Cubano

Kyyle23, I do not have his entire career numbers in the playoffs right now. If I get them, I post them. I got a cuban guide, a book published after every season ends, for the year 2006-07 (Cuban Season 46th). His team missed the playoff in Cuban Series 47th. They finished second last season. This are his playoffs numbers for SN 46th. His was eliminated in the first round. G AB H Ave 2B 3B HR SLU RBI W Inten Walk SO 5 26 11 478 2 1 3 1043 6 3 3 2

QUOTE (YASNY @ Sep 30, 2008 -> 08:59 AM) South side Thanks, I modified my post after you replied. Sorry!

I do not live in Chicago. Are the ChiSox in the north side or south side of Chicago? When I drive home from work, I hear Jonathan Hood and Carmen DeFalco. White Sox fans rarely call the radio station and mostly Cubs fans do. Why is that? I know the Cubs are more popular, but still some people most follow the Sox. Thanks,

My comments in red. Alexei said: Before the at-bat, while Tigers reliever Gary Glover warmed up on the mound at U.S. Cellular Field, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called Ramirez over to the dugout. He told the Cuban-born rookie to be patient and relax. Try not to do too much, the skipper said. "I'm going to do what I've always done," Ramirez told his manager. "Have confidence in me. I'm going to go out there and get those runners home somehow." And he did. Swinging at the first pitch from Glover may not have been the patient approach, but it was certainly the right one. This is about confidence in your abilities and know you can deliver big time. You have to listen to your manager but the bottom line is you are the one that has to go out there and hit. If you think the pitcher is going to throw a cookie to get ahead of you, swing that first pitch and do not let him get the first strike easy. "I think people in Cuba that have access to TV or radio and were able to watch this are very happy," Ramirez said through translator Lou Hernandez. "They know that I'm always going to give them everything I have. I've always given them everything I have. I left it all on the field in Cuba. I think they're really happy." Ramirez said his Cuban team was routinely in the playoffs, and having played in the Olympics and other international games, he understood the situation he found himself in on Monday. Handling pressure hasn't been a problem for Ramirez all season. Twelve of his 21 homers have come in the seventh inning or later. When he comes to the plate in those situations, he simply treats it like he would any other at-bat. "I'm thinking about that at-bat," Ramirez said of his approach at the plate. "I'm thinking about that pitcher, and forgetting about all the other at-bats that I've had in prior games and even this game. "I'm never looking for any [specific] pitch. I have my zone. If the ball crosses my zone, then I'm going to hit it. If it's there, if it's in the middle, it's going to get hit." Alexei is not lying here. His team was often in the playoffs. His team, the Pinar del Rio Green Sox, is among the fourth most storied teams in Cuba. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/artic...sp&c_id=cws

Good to see my boy produce big time. He is under pay as far as I a concerned. Hopefully, cuban players will get more opportunities coming straight from their cuban league such as garanteed contracts and MLB roster spots. No japanese players have hit more HR in their rookie season than Alexei's 21 HR.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Aug 26, 2008 -> 04:57 PM) Just curious, do Cubans root for a particular team or just individuals? Which MLB hats and jerseys do you see the most around your country? Any jerseys or hats you see in Cuba is because somebody in the USA send it. I would say that Yankees and Marlins are the two most favorite teams. The Yanks are favorite among the old timers and they have signed a lots of cubans defectors too. However, any team with cubans are followed too. The Sox are very popular because El Duque and Contreras are WS champs in 2005 and Alexei is now playing for the ChiSox. I dislike the Marlins myself. I do not have a team that I always root for per say. When I was in the refugee camps in 1995, I used to root for the Mariners with Griffey, Jay Buher, Edgar Martinez, Tino Martinez, Bobby Ayala, Randy Johnson, Omar Vizquel, etc. Then, I swithed to the Yanks in the late 90's. Then, the ChiSox in the new century. I also like the Nats, but they are a pain to watch.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 26, 2008 -> 03:18 PM) I actually think it will be tougher for Alexei. The Rays are the feel good story in baseball and Longoria has tremendous numbers. The big difference between Evan and Alexei is the fact that Evan has a much better OBP and is a better slugger. The only way I can see Ramirez picking it up is if Longoria reinjures himself or stinks coming back from the injury (unlikely, unless he's not really healthy). Quentin on the other hand is amongst the league leaders in almost every offensive category and has been on fire lately. If he keeps his production up and the SOx make the playoffs I would be shocked if he didn't win the MVP. So in short, season ends today, Quentin is the MVP, Longoria is the rookie of the year. Alexei has played better defense and has done several web gems. He has played 4 positions and has batted lower in the order. I do not have the numbers with runners in scoring position for Longoria, but he has only a few RBI more than Alexei batting in the middle of the order. Therefore, Alexei should have a better BA with RISP than Longoria by far.

