Marty Lurie Talks San Francisco Giants Baseball
//

Dominican Republic Champions !

The Aguilas(Eagles)of Cibao

won their fourth Caribbean

World Series title by defeating

the Puertorican champions

Indios(Indians)of Mayaguez.

The Dominican stars: Tejada,

Mondesí, Ortíz and Batista.

By Amaury Pi-GonzálezFebruary 8, 2003.

Carolina, Puerto Rico.

Roberto Clemente Stadium.

Four runs in the first inning

propelled the Dominican

champions to a 7 to 3

victory over Puerto Rico.

Rafael Furcal base hit and

stole second, then came

around to score with

an RBI single by Miguel

Tejada, followed by David

Ortiz hit and Tony Batista’s

double bringing Tejada

in. The third run was courtesy

of a wild pitch by Puerto Rico’s

pitcher Josué Matos and then

Raul Mondesí drove the fourth

run with a deep sac-fly to

center field.

The Dominicans were not

finished when they scored

3 more runs in the third

inning. This time Miguel

Tejada with a ringing double

to left center field followed

by the Series MVP David

Ortiz double brining in

Tejada were the highlights.

That was all the offense

the Cibao Eagles needed.

Claudio Vargas was the

wining pitcher for the

Dominican Republic.

This was the fourth

Caribbean World Series

title for the Cibao Eagles

of the Dominican Republic,

who also won in 1997 at

Hermosillo, México, 1998

at Puerto Cruz, Venezuela

and again in México in 2001.

These were the final standings

for the week-long tournament:

1-Dominican Republic 6-1

2-Puerto Rico(Mayaguez) 5-2

3-Puerto Rico(Caguas) 2-4

4-México (Los Mochis) 0-6

The reason for Puerto Rico’s

two team entry ? Because of

the cancellation of the Winter

League in Venezuela, that

country didn’t sent a champion

to this years’s 59th edition

of the Caribbean World

Series that took place this past

week in Carolina, Puerto Rico.

Therefore, organizers of the

event named Caguas Criollos,

the team that finished second

to Mayaguez Indians in Puerto

Rico to take Venezuela’s place.

With this most recent title,

Dominican Republic has tied

Puerto Rico for most Caribbean

World Series titles with

14 for each country. The

first Caribbean World Series

was held in Havana, Cuba

in 1949. Cuba has not

participated in this Latin

classic since 1961 when US

President John F.Kennedy

and Dictator Fidel Castro’s

country broke diplomatic

relations. During the first

decade of the Caribbean

World Series Cuban teams

were unmatched by their

Caribbean rivals.

After the win, Miguel Tejada

was kissing the CWS Trophy

inside the Dominicans dressing

room and said: “este es uno

de mis momentos más grandes

para mi en el béisbol” (This is

one of the greatest moments

for me in my baseball career).

The MVP of the American League,

will soon report to Phoenix

Arizona, Spring Training home

of the Western Division Champion

Oakland A’S.

Many who were at the A’S Fanfest

this past weekend at the Oakland

Coliseum, and stopped by the

Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum

display at the East Side of the

Coliseum asked me for Tejada,

and why he wasn’t there. During

the past two seasons Tejada has

been playing for the Dominican

Republic during the Caribbean

World Series during the A’S

Fanfest.

Will Tejada be allowed to play

Winter Ball in the Dominican

after he signs with the A’S

or his new team ? That remains

to be seen. Tejada told at the

beginning of this 59th edition

of the CWS that he was looking

for a 10 year contract, estimated

at $12 million per season.

My sources tell me at least

6 teams are interested in

Miguel.

That price is a “reasonable”

price for a player of his stature

and he no doubt will

be the focus this

Spring Training. Hopefully,

the Athletics can sign him

so it doesn’t become a

big distraction for this

team’s goal of winning

a World Series.

Anybody who follows the A’S

(fans specially)are resigned to

loose Miguel Tejada to another

team after this 2003 season. It

is not pesimistic, it is called

common sense. If the A’S could

not sign Jason Giambi for that

type of money….why think

they can sign Tejada for that

type of money?

Hasta la vista.

0 comments

There are no comments yet...

Kick things off by filling out the form below.

You must log in to post a comment.