GaryMrMets
10-09-2005, 09:29 PM
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http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/wbc/article.jsp?content=092905_b
Foreign-born players in Major League Baseball
A prime example of the global advancement of the game of baseball has been the continued in. ux of foreign-born players into Major League Baseball. In 2005, Opening Day rosters for the 30 Major League Baseball Clubs, which consist of 25-man rosters and disabled lists, included 242 players born outside the 50 United States. These players represented 14 foreign countries, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Since MLB began tracking the number of foreign-born players in 1994, the total has nearly doubled (124 in 1994 to the current 242). Overall, 29.2 percent of the 829 players (750 active and 79 disabled) on rosters as of Opening Day 2005 were born outside the 50 United States, compared to 16.6 percent in 1994.
This year, the Dominican Republic led all countries with 91 players, Venezuela was second with 46 and Puerto Rico was third with 34. The Washington Nationals led all Major League Baseball teams with 16 foreign-born players, hailing from six different countries: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. The Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Mets shared the second highest total with 13 foreign-born players apiece. The Orioles’ roster included players from Aruba, Canada, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.
Additionally, 3,007 Minor League players signed to professional baseball contracts, representing 45.4% of the total, were born outside the 50 United States. These players represent 29 nations around the world. In total, 43.5% of players under contract with Major League Baseball organizations as of Opening Day 2005 were foreign-born.
ARUBA (1)
• Sidney Ponson, Baltimore
AUSTRALIA (2)
• Grant Balfour, Minnesota • Travis Blackley, Seattle
CANADA (15)
• Jason Bay, Pittsburgh • Erik Bedard, Baltimore • Rheal Cormier, Philadelphia • Jesse Crain, Minnesota • Ryan Dempster, Chicago (NL) • Jeff Francis, Colorado
• Eric Gagne, Los Angeles • Rich Harden, Oakland • Corey Koskie, Toronto • Justin Morneau, Minnesota • Peter Orr, Atlanta • Paul Quantrill, New York (AL) • Matt Stairs, Kansas City • Adam Stern, Boston • Larry Walker, St. Louis
CHINESE TAIPEI (1)
• Chin-Hui Tsao, Colorado
COLOMBIA (2)
• Orlando Cabrera, LA Angels of Anaheim • Edgar Renteria, Boston
CUBA (6)
• Danys Baez, Tampa Bay • Jose Contreras, Chicago (AL) • Livan Hernandez, Washington • Orlando Hernandez, Chicago (AL) • Eli Marrero, Kansas City • Rafael Palmeiro, Baltimore
CURACAO (1)
• Andruw Jones, Atlanta
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (91)
• Antonio Alfonseca, Florida • Carlos Almanzar, Texas • Greg Aquino, Arizona • Miguel Asencio, San Diego • Pedro Astacio, Texas • Manny Aybar, New York (NL)
• Miguel Batista, Toronto • Denny Bautista, Kansas City • Francis Beltran, Washington • Adrian Beltre, Seattle • Armando Benitez, San Francisco • Joaquin Benoit, Texas
• Angel Berroa, Kansas City • Wilson Betemit, Atlanta • Tony Blanco, Washington • Yhency Brazoban, Los Angeles • Daniel Cabrera, Baltimore • Alberto Castillo, Kansas City
• Luis Castillo, Florida • Jesus Colome, Tampa Bay • Bartolo Colon, LA Angels of Anaheim • Roman Colon, Atlanta • Francisco Cordero, Texas • Deivi Cruz, San Francisco
• Juan Cruz, Oakland • Felix Diaz, Chicago (AL) • Octavio Dotel, Oakland • Pedro Feliz, San Francisco • Bartolome Fortunato, New York (NL) • Franklin Francisco, Texas
• Julio Franco, Atlanta • Rafael Furcal, Atlanta • Franklyn German, Detroit • Jerry Gil, Arizona • Vladimir Guerrero, LA Angels of Anaheim • Jose Guillen, Washington
• Cristian Guzman, Washington • Freddy Guzman, San Diego • Felix Heredia, New York (NL) • Runelvys Hernandez, Kansas City • D'Angelo Jimenez, Cincinnati • Jose Lima, Kansas City • Pedro Liriano, Philadelphia • Julio Lugo, Tampa Bay • Hector Luna, St. Louis • Damaso Marte, Chicago (AL)
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (Cont.)