QUOTE (earthshiner @ Aug 26, 2008 -> 03:31 PM) and HR title Dreaming does not cost anything, therefore, I also like a WS crown.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 26, 2008 -> 03:16 PM) Good stuff BB. I personally hope he goes on a ridiculous tear as do the White Sox...one that continues through October!!! Cold weather is coming soon to freeze the cuban missiles' toes and ears! At the begining of the season, cold weather + Ozzie's lack of confidence in him resulted in a low average for Alexei.

QUOTE (BlackBetsy @ Aug 26, 2008 -> 02:24 PM) 131 games x 3.1 appearances = 406.1 appearances needed Alexei has 366 AB + 10 BB + 3 SF + 4 SH + 1 HBP = 384 plate appearances. He's 22 plate appearances short. Alexei will need 119 plate appearances over the last 31 games to reach the 503 level necessary to qualify. That's a bit less than 4 appearances per game. He should become "eligible' around game 154-155 assuming he plays all 31. Would be interesting if he went on a September tear and hit like .380 and became eligible for the batting title with like 5 games to go and won it. Muchas Gracias (Thank you very much). If Alexei wins the BA tittle and the ROY honors, he will join Tony Oliva who won both awards for the Twins.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 26, 2008 -> 01:16 PM) A player must have 3.1 plate appearences per team game played. (AB+BB+HBP) Ramirez is not hitting that mark. Thanks! I always forget about the BB and HBP.

http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/league_leaders.js...meSubFrame=2008

If Longoria keeps himself out of the lineup or does not comeback strong, the Cuban Missile can take ROY honors. CQ is competing against more MVP candidates and the Sox must finish in first place. Therefore, CQ for MVP is more in doubt.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Aug 25, 2008 -> 08:22 PM) Alexei Ramirez is just an incredible hitter, it's an absolute pleasure to watch him do his thing. I am glad the Sox brains did not sent him to the minors. Don't you?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 25, 2008 -> 07:07 PM) After a full season here and hopefully another month in the playoffs too, I really doubt they'll send Alexei to winter ball, but hey, you never know. Remember he was a SS in Cuba full time I believe. No. Alexei played 7 or 8 seasons in Cuba. I do not remember exactly how many seasons he played back home, but he played SS in his rookie season only. Then, he played CF the rest of the way. He played 2B in emergency basis.

Japon vs Cuba http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player ... de=sportbb Korea vs USA http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player ... de=sportbb

Are you gus following this tournament? Korea came from behind and beat USA 8x7 in the bottom of the 9th. Davey Johnson is the manager for the USA team. You can follow USA here: http://web.usabaseball.com/index.jsp Cuba beat Japan 4x2. There were several cuban shots that hit the wall. I thought the outfield wall would fall down like the Berlin wall. Cuba should have won this game with a bigger margin. Yu Darvish, ran his mouth before the game saying that there are not better hitters than japanese hitters in the olympics. He is supposed to be the next big thing from the so called "second MLB" and he could not pass the 5th. He got rocked good. The japanese league is not the second MLB as MLB and media want everybody to believe. If Cuba would have move its outfielders very shallow, many of these japanese short drives would have been caught. China Taipei beat Holland behind a very good lefty. Canada KO China.

