San Francisco’s 2010 and 2012 World Championships.
of the few bright spots in Panama’s two losses during the 2009 World Baseball Classic Pool D competition in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In game one against host Puerto Rico, Durango singled, walked twice and stole one base. In Panama’s follow-up contest
in which they were eliminated by the Dominican Republic, he went 2-for-3. Hitting .600 in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Durango was second in the international games in batting average and on-base percentage. Panama’s 48-year-old manager will use Durango’s ability to get on base, steal a bag or two and ultimately score to win the 2012 WBC Qualifier games beginning November 15th at Panama City, Panama’s Rod Carew Stadium.
to lead the country to greatness by advancing to the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He will not be alone in this special assignment as former MLB outfielder Rubén Rivera (1995-2003) will be there by his side every step of the way. Although his cousin–New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera–has never participated in the World Baseball Classic, Rubén will be making his third WBC appearance for Panama. Still playing ball and in excellent shape at age 39, Rubén is very much the heart and soul of this Panama squad.
With over 3.5 million Panamanians cheering on their national baseball heroes in the World Baseball Classic Qualifier, there’s a good chance that the sense of excitement in Panama City will equal that of the recent enthusiasm at the 2012 World Series Champion Giants celebratory parade in the streets of downtown San Francisco. The common link to key both of these teams is Giant coach and Panama manager Roberto Kelly. With his expertise and his roster of very talented players, Panama is destined to party hard after a win of the
WBC Qualifier Final on November 19th. 
Panama’s Rubén Tejada may be small in stature but a big factor in decisive World Baseball Classic
Despite being labeled “The Rookie” for his his small size dating back to his childhood living across the street from Panama’s Omar Torrijos Herrera Stadium, Mets shortstop Rubén Tejada has big league intelligence and baseball embedded in his DNA. The Santiago de Veraguas native wants victory for his country. Host Panama battles neighboring Colombia, Brazil, and Nicaragua in the upcoming World Baseball Classic Qualifier 
beginning November 15th at Panama City’s renovated Rod Carew Stadium. “The only reason we are here is to win and clinch a spot on the Classic,” Tejada said. “The main thing is move on to the Classic, and God willing, everything will go our way. I come with more experience, so hopefully everything will come out as planned.”
the tendency to swing early at-bat.
“El Caballo” Carlos Lee returns to Panama to corral a victory for his country in World Baseball Classic
A cattle rancher with properties outside Houston and also in his hometown of Aguadulce, Panama, MLB free agent Carlos Lee may not know where he is headed to play for the 2013 season. Yet he does know that home is where the heart is, and right now Panama is his immediate destination for the upcoming World Baseball Classic Qualifier at Rod Carew Stadium in Panama City beginning with host Panama’s opening game against Brazil on November 15th and culminating with the live
MLB Network televised WBC Qualifier Final on November 19th at 5 PM (PST). Home Sweet Home Panama will be Lee’s final outpost when he decides to gracefully retire at the end of his celebrated Major League Baseball career. “When I’m finished, I’m planning to go back home,” Lee said. “I’m from Panama. It’s pretty safe and nice there.”
and former Giants outfielder Carlos Beltran during
an August 2011 game at San Francisco’s AT&T Park.
Despite his place in the White Sox records book, many think of Lee as a lifetime Texan. As the cleanup hitter for Houston, he drove in 100 or more runs in three of his five Astro seasons, averaged 26 homers and hit over .300 three times. Carlos Lee would rather be known for his comparison to Texas ranching icon Nolan Ryan–not for his seven no-hitters, 27 major league seasons, the all-time strikeout record, or his 324 wins–but rather for Ryan’s 2011 Golden Spur Award, which recognizes leadership and exceptional service to the ranching industry.
“El Caballo” lives up to his nickname as the owner of Slugger Ranch in Texas, where he raises prize-winning Brahman, and nine ranches in his native Panama. Lee instantly won credibility with his 2006 Brahman Grand Champion at the largest Brahman show in the world at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Two years later, he donated $25,000 and over 300 bales of hay to support Texas ranchers whose properties were ravaged by Hurricane Ike. 
Whether it’s the playing of the game of baseball, the breeding of cattle and quarter horses, or the roping of calf, Lee wants to leave behind the family legacy of being among Panama’s best. Baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew, who was born in 1945 on a train in the city of Gatún–in what was then known as the Panama Canal Zone–currently holds the honorary title of Panama’s best all-time hitter. So it’s only appropriate that the country’s best–including “El Caballo” Carlos Lee–will be playing in the World Baseball Classic Qualifier under Panama’s legendary manager
Roberto Kelly against Brazil, Colombia and Nicaragua at Panama City’s Rod Carew Stadium beginning November 15th. While handicappers are betting on
five days of modified double-elimination competition, insiders will be banking on plenty of horsepower from “El Caballo” Carlos Lee–who plans to lead Panama
from gate-to-wire en route to the WBC Winner’s Circle.
