my 18 hour trip from Sao Paulo to Santo Domingo yesterday.  Then I got up and went to work this morning.  Yuck.  'Til tomorrow.

I am heading to Sao Paulo, Brazil tomorrow for the week, so I wanted to say bye for a few days, and also thanks for a fun couple of weeks here at RR.  I have been a reader off and on for the past two and a half years and it has been a really good experience to finally begin to participate in conversations actively.  

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback on my posts about sabermetrics and social change, especially the comments about dead hooker body parts- that was really special.  Activism and organizing is what I do (in addition to being Red- uh, I mean a Reds fan) so expect some more attempts at consciousness raising via baseball themes.

Anyway, I wanted to leave a prediction for our opening day 25 man roster and starting lineup.  I am not sure how close I will be able to follow things for the next week and there could (hopefully) be some interesting surprises when I get back.  Probably not though, so this is what I think Sweaterpants and Fistbands will end up with:

Starting Pitchers
1.    Harang
2.    Arroyo
3.    Cueto
4.    Fogg
5.    Bellilse

The Pen
6.    Cordero
7.    Weathers
8.    Burton
9.    Coffey
10.     Stanton
11.     Affeldt
12.     Volquez

The Starting Lineup
13.    Patterson, CF
14.     Keppinger, SS
15.    Griffey, RR
16.    Phillips, 2B
17.    Dunn, LF
18.    EdE, 3B
19.    Hatteberg, 1B
20.     Bako, C

Utility/Platoon
21.     Freel
22.     Hopper
23.     Votto
24.     Valentine
25.     Castro

What are you all thinking? No, not you Pops. You keep your thoughts to yourself.

In addition to thinking a lot about baseball, I also spend a lot of time thinking about and working towards social change. I would like to share some insights about sabermetrics, the scientific method, and thinking critically about our economic system.  Let me know if this makes any sense.

I am not a stat head (yet), but I do fully understand that the power of the scientific method is to systematically analyze past events so that accurate predictions can be made about the future. The reason sabermetrics work so well is that baseball is a rule based game, and as a result of these rules, easily identifiable patterns emerge: the pitcher starts a play by stepping on the rubber and tossing the ball (usually) towards home plate; the batter has three strikes or four balls to try to hit the ball in play and run towards first; certain events result in creating outs.  Baseball, in this way, becomes like a natural system where predictable things happen.  Scientific analysis, great at making predictions about natural systems regulated by natural laws, thus can also make accurate predictions about the cultural system of baseball regulated by its cultural rules.

I think understanding why we can use stats to predict what will happen in baseball is also telling when it comes to understanding our relationship to the economic system we live in.  In many ways we treat our current economic reality like a natural system, for example, a tropical storm moving across the Caribbean, and not a cultural system, for example, our beloved game of baseball.  I would argue, however, that economics and baseball are very similar in that they are both cultural systems guided by human made rules.  Right now it is the general cultural rule to only invest when profit can be made.  Right now, it is the general cultural rule that people with resources can choose what they want to do with them.  So right now, we have a global economic culture that tends not to invest many resources in places where profit cannot be made.  As a consequence, we have a lot of poverty in this world and not a whole lot being done about it.  

Economics, however, is not a natural system like a tropical storm.  Economics, in fact, is a cultural system like baseball.  Just as "sabermetricians" can use stats to predict what about baseball, economists can use data to predict what will happen in the global economy.  For example, if we raise taxes on businesses to provide healthcare and quality public education for everyone, less profit will be made.  Making less profit, most businesses will follow the rules of the game and take their money someplace else (China, Latin America, etc.) where they can make more.   Just as Slyde or Greg would tell you that Corey Patterson batting first everyday will probably lead to less run production in the Reds lineup, most economists would tell you that taxes are bad because they will probably lead to businesses leaving your country.

While both economics and baseball can be measured and predicted like weather patterns, they are both cultural systems.  Economics as we know it was created by humans and is continually perpetuated by humans.  It can be recreated with new rules that help to meet everyone's needs.  

As for baseball, I'm pretty happy leaving it the way it is.