QUOTE (Balance @ Aug 8, 2008 -> 12:27 PM) Yes, this I know. I was poking fun at the spelling of "tittle" English is not my primary language. Therefore, I will make spelling mistakes quite often. Even though I may know the spelling of any given word, many times nonnative speakers will make mistakes. I won't check the spelling every time I post a message. I'll go crazy. By the way, I did not appreciate you joke.

Milton Bradley has 306 AB and Alexei 303 AB. Still Alexei is no where to be found in this list. What is going on? http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/league_leaders.js...meSubFrame=2008 http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_stats_...playerID=493351

QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ Aug 7, 2008 -> 09:45 AM) To be fair, its not like Alexi pulls a Uribe and swings at balls no where near the zone on a consistant basis. He is just very good at putting the ball in play, which doesnt lead to deep counts. Maybe opposing pitchers see him out there and think this skeleton won't be able to hit the ball. Ha, ha, ha. It is all about swing velocity and pitch recognition.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Aug 6, 2008 -> 10:24 PM) Some pretty interesting numbers regarding Ramirez: Alexei has struckout 39 times this season, only 3 of those were looking. Alexei sees 3.17 pitches per plate appearance, that's well below average which is 3.80. Swisher sees 4.52, Cabrera: 3.49. Alexei swings at 61% of the pitches he sees. League average is 45%. Alexei makes contact on 80% of his swings which is exactly league average. Alexei swings at the first pitch about 50% of the time. League average: 28%, Nick Swisher: 15%, OC: 29%, CQ: 35%, AJ: 38% Bottom line: Alexei Ramirez REALLY likes to swing the bat. And he fouls a lot of pitches making the bad guys to throw more pitches. Ramirez should bat second behind a lefty leadoff hitter. He can hit to all fields and he can bunt too. Ramirez has 42 RBI's and he has batted at the bottom of the order for the most part. In a 600 AB season, those RBI numbers are great for a guy hitting the low.

The two players will be represented by puertorrican baseball agent Jaime Torres. Torres is the same agent that represents Jose Contreras, Alexei Ramirez, Yuniesky Betancourt and Dayan Viciedo. Torres is vacationing in Italy now and he said these two players should be in NY now.

QUOTE (TLAK @ Aug 1, 2008 -> 05:50 AM) We're not the only ones interested in this. This post has been edited by the Soxtalk staff to remove objectionable material. Soxtalk encourages a free discussion between its members, but does not allow personal attacks, threats, graphic sexual material, nudity, or any other materials judged offensive by the Administrators and Moderators. Thank you.. He thinks he is the master in Cuba and the rest of us are his slaves. Cubans have voted with our feet through the years. He is a knucklehead that does not get it. Like el Duke said recently: " I am not a defector nor a traitor. The people of Cuba knows who is who."

QUOTE (scenario @ Jul 30, 2008 -> 11:25 AM) Could you comment a little more on this issue? I'd like to hear your perspective on it. Seems like the age-issue has developed its own mythology with many fans and it would be nice to know what is 'real'. Well when you have wasted your best years in Cuba and decided to defect at age 32, then you need to drop some years so that MLB teams pay more. Many cuban players wait too long to defect. El Duke, Contreras, Osvaldo Fernandez, etc. These youngters do not need to do that. MLB is paying more attention to cubans now. Also MLB can void contracts now based on lying about your age and players know this. The braves and the sox are two examples of teams that have relied on their own cuban players to get scouting reports on cuban defectors. C Brayan Pena put a good word for SS Yunel Escobar because they used to play together in the junior years in Havana.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 30, 2008 -> 10:50 AM) Taking American jobs.... You are right. However, the number of cubans taking american jobs in MLB is insignificant compared to other countries. In addition, other countries need MLB academies to form their own players taking more investments and jobs away from the USA. You can blame MLB for that. MLB can put the same academies in Washington D.C., NY, etc and form american players. Cuba has been able to form its own players before and after 1959.