Dominican Crackdown

MLB.com plugs ESPN.com for an article on Domincan MLB prospects getting detained because of the crackdown on misinformation coming out of the Dominican Republic. You follow? This is only the beginning.

MLB investigates Domincan age issues

The recent age fraud revelations of Miguel Tejada, Vladimir Guerrero and a Washington Nationals signee have resulted in a full-blown investigation by Major League Baseball into age lying in Dominican Republic baseball circles.

Consulate spokesman David Searby said he could not immediately comment.

"They have asked us to investigate, and we have detected around 42 cases of possible irregularities related to the real age of these young men," said Melendez, who also is Puerto Rico's general manager during the World Baseball Classic.

The investigation began a week ago.

Several Latino players have said they lied about their ages in recent years, including Vladimir Guerrero and Miguel Tejada.

Melendez said players found lying about their age could face a cancellation or temporary revocation of their visas. The State Department would make that decision, he said.

Certainly future legislation will result in a statute of limitations with regard to players who have already confessed their actual age. It would be difficult to punish Vlad or Tejada with retrospective rules.

WBC roundup - 3/10/09

What a night for The Netherlands and baseball world wide. Not only did the Honkballers advance to Pool 2, they bounced the heavily favored Major League-laden Dominican Republic 2-1 in come-from-behind fashion. A two-run rally against Dominican closer Carlos Marmol (I can hear Cubs fans trembling about the back end of their bullpen already) left DR standing and staring while the Dutch partied in San Juan, Puerto Rico. What a scene.

You can chalk this win up there with some of the better upsets of all time. The 1980 USA hockey team defeating the Soviets is still bigger (it led the USA to the gold medal game against the best team in hockey), but this is not too far off. The Dominican Republic is probably the second best collection of talent in baseball after Team USA. The soccer upset equivalent is possibly Senegal defeating defending champion France in the 2002 World Cup.

If the first Dutch upset of the DR was a fluke, this was at least a better fluke. Upsets do happen more often in baseball. Teams that win 100 games in MLB still lose 62, but The Netherlands' win only helps build interest and intrigue for future World Baseball Classic tournaments. It's huge.

In other action, Venezuela smoked Italy, 10-1. Venezuela is on to face the Americans for seeding purposes out of Pool C. Cuba struggled to get past Australia, which is another surprising team in this year's classic. The Cubans rallied with three late runs to squeeze by, 5-4. They're qualified for Pool 1 while Australia faces Mexico in order to move on.

Dominican Republic sends Panama packing

The Dominican Republic rebounded from an embarrassing loss to The Netherlands, shutting out Panama, 9-0. Panama is the first team from Pool D to be eliminated. Miguel Olivo powered out two home runs while Nelson Cruz added a third.

And what is it about Johnny Cueto in the month of March? Inferior competition? Cueto worked 4 2/3 innings, striking out five to pick up the win. He allowed three hits and walked one. The Reds would like to see more of that in the regular season.

Dutch Treat even with Dominican dominance on the hill

Quite the shocker in the WBC. The Dominican Republic fell to the Netherlands, 3-2, despite DR pitching staff holding the Netherlands to three hits. In fact, the Dutch team struggled to make solid contact, failing to record an extra base hit. Two first-inning errors led to a three-run first from which the Dominicans never recovered.

With Randall Simon and Gene Kingsale the only Dutch players in the starting lineup with significant MLB experience, DR pitchers mostly had their way. Edinson Volquez struggled with the strike zone at times, missing the zone with 21 of his 58 pitches. He still managed three strike outs in three innings.

Pedro Martinez looked better than Volquez, zipping 32 strikes on 40 pitches. He struck out four in three innings, giving up just one hit. There was no gun available in the telecast, but here's guessing this outing turned the heads of several scouts regardless of the velocity.