Panama’s Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz ready for 2013 Philadelphia Phillies and World Baseball Classic
Thanks to a clubhouse joke played by pitcher Antonio Alfonseca–who in a 2008 television interview referred to Ruiz as “chucha” (a Colombian slang term for “underarm odor”)–teammates, the media and baseball fans have since referred to the Panamanian MLB All-Star catcher by his beloved nickname “Chooch”. The sweat rebels sacrificed over a century ago which gave Panama independence from Colombia is reminiscent to that of national hero Carlos Ruiz’s in his improbable “I Think I Can” MLB ascent.
When Ruiz shared the news with his schoolteacher mother that he had been offered a $8,000 signing bonus with the opportunity to play in the Dominican Republic to start his professional baseball career in the Phillies organization, Inocenicia Rios was a bit nervous. After all, her 19-year-old son would be dropping out of school and abandoning his college coursework toward a degree in physical education for little money to beat the odds of making it to the Big Leagues at a position he was unfamiliar with.
the 20th perfect game in MLB history.
If Philadelphia doesn’t acquire a big right-handed slugger during the offseason, the Phillies may very well use Ruiz again in 2013 as their cleanup hitter.
at Panama City’s Rod Carew Stadium. Host Panama, Nicaragua, Colombia and Brazil compete
in a modified double-elimination tournament with the winner qualifying for the 2013 WBC.
The pride of Boquerón–Carlos Ruiz will undoubtedly give host Panama an edge over neighboring Colombia, Brazil, and Nicaragua in the upcoming World Baseball Classic Qualifier on November 15-19 at the newly renovated Rod Carew Stadium in Panama City. If you can’t make it there in person, MLB Network will televise the final Qualifier game live from the Panama City, Panama pool on Monday, November 19th beginning at 5 PM (PST). The WBC Qualifiers, which expanded the competitive field of the tournament from 16 to 28 countries, has already seen Spain and Canada advance to the main tournament.
The winners from the Panama and Taiwan qualifying pools will join Spain and Canada in the first round WBC competition against Australia, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, United States and Venezuela March 7-10 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona and Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale. Second round WBC games will be held March 12-16 at Marlins Park in Miami, while the WBC Semi-Finals and Final take place March 17-19 at San Francisco’s AT&T Park. MLB Network will televise all 39 games of the 2013 World Baseball Classic. iViva el Béisbol!
Toronto Blue Jays prospect Marcus Knecht brings Can Do Attitude from Canada to Canberra Cavalry
Detroit’s Octavio Dotel usually wrecks havoc on right-handed hitters like Canadian-born Marcus Knecht, but on April Fools in a 2012 Jays Spring Training game Toronto’s 2010 third-round draft pick had the last laugh by blasting his first Grapefruit League home run off the veteran Dominican bullpen specialist.
launch a home run off Octavio Dotel in a 2012 Blue Jays Spring Training game on April 1st.
2012 Blue Jays Spring Training exhibition game. (Photo by the Canadian Baseball Network)
The 22-year-old is hoping to continue with his offensive prowess and defensive excellence as a member of the Australian Baseball League’s Canberra Cavalry. Second only to last season’s ABL Champion Perth Heat in team offense and pitching, the Canberra Cavalry narrowly missed the ABL playoffs. With the injection of Knecht’s “Can Do” attitude, Canberra will be charging right out of the gate for a 2013 playoff berth.
Perth Heat add bite to lineup with Canadian import and Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Carter Bell
Like Sex and the City starlett Kim Cattrall, Carter Bell grew up in the small Vancouver Island, BC city of Courtenay. Opting out of the A-Rod spotlight method with the usual Hollywood fanfare and paparazzi, the 22-year-old Bell chose a lower profile means of pursuing his professional baseball career under the radar by playing for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League.
of accepting a scholarship to play ball for the Oregon State Beavers.
MLB noticed Bell early on when he donned a Team Canada uniform for the first-time at age 17. Representing his country in far away competitions held in Mexico, Japan as well as on his home turf, the BC All-Star chose the 2006 and 2007 NCAA National Champ Oregon State University baseball program to further develop his craft. The decision was sound as he was selected in the 29th round of the 2011 MLB June Amateur Draft and signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks following his junior year at OSU.
Hitting .270 in 41 games with eight doubles, two triples, one home run and 17 RBI, Bell’s pro debut with the 2011 Single-A Short Season Yakima Bears catapulted him to Single-A Advanced Visalia Rawhide in 2012. In Cal League play, he batted .259 in 81 games with 11 doubles, one triple, four home runs and 36 RBI. The road leading Down Under to the Perth Heat originated back in Oregon, where Bell played for former Perth Heat manager and long-standing Corvallis Knights skipper Brooke Knight after his first year at OSU. In his limited 10 games of 2009 West Coast League action, Bell hit .303 (10-33) with three RBI before suffering a season-ending concussion.
