Venezuela’s Santana Ready to Get in the Game

Johan Santana, the star pitcher for the Mets who hails from Venezuela, says that despite elbow problems he will be ready for Spring training on Thursday and wants to pitch opening day on April 6th.

“Right now, I feel pretty good, and I felt like I could get in a game,” he told the New York Daily News. This is despite the fact that he did not pitch in the recent World Baseball Classic, disappointing Venezuelans.

Santana told Newsday: “I haven’t skipped anything. Just staying with the plan. Hopefully whenever it’s the time, the right time, to get on the field, we’ll do it. We’ll get on the mound. But as of right now, there’s no reason to have that competition mind-set. It’s just about getting ready for Opening Day.”

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Venezuela’s Guillen: Why Can’t We Be Friends?

Ozzie Guillen is tired of the sour tone of U.S.-Venezuela relations in recent years.

Speaking from his home in Caracas, the Chicago White Sox manager weighed in on the financial crisis and the effect it may have on baseball. He said that “teams will have to look for alternatives, work with lower salaries.”

Guillen also expressed hope that President-elect Obama and Venezuela’s Chavez will strengthen relations. The AP reports that he added, “I’m not asking them to be great friends, but at least that they shake hands.”

After all, trade between the U.S. and Venezuela rose by about 50 percent in 2008.

Hopefully Santa Claus was listening.

Guillen is in Caracas to give Christmas gifts to children with cancer through his Oswaldo Guillen Foundation. Next year, he hopes to do the same thing in Chicago.

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Our Newest Favorite Venezuelan Baseball Star: K-Rod

Another superstar pitcher from Venezuela was signed by the New York Mets last week.

Francisco Rodriguez (or “K-Rod”) grew up outside of Caracas, where he first set foot on a baseball diamond at his grandmother’s insistence at age seven. She simply wanted to get him out of the house.

Now he has gone on to become one of the most promising names in Major League Baseball. At 20, he helped the Angels win the World Series, becoming the youngest member of any team to win the title. This year, at 26, he set a record for the greatest number of saves in one season.

The Mets signed K-Rod for three years at a rumored $37 million. Find out more in an in-depth feature article from the New York Daily News.

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Venezuelan Sluggers Hit Home New Records

Venezuela has always been one of the best-represented countries in the U.S. Major Leagues. This year, Venezuela stood out for sending even more professional baseball players into MLB at a time when the number of foreign-born players declined overall. Now, the Venezuelans are breaking records.

Making headlines this week for their never-before-seen feats were Francisco Rodriguez (“The Kid,” or “K-Rod”) of the L.A. Angels and Carlos Zambrano (“El Toro,” above) of the Chicago Cubs.

Last Saturday, Rodriguez stunned fans by saving a record number of 58 games for his team to defeat the old record set by Bobby Thigpen nearly two decades ago. Then, on Sunday, Carlos Zambrano pitched a lockout game in which the other side achieved no hits or runs.  Watch a video montage of Zambrano’s “no run no hit” game set to triumphant rock music from the Caracas newspaper, El Universal.

Read more about Francisco Rodriguez and Carlos Zambrano, go to MLB.com. For articles in Spanish, click here and here.

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Venezuela’s Ordonez Thrills in the Minor Leagues

Our favorite Detroit Tiger, Magglio Ordonez, has been recovering from a recent injury while sitting in with the minor leagues’ West Michigan Whitecaps, and he is wildly popular at games. Fans in sold-out crowds have begun wearing Magglio caps and wigs to mimic the player. Watch a video of his minor league escapades here.

In case you forgot, Magglio is a powerful right fielder who hails from Coro, Venezuela. He was picked last year as the American League Batting Champion, and has played in the U.S. since 1997.

The plight of some of the newer recruits in the minor leagues has made news recently. The New York Times reported this week that young players from Venezuela and the Dominican Republic sometimes have their bonuses pocketed by club officials. We say, have some respect!

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Baseball Update: Get Well Soon

A favorite Venezuelan baseball player, Magglio Ordonez, will be out of the game for 2 weeks after he pulled a muscle.

The injury occurred on Saturday, when his team, the Detroit Tigers, beat the Colorado Rockies 7-6.

He told the press, “I’ll be back when I’m ready.” Get well soon, Magglio!

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Venezuela’s Comeback Kid: Oscar Salazar

Oscar Salazar of Maracay, Venezuela, is earning a reputation as a strong infielder and powerhouse hitter with the Baltimore Orioles.

His success was not always a sure thing, though.

Salazar debuted in Major League Baseball in 2002, but only lasted eight games with the Detroit Tigers. He tried his luck in the Mexican leagues, and, with no other offers, took one last shot at a career in baseball in Italy.

That’s where Salazar really put in his time. “”You have to be patient… When you go to Italy, you can’t go over there and say ‘play and have fun.’ You’ve got to go over there and work,” he said.

It paid off, and Salazar became the best hitter in the Italian leagues. Back in Venezuela, he caught the attention of an Orioles scout. Now, he is helping them win games.

“It’s a reminder to our group… You cannot let anyone tell you you can’t do anything,” said Orioles Manager Dave Tremblay. Credit: Washington Post.

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Venezuelan Sports Stars in the News

The Venezuelan race car driver Milka Duno finished 19th in the Indianapolis 500 last weekend. Despite a crash, Duno was with the lead pack for most of the race, and showed much improvement over last year’s finish in 31st place. Here are some more staggering numbers: the race lasted 3 and a half hours, the average speed of the cars was 143 miles per hour, and the winner collected $2.98 million!

Milka Duno was been one of the most exciting new recruits in indy car racing. As a talented, beautiful and seriously smart newcomer to the sport, she has attracted many fans. See our previous posts on Milka’s magnetism.

Today, we remember the baseball player Geremi González, who died last Sunday after being struck by lightning in his native state of Zulia, Venezuela. González had pitched for five different Major League Baseball teams, including the Chicago Cubs, which held a moment of silence for the player yesterday.

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Venezuelan Baseball Players, Then and Now

Spring training has started in Major League Baseball, and believe it or not, there are 130 players from Venezuela participating. Nearly 50 more sluggers from Venezuela are headed for independent leagues in the U.S. and other countries including Mexico, Italy and Japan.

These days, the highest-paid pitcher in the major leagues, Venezuela’s Johan Santana, is contracted for nearly $150 million.

Of course, the world of baseball was not always so extravagant.

The first Venezuelan ball player to enter the U.S. major leagues was pitcher Alex Carrasquel, a native of Caracas, who was hired by the Washington Senators in 1919. While Carrasquel never earned a fraction of what today’s star pitchers are worth, he did gave them big shoes to fill — back home, Carrasquel was known as “El Patón” (Bigfoot) because of his size-14 cleats.

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