world baseball classic

Most Red Sox fans, Yankee fans, and pretty much baseball fans in general associate Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez.  The two Dominicanos spent four years together in Boston, and each played an integral role in breaking the Red Sox 85-season World Series “Curse.”  Seems kind of fitting then that on the day after talking about Man-Ram we turn our attention Petey.  Unlike Ramirez (gainfully employed by the Los Angeles Dodgers) Martinez needs a job.  Currently, the three-time Cy Young Award win

And just when everything seemed rosy in Lakerland (clinched Pacific Division title, best record in the Western Conference), somebody has to go off and sue Kobe Bryant and his wife, Vanessa.  According to the L.A. Times, the Bryants' former housekeeper filed a lawsuit against the couple claiming that she suffered verbal abuse and humiliation while working at the Black Mamba’s Newport Coast house.

All right, kids, time for another edition of Scorecard’s RBI or “Random Blog Ideas,” the segment where we tackle a couple different sports stories in one tidy column (aka I couldn’t decide which topic to cover so I created a blog to cover’em all).

If you enjoy soccer, the MLS can be that girlfriend you know you should leave but somehow she keeps convincing you to come back. The play often leaves a lot to be desired, but the league needs fan support in order to attract better talent. David Beckham arrives; David Beckham leaves. No one wants to come to games, yet you won’t find a cheaper sporting event for getting wasted. You get the point...the MLS is a spiderwoman. 

So, the Manny Ramirez Dodgers Era Part Dos is getting off to a slower start than Number 99 himself running down the line against a routine grounder. After four months of contract negotiations (which made the Slumdog Millionaire courtship look like a jog in Central Park) and a slight delay due to injury, Man-Ram finally hit the field in Dodger Blue, but left in the fourth inning of Sunday’s spring training game with a hamstring tweak.

Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic begins on Saturday at Dolphins Stadium in Florida, and Sunday at Petco Park in San Diego. Even though my Dominican team lasted about as long as Bill Richardson’s Commerce Secretary gig (thank you…wait for it…KINGDOM OF THE NETHELANDS), rest assured friends, Latin American countries are still representing in the tournament.

People use sports to escape.  After a long day of work we turn on ESPN to unwind.  On the weekends, we get together with friends to watch “the game” (especially Sundays during NFL season) and forget about the week that passed or the one that waits for us on Monday.  Sounds a little melodramatic, but seriously – whether watching, playing or talking about – we get away from regular life through sports.  Sometimes, however, the issues in the real world are too great to be ignored, and that seems to be the case with the Venezuelan team of the 2009 Wor

Some wise person once said you must face your problems. Well, I have a problem – my Dominican Republic was just eliminated from the 2009 World Baseball Classic by…wait for it…the KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS! The worst part, DR lost not once to The K.O.N., but twice. After losing 2-3 in the first game, we had a chance for redemption (a rare thing in life) and we blew it. What happened? Seriously, I did my part. I stopped poking fun at the Dutch monarchy.

I’d like to talk about a couple things today, and Friday’s Week in Review just seems so far away, that I’m proposing a new segment called RBI or “Random Blog Ideas” (yes, I stretched for the cheesy sports acronym).

I know what you’re thinking: I just HAVE to write about my Dominican Republic losing 3-2 to the…wait for it…Kingdom of the Netherlands! How can we not discuss arguably the biggest upset in baseball history, especially when the game involves a team from a Latin American country, right? Wrong, and thank you Mister Alex Rodriguez.