Knight also read Bell the disclaimer and warned him of the Aussie side effects: “I told him that Australia was culturally different as well and when it gets hot in December one can get homesick real fast and start crying out for girlfriends.” Knight feels blessed to have had the opportunity to coach such fine players as Carter Bell in Perth and Corvallis. “With guidance, I have luckily ended up with the right kids. Carter is a solid player. I’m just waiting for him to breakout. He’s got gap power and can hit the ball well the other way (to the opposite field). His power numbers will bump up as they did for import Adam Melker, a St. Louis Cardinals prospect.”
Adam was Carter’s teammate on Brooke Knight’s 2009 Corvallis Knights. They will reunite under Knight’s leadership on the Perth Heat in the upcoming 2012 Asia Series on November 8-11 in Busan, South Korea. Melker hit 10 home runs for Double-A Springfield in 2012 as compared to none in 2011. Knight believes in Carter Bell. “He’s got a chance to make a difference. Carter has good range and can play the corners, not to mention he’s a Team Canada All-Star Shortstop.”
the Australian Baseball League’s Perth Heat. (Photo by Ken Weisenberger/Strike3Photos.com)
MLB veteran and Padres Double-A pitching coach Tim Worrell likes Hayden Beard’s competitiveness
With 14 years of Major League Baseball pitching experience under his belt, it was a no brainer for San Diego’s AA affiliate in San Antonio to call on Tim Worrell to fill the shoes of former Missions’ pitching coach Jimmy Jones, who was summoned to become the new Padres bullpen. Hired by the parent-club San Diego Padres in 2010, Worrell had been working in Peoria, Arizona with the organization’s players in extended spring training and on rehab assignment prior to reporting to the Texas League team. Having to leave his wife and six boys back home in Phoenix to take on pitching coach duties in San Antonio, it wouldn’t be long before Worrell would be adopted by his new baseball family of international pitchers led by Aussie Hayden Beard.
the Baseball World Cup in Panama as well as for
the Australian Baseball League’s Canberra Cavalry. During the 2011-12 Cavalry season, he earned himself ABL Player of the Week honours and a team-leading five wins with a 2.82 ERA. Heading into 2012 Padres Spring Training Camp, Beard looked radiant and as confident as ever. After leading High-A Lake Elsinore Storm to a 2011 Cal League Championship, it was natural for the right-handed hurler to saddle up for a promotion to Double-A San Antonio Missions. Although there were a few bumps in the road during the seemingly rough ride, the Aussie pitcher finished strong with a 6-5 record in just over 119 innings of work. Starting in 19 games, Beard gave his team a chance to win every outing. However, he relished after the All-Star break in his 12 bullpen appearances during which his strikeout totals accelerated to 69.
We caught up with family man Tim Worrell in the San Antonio Missions’ dugout recently and discussed how Padres pitching prospect Hayden Beard’s best years may have yet to come.
Roberto: 27-year-old Aussie pitcher Hayden Beard is a late bloomer because he had to sit out for three years due to nerve damage in his arm. The Padres obviously have faith in him by sending him your way in Double-A San Antonio. Having said that you reached the prime of your career at age 31, do you see some parallels between the two of you in showing him that there is light at the end of the tunnel?
Tim Worrell: Yeah, sure. Again, I never try to tell these guys where their careers could finish at. I’d be a dummy to tell them that. First off, he’s got a great live arm and great movement on his pitches. Sometimes he struggles a little bit with control and that obviously puts us in trouble. When we’re behind in the count regularly, it puts the hitters in hitter’s counts. But he’s definitely starting to get some of these approaches knowing that is an area he needs to work on. And that in itself ends up helping to control some of the results that end up happening to us. (You) can’t always control them all, but it does put us in a better position. And he is still working on fine-tuning his game. It wasn’t long ago that we sped him up a little quicker to the plate without giving up quality of stuff so that he could hold runners on first better. So there are definitely physical things we need to do and he needs to do to make his game better. But a lot of it is just believing and trusting his stuff.
Roberto: Watching his roommate Miles Mikolas get the call-up to the Padres, rubbing shoulders with last year’s surprise in the San Diego bullpen, Erik Hamren, and this year’s sensation, Nick Vincent, must have been inspirational for Hayden with the realization that he could be next. Having watched him pitch in Australia and in Lake Elsinore, the fact remains is that Hayden Beard is a great competitor. Now that he is paired up with you in San Antonio, I think it’s an awesome combination. I’m really happy that you guys are really able to work together in developing his craft.