The Dominican Winter League series final ended yesterday with the Aguilas Cibaeñas taking the championship in 8 games, with a 2-1 victory over the Licey Tigres.  I had a chance to go to game 7, where the Tigres managed to hang on for a 5-4 victory to extend the series to game 8.  Here are a few observations:

1.  On the way to the ballpark there was a man lying dead in the street amidst the traffic jam.  Not sure what happened but there was blood.  
2.  EdE has cooled down considerably after his 3 homerun 10 rbi tear in games one and two.  In game 7, he went 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.  He, however, was not very "clutch," grounding into a fielder's choice with one out and the winning run on second in the top of the eighth.  Rafael Furcal went into second hard to prevent the double play.  
3.  Whistles, horns, and flags make baseball a different animal.  The crowd goes nuts with every play.  They were playing in Santo Domingo at the Tigres home stadium, and it seemed to me that a third of the fans were waving blue Tigres flags, a third were waving yellow Aguilas flags, and a third had both flags and would wave them according to which team it was appropriate to support in the moment.  My left ear still hurts from all of the bulla (noise) and deafening sound system blasting meringue songs about rooting for the Tigres.
4.  The Tigre's dance squad wears less and generally dances more provocatively than Red's.
5.  The Tigre's mascot is on par with Philly fanatic.  He has a nice gut that he flops around as he eggs on the crowd.
6.  Rafael Furcal laid down what a friend I was with named "the prettiest bunt he had ever seen." With a runner on first and no outs in the eighth inning he squared to bunt and then made a perfect half swing to slap the ball down the third base line past the charging third baseman.
7. Jose Guillen looked terrible.  He was overanxious at the plate and struck out twice on really bad pitches.  Miguel Tejada did not look so hot either.  
8.  There was a D'Angelo Jimenez sighting. With runners and second and third and one out in the eight inning, he pinch hit for the Tigres, fell behind in the count but then drew a walk.  That is to say, he drew a non-intentional intentional walk after he realized that swinging at balls was not going to get him very far.  He also pinch hit in game 8, making the last out of the game with the tying runner on third.
9.  Erik Aybar is one "slick fielding" shortstop.
10.  All and all it was a fun night.  The game lasted 4 hours, mostly due to the LaRussa like pitching changes that occurred in all of the tense innings, but overall it was a very exciting game.

EdE had a big night for the Eagles yesterday in the DR Winter League:

"SANTO DOMINGO.- Las Águilas Cibaeñas atacaron a palos limpios el pitcheo azul en las tres primeras entradas con una ofensiva de diez hits y siete carreras y luego sumaron otra para ganar 8-3, el primer partido de la serie final a los Tigres del Licey, en un encuentro animado por una gran concurrencia en el parque Quisqueya. Cuadrangular de tres carreras en el primer inning de Edwin Encarnación contra los envíos del abridor del Licey."

English Translation:

The Eagles attacked the Licey pitchers with fresh bats in the first three inninings, resulting in 10 hits and 7 runs.  They later added another run to win 8-3 in the first game of the series final against the Licey Tigers in an encounter animated by a big turnout at Quiqueya stadium.  Edwin Encarnación hit a three run home run in the first inning off Licey's starting pitcher.

You can find the entire Spanish article here:
http://www.listin.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=44725

Check it out even if your Spanish is not so hot, there is a grainy video of EdE's shot over the left field fence.  It doesn't take too long to get out either.  The video also shows Jose Guillen's solo homer in the first.

Game 2 tonight in Santiago!  I will keep you posted.

I'm a long time Reds fan and have been a silent observer here at RR for over a year now.  I recently moved to the Dominican Republic to teach English and work with an organization doing grass roots community organizing.  

The Dominican Winter league has been underway for a little over a week now and I am looking forward to watching some of our Reds and Reds' prospects play down here.  Johnny Cueto made his first start last Friday for Las Aguilas Cibaeñas.  I didn't catch any of the game but I found a jumbled boxscore on the team website (http://www.aguilascibaenas.net/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=1&extmode=view&extid= 4) as well as a summary from Roto World (http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLb&id=4660):

"Johnny Cueto allowed one run over five innings Friday in his Dominican Winter League debut.
Cueto went 12-9 with a 3.07 ERA at three levels in the minors this year, but the Reds declined to promote him in September. One of the NL's top pitching prospects, he'll probably get his first look in the rotation by next May or June."

Cueto is pitching again tonight against the Estrellas Orientales.  Not sure if it will be on TV here in Santo Domingo, if it is I will try and catch some of it.  If not, I will try and get the scoop from the local sports page and keep you all posted.

Any idea which Reds are coming down this year?  EdE?  I know Votto was here last year, will he be back?  

If you all are sick of the Boston love fest in the US, try living in the land of Big Papi and Manny.  But at least they have a couple of really good reasons.