• Pedro Martinez, New York (NL) • Henry Mateo, Washington • Julio Mateo, Seattle • Jose Mesa, Pittsburgh • Raul Mondesi, Atlanta • Guillermo Mota, Florida • Franklin Nunez, Tampa Bay • Jose Offerman, Philadelphia • Miguel Olivo, Seattle • David Ortiz, Boston • Ramon Ortiz, Cincinnati • Pablo Ozuna, Chicago (AL) • Carlos Pena, Detroit • Wily Mo Pena, Cincinnati • Jhonny Peralta, Cleveland • Antonio Perez, Los Angeles • Nei Perez, Chicago (NL) • Odalis Perez, Los Angeles • Timo Perez, Chicago (AL) • Placido Polanco, Philadelphia • Albert Pujols, St. Louis • Aramis Ramirez, Chicago (NL) • Manny Ramirez, Boston • Al Reyes, St. Louis • Jose Reyes, New York (NL) • Fernando Rodney, Detroit • Felix Rodriguez, New York (AL) • Duaner Sanchez, Los Angeles • Victor Santos, Milwaukee • Alfonso Soriano, Texas • Rafael Soriano, Seattle • Jorge Sosa, Atlanta • Sammy Sosa, Baltimore • Julian Tavarez, St. Louis • Willy Taveras, Houston • Miguel Tejada, Baltimore • Luis Terrero, Arizona • Salomon Torres, Pittsburgh • Juan Uribe, Chicago (AL)
• Wilson Valdez, Seattle • Jose Valverde, Arizona • Claudio Vargas, Washington • Jose Vizcaino, Houston • Luis Vizcaino, Chicago (AL) • Esteban Yan, LA Angels of Anaheim
JAPAN (12)
• Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Seattle • Tadahito Iguchi, Chicago (AL) • Kazuhisa Ishii, New York (NL) • Hideki Matsui, New York (AL) • Kazuo Matsui, New York (NL) • Hideo Nomo, Tampa Bay • Tomo Ohka, Washington • Akinori Otsuka, San Diego • Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle • So Taguchi, St. Louis • Shingo Takatsu, Chicago (AL) • Keiichi Yabu, Oakland
KOREA (5)
• Jung Keun Bong, Cincinnati • Hee Seop Choi, Los Angeles • Byung-Hyun Kim, Colorado • Dae-Sung Koo, New York (NL) • Chan Ho Park, Texas
MEXICO (18)
• Alfredo Amezaga, Colorado • Luis Ayala, Washington • Jorge Cantu, Tampa Bay • Vinny Castilla, Washington • Juan Castro, Minnesota • Humberto Cota, Pittsburgh
• Jorge De La Rosa, Milwaukee • Elmer Dessens, Los Angeles • Erubiel Durazo, Oakland • Geronimo Gil, Baltimore • Esteban Loaiza, Washington • Rodrigo Lopez, Baltimore
• Miguel Ojeda, San Diego • Antonio Osuna, Washington • Oliver Perez, Pittsburgh • Dennys Reyes, San Diego • Ricardo Rincon, Oakland • Ismael Valdez, Florida
NICARAGUA (1)
• Vicente Padilla, Philadelphia
PANAMA (6)
• Bruce Chen, Baltimore • Einar Diaz, St. Louis • Carlos Lee, Milwaukee • Jose Macias, Chicago (NL) • Mariano Rivera, New York (AL) • Olmedo Saenz, Los Angeles
PUERTO RICO (34)
• Sandy Alomar, Jr., Texas • Carlos Beltran, New York (NL) • Kiko Calero, Oakland • Ramon Castro, New York (NL) • Alex Cintron, Arizona • Alex Cora, Cleveland • Wil Cordero, Washington • Jose Cruz, Jr., Arizona • Carlos Delgado, Florida • Juan Gonzalez, Cleveland • Ruben Gotay, Kansas City • Jose Hernandez, Cleveland • Ricky Ledee, Los Angeles • Felipe Lopez, Cincinnati • Javier A. Lopez, Colorado • Javy Lopez, Baltimore • Mike Lowell, Florida • Luis Matos, Baltimore • Bengie Molina, LA Angels of Anaheim • Jose Molina, LA Angels of Anaheim • Yadier Molina, St. Louis • Joel Pineiro, Seattle • Jorge Posada, New York (AL) • Ivan Rodriguez, Detroit • J.C. Romero, Minnesota • Rey Sanchez, New York (AL) • Benito Santiago, Pittsburgh • Ruben Sierra, New York (AL) • Javier Valentin, Cincinnati
• Jose Valentin, Los Angeles • Javier Vazquez, Arizona • Ramon Vazquez, Boston • Jose Vidro, Washington • Bernie Williams, New York (AL)
VENEZUELA (46)
• Bobby Abreu, Philadelphia • Edgardo Alfonzo, San Francisco • Wilson Alvarez, Los Angeles • Machado Anderson, Cincinnati • Tony Armas, Washington • Rafael Betancourt, Cleveland • Henry Blanco, Chicago (NL) • Miguel Cabrera, Florida • Miguel Cairo, New York (NL)
• Giovanni Carrara, Los Angeles • Marcos Carvajal, Colorado • Jose Castillo, Pittsburgh • Roger Cedeno, St. Louis • Gustavo Chacin, Toronto • Raul Chavez, Houston • Alex Escobar, Washington • Kelvim Escobar, LA Angels of Anaheim • Freddy Garcia, Chicago (AL) • Alex Gonzalez, Florida • Luis A. Gonzalez, Colorado • Carlos Guillen, Detroit
• Ramon Hernandez, San Diego • Richard Hidalgo, Texas • Omar Infante, Detroit • Cesar Izturis, Los Angeles • Maicer Izturis, LA Angels of Anaheim • Jorge Julio, Baltimore • Wilfredo Ledezma, Detroit • Victor Martinez, Cleveland • Melvin Mora, Baltimore • Ray Olmedo, Cincinnati • Magglio Ordonez, Detroit • Eddie Perez, Atlanta • Tomas Perez, Philadelphia • Juan Rincon, Minnesota • Luis Rivas, Minnesota • Juan Rivera, LA Angels of Anaheim • Francisco Rodriguez, LA Angels of Anaheim