Tim Worrell: Yep. And you brought up probably his number one attribute and that’s his competitiveness, which is probably the most important thing. Because a true competitor never gives in. We have to remind ourselves at times maybe that we are that. But they don’t give in, and they are always looking to get better and always looking to get the job done.
A’s Grant Balfour rages against opposing teams
As it was previously in 2010 and 2011, pitching is once again all the rage now in Major League Baseball. Despite seven no-hitters tossed in 2012 by starting pitchers Homer Bailey, Felix Hernandez, Matt Cain, Kevin Millwood (with the help of five relievers), Johan Santana, Jered Weaver and Phil Humber, it’s the men in the pen that garner most of the over-the-top baseball fanaticism. Leading the late-inning charge of borderline insanity is Aussie closer Grant Balfour of the Oakland Athletics. Often seen dumping water over his head before leaving the bullpen and talking to himself in-between pitches, Balfour’s on-field antics are undoubtedly the most anticipated sight to see in the 2012 MLB playoffs.
game has resurrected sleepy baseball crowd participation to electric rock concert proportions.
3,000 means a lot more than another oil change
It’s been 40 years since Roberto Clemente joined MLB’s elite 3000 hit club on September 30, 1972 after hitting a double off Mets’ lefty Jon Matlack at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA.
San Juan Senadores Winter League team were personally invited to visit Clemente at his home in Puerto Rico. Currently working as a Houston Astros Minor League pitching coordinator, Matlack recalled when Clemente gathered everyone in his trophy room to talk baseball: “I thought that was pretty classy on his part. He was very personable, showed us his trophy room and memorabilia and spent
a lot of time talking about hitting. Every part of me
was awe-struck.”
Matlack reminisced: “This bat was leaning in a corner. Somebody asked about hitting, and he picked up the bat to demonstrate. I remember thinking, ‘That’s a big bat,’ and
I asked about it. He said it had the maximum dimensions. He set it back down, and when everybody sort of moved on, I grabbed hold of it. I could barely pick it up. It led me to believe how strong this guy really was.” Clemente’s strength was tested when Matlack faced “The Great One” six times prior to their final reunion in the fourth inning on September 30, 1972. Clemente was hitless off him with one walk in previous matchups. Matlack’s strategy this at-bat was to avoid a mistake on the inner half, while hoping Clemente would take a quality strike on the outside corner. On a 2-2 pitch, the lefty spun a curveball on the outside.
Matlack said, “As it left my hand,
I was a little upset, because I realized this thing’s not going to make the strike zone. But he took that long stride, kept himself back and pulled it off the left-center-field wall for a double.” Matlack did not recognize what had happened until the second-base umpire, Doug Harvey, presented the ball to Clemente. Jim Fregosi, the Mets’ shortstop who retrieved it, remembered Clemente’s rather nonchalant reaction. He raised his helmet briefly to the fans. Fregosi said, “He was pretty cool about everything he did. That’s how he was.” Fregosi believed Clemente understood the importance of #3000.
Roberto Clemente Award honors MLB players’ contributions off the field in the community
The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to a player who demonstrates the values Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others. Each of the 30 MLB clubs nominate a player, and the winner is announced during the World Series. Baseball fans will be automatically registered for a chance to win a grand prize trip for four to the 2012 World Series or $2500 of baseball equipment donated to the their community and an MLB.com gift card when they participate in the process of selecting the national award recipient by clicking HERE
to vote for their favorite 2012 Roberto Clemente Award nominee:
Willie Bloomquist (Arizona D-backs), Tim Hudson (Atlanta Braves), Jim Johnson (Baltimore Orioles), Jon Lester (Boston Red Sox), David DeJesus (Chicago Cubs), Jake Peavy (Chicago White Sox), Todd Frazier (Cincinnati Reds), Jason Kipnis (Cleveland Indians), Michael Cuddyer (Colorado Rockies), Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers), Wesley Wright (Houston Astros), Alex Gordon (Kansas City Royals), C.J. Wilson (Los Angeles Angels), Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers), Logan Morrison (Miami Marlins), Rickie Weeks (Milwaukee Brewers), Justin Morneau (Minnesota Twins), Johan Santana (New York Mets), Mark Teixeira (New York Yankees), Brandon McCarthy (Oakland Athletics), Jimmy Rollins (Philadelphia Phillies), Chris Resop (Pittsburgh Pirates), Matt Holliday (St. Louis Cardinals), Luke Gregerson (San Diego Padres), Matt Cain (San Francisco Giants), Felix Hernandez (Seattle Mariners), David Price (Tampa Bay Rays), Michael Young (Texas Rangers), Ricky Romero (Toronto Blue Jays) and Ryan Zimmerman (Washington Nationals).
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