Venezuela Defeats United States in Miami

Venezuela again defeated the US this week in the final game of the second round of the World Baseball Classic. The US made several errors and had some injured players as well. Though the Venezuelans seem to be holding up better, both teams advanced to the finals.

During the rainy game, Venezuela pulled ahead early on, scoring six runs in the second inning.  Despite being delayed 70 minutes and playing in less than favorable conditions, la patria querida emerged victorious once again!

Keep watching for the final round, which begins on Saturday, March 21st.

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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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Venezuelan Tigers Dominate in Caribbean World Series

The Caribbean World Series has been unfolding this week in Mexicali, Mexico. Venezuela’s Tigres de Aragua have remained undefeated, and could take the title if they beat Mexico tonight.

Yesterday, they defeated last year’s champions, the Dominican Republic’s Tigres de Licey. Venezuela used five different pitchers during the game, beating the opposing Tigres 3-2. For details, see the AP coverage.

Venezuela is a perennial powerhouse in professional baseball. The country’s Leones de Caracas won the Caribbean World Series in 2006.

UPDATE: They did it! The Tigres won the Caribbean Series again!

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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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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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Venezuela’s Santana Makes More Headlines

Although football stole the show this weekend because of the Super Bowl, Venezuela’s star baseball player Johan Santana continues to make headlines.

Today, the New York Daily News calls Santana “The Spirit of Venezuela.” The baseball field in his home town of Tovar, Venezuela proudly announces, “Welcome to The Territory of Johan Santana.”

A scout from the Houston Astros first noticed the budding Venezuelan player back in 1994, when Santana was only 15 years old. The first contract he signed with the Astros — at the age of 16 — was worth $15,000.

Back then, perhaps no one would have predicted the extent of Santana’s achievements, for he has just become the highest-paid pitcher in the U.S. Last Friday, the Venezuelan star signed a seven-year contract with the New York Mets that is worth an astounding $151 million.

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