• Johan Santana, Minnesota • Marco Scutaro, Oakland • Carlos Silva, Minnesota • Yorvit Torrealba, San Francisco • Ugueth Urbina, Detroit • Omar Vizquel, San Francisco
• Carlos Zambrano, Chicago (NL) • Victor Zambrano, New York (NL)
VIRGIN ISLANDS (1)
• Calvin Pickering, Kansas City
GaryMrMets
10-09-2005, 09:30 PM
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/wbc/article.jsp?content=092905_a
2006 World Baseball Classic Schedule (Tentative)
Participating Countries:
Pool A: China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea
Pool B: Canada, Mexico, South Africa, USA
Pool C: Cuba, Netherlands, Panama, Puerto Rico
Pool D: Australia, Domincan Republic, Italy, Venezuela
Sunday, February 26 Pool A Players report to training camps
Friday, March 3 Pool A Round 1: First day of games Japan
Pool B Players report to training camps
Pool C Players report to training camps
Pool DPlayers report to training camps
Saturday, March 4 Pool A Round 1: Second day of games Japan
Sunday, March 5 Pool A Round 1: Final day of games Japan
Wednesday, March 8 Pool B Round 1: First day of games USA
Pool C Round 1: First day of games Puerto Rico
Pool D Round 1: First day of games USA
Thursday, March 9 Pool B Round 1: Second day of games USA
Pool C Round 1: Second day of games Puerto Rico
Pool D Round 1: Second day of games USA
Friday, March 10 Pool B Round 1: Third day of games USA
Pool C Round 1: Third day of games Puerto Rico
Pool D Round 1: Third day of games USA
Saturday, March 11 Pool BRound 1: Final day of games USA
Pool C Round 1: Final day of games Puerto Rico
Pool D Round 1: Final day of games USA
Monday, March 13 Pools 1 & 2 Round 2: First day of games USA, Puerto Rico
Tuesday, March 14 Pools 1 & 2 Round 2: Second day of games USA, Puerto Rico
Monday, March 15 Pools 1 & 2 Round 2: Final day of games USA, Puerto Rico
Saturday, March 18 Semi-Finals Two Games PETCO Park, San Diego, CA
Monday, March 20 FinalPETCO Park, San Diego, CA
GaryMrMets
10-09-2005, 09:32 PM
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/wbc/article.jsp?content=092905_c
09/29/2005 5:46 PM ET
WBC finals to be played at PETCO Park
Semifinals also to be played at Padres' home ballpark
By Barry M. Bloom
SAN DIEGO -- The finals of the World Baseball Classic are coming next spring to PETCO Park, it was announced Thursday at a press conference.
The semifinal games of the 16-country tournament are scheduled for March 18, with the championship game to be held on March 20. Two-year-old PETCO Park, in downtown San Diego, is close to an international border, standing about 25 miles from Mexico. "I'm a big believer in international play," Padres owner John Moores said on Wednesday, a few hours before his team was scheduled to face the Giants with a chance of winning its fourth National League West title on the line. "This is a great thing for our community and a further step along the way in the globalization of our sport." The tournament, the first international one to include Major League players, is slated to be played in three rounds beginning on March 3 in the Tokyo Dome and ending in San Diego nearly three weeks later. The United States, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, China, Canada, South Africa, the Netherlands, Italy, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Panama and Australia have all accepted invitations. Only Cuba, working out logistics, hasn't yet formally joined the fold. Under Moores' ownership, the Padres became the first team to play regular-season games outside of the U.S. and Canada when San Diego traveled to Monterrey, Mexico, to play a three-game series against the Mets in 1996. The Padres duplicated that by opening the 1999 season against the Rockies, also in Monterrey. Moores recently toured China, which is hosting the 2008 Olympics, including what could be the last Olympic baseball competition. The Padres owner wants his team to open the 2008 regular season there. "I'd love to play baseball over in China," Moores said. "There are 1.3 billion reasons why baseball should be there." MLB International is expected to announce the other venues for pool play by the end of next week.
Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/wbc/dyk.jsp
Did you know?
1. Which Puerto Rican-born player has 11 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, the most by any catcher in Major League Baseball history?
» Ivan Rodriguez
Detroit Tigers catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez won his 11th Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 2004 to pass Johnny Bench (10) for the most by any catcher in Major League Baseball history. This year, adding to an already illustrious career, Pudge joined Mike Piazza of the New York Mets in becoming the only two catchers elected to start in 11 All-Star Games. Rodriguez is a native of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.
2. Which Canadian-born outfielder won the 2004 National League Rookie of the Year award?
» Jason Bay
In 2004, Jason Bay became the first Pittsburgh Pirates player ever to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Born in Trail, British Columbia, Bay was also the first Canadian-born player to capture the honor. The young outfielder, who hit .282 with 26 home runs and 82 RBI in 2004, followed up his inaugural campaign with his first All-Star appearance in 2005.
3. Which Venezuelan-born slugger retired with 399 career home runs before the start of the 2005 season?
» Andres Galarraga
With 399 career home runs and 1,425 RBI, Andres Galarraga is the all-time leader among Venezuelan-born players in both categories. Nicknamed "The Big Cat," Galarraga also won two Rawlings Gold Glove Awards (1989, 1990), two Silver Slugger Awards (1989, 1996), and a batting title (.370 in 1996). Born in Caracas, Venezuela, the power-hitting first baseman played for seven different Major League Clubs over a span of 19 seasons - Expos, Cardinals, Rockies, Braves, Rangers, Giants, and Angels.
4. Which Japanese-born superstar holds the all-time single-season hit record with 262?
» Ichiro Suzuki
Seattle Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki established the all-time Major League Baseball single-season hit record with 262 hits in 2004, passing George Sisler's mark of 257 hits (1920). Born in Kasugai, Aichi prefecture, Japan, Ichiro was a superstar in Nippon Professional Baseball in his home country, before deciding to play in the Major Leagues. As the first Japanese-born position player in Major League Baseball history, he achieved immediate success in the United States. In his first season (2001), Ichiro became only the second player in Major League Baseball history to win the Rookie of the Year Award and Most Valuable Player Award in the same year (Fred Lynn, 1975).
5. Which Panamian-born Hall of Famer won seven batting titles and appeared in 18 straight All-Star exhibitions during his career?
» Rod Carew
Rodney Cline Carew lined, chopped and bunted his way to 3,053 career hits. His seven batting titles are surpassed only by Ty Cobb, Tony Gwynn and Honus Wagner, and equaled only by Rogers Hornsby and Stan Musial. He used a variety of relaxed, crouched batting stances to hit over .300 in 15 consecutive seasons with the Twins and Angels, achieving a .328 lifetime average. He was honored as American League Rookie of the Year in 1967, won the league MVP 10 years later and was named to 18 straight All-Star teams. Born in Gatun, Ca, Panama, he remains a national hero in his home country.
6. Which slugger is the all-time Major League home run leader among non-U.S. born players?
» Sammy Sosa
Sammy Sosa's 588 career home runs are not only the most by any Dominican-born player, but place him first among all foreign-born players in baseball history. The Baltimore Orioles outfielder currently stands in fifth place overall on the all-time home run list and is just 12 homers shy of becoming the fifth player ever to hit 600 or more home runs. Born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, Sosa is the only player in Major League Baseball history to have three 60-homer seasons (1998, 1999, 2001 with the Chicago Cubs).
7. Who are the only two non U.S.-born pitchers with more than 3,000 career strikeouts?
» Bert Blyleven and Ferguson Jenkins
Bert Blyleven (3,701) and Fergson Jenkins (3,192) are the only two foreign-born pitchers in Major League Baseball history to record more than 3,000 strikeouts. Born in Zeist, Holland, Blyleven threw 4,970 innings and recorded a lifetime ERA of 3.31 over the course of his 22-year Major League career while pitching for the Twins, Rangers, Pirates, Indians, and Angels. Jenkins, born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. "Fergie" posted an impressive 284-226 career record over his 19 Major League seasons with the Phillies, Cubs, Rangers, and Red Sox. With more than 2,800 career strikeouts, the Dominican Republic's Pedro Martinez of the Mets is currently threatening to become the third foreign-born pitcher to go beyond 3,000 K's.
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