Talking with Jorge Rolando Bauger in La Hora del Deporte, I discover that this man has been gathering documents for three years to obtain Dominican nationality. He tells me that it has been a bit difficult and requires the collaboration of the local authorities, in this case the Ministry of the Interior and Police commanded by Jesús Vasquez.
Bauger is the most prominent and well-known (famous) figure in Dominican soccer in the last 40 years. As a journalist, he has been the face of our football at all times, whether as a commentator, narrator, manager and coach.
Bauger arrived in the country 45 years ago, in late 1977, and has been active in soccer ever since. He has TV and radio programs, soccer school, etc.
Is it difficult to obtain Dominican nationality? It depends, it has been easy for famous artists and also for people from the political and financial world who have come to the country to invest and do many mischief. Politicians know what I’m talking about.
This man, Argentine by birth, has worked for 4 decades in favor of our football, and I draw the attention of Mr. Chú to deal with this case. If they believe that he qualifies, they may indulge him in citizenship because, as he himself said, “I have already decided that I am going to die on Dominican soil.” Hopefully Chú will call you and review your case right away.
THE CLOSER: I’ve often been watching pitcher Emmanuel Clase, the closing reliever for the Cleveland Guardians. He is a 24-year-old native of Río San Juan, in the Northeast of the country, and has been in MLB since 2019 when he debuted with Texas.
He has a powerful 98-99 mph fastball and can hit 100, but his main pitching is a 92-91 mph break with which he controls and strikes out. Last year he had very good numbers with 4-5 and a 1.29 ERA, 24 saves in 69.2 innings he struck out 74.
This year he’s on the path to surpassing those numbers with 19 saves, a 1.31 ERA in 34.1 innings, 37 strikeouts, and half the season to go. He is signed through 2026 after receiving a deal of just $20 million. Either Cleveland cheated on him or he fell for it.
While he’s one of the best relievers in the league and that’s good news.
THE SERIE: Emmanuel Clase wrapped up Cleveland’s 2-0 win over the Yankees, ending the weekend three-game series. The Yankees had won a doubleheader on Saturday as Friday was not played due to rain. Even yesterday in his last out, against Aaron Hicks, the bases were loaded due to two transfers and an error. Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie had 6 hits to the Yankees, who had only that for the entire game. (Hit was on Josh Donaldson in the 4th.) New York, however, continues to win series and has a beautiful record of 58-22 with a distance of more than 12 games from second place. Cleveland stays at 40-36. Franmil Reyes hit his 6th. campaign home run with 19 RBIs.
RARE GAME: Jeremy Peña’s second home run of the game grounded the Angels and Houston won 4-2. Peña, a rookie of the year candidate, went 4-for-5 in a terrific performance, pair of home runs, his average jumped to .279 , 11 homers and 30 RBIs. There was something off the charts in this game as Houston’s pitching struck out 20 Angelenos. Framber Valdez, the starter, struck out 13 in 6 innings, followed by Héctor Neris, Rafael Montero each with 2, and Ryan Presley had 3. Houston improves to 51-27 at the top of the Western Division and the Angels remain at 37 -44.
CLOSER: The Atlanta Braves have closed in on the Mets to 3 1/2 in the NL East. The Mets beat Texas 4-1 with Venezuelan Carlos Carrasco who is 9-4 with a 4.64 ERA. Starling Marte hit his ninth home run of the year. Atlanta lost to Cincinnati 3-4, despite two home runs by Marcell Ozuna (16). Ozuna has 34 RBIs and a batting average of .227.
AGAIN: The San Diego Padres put Sergio Alcantara up for assignment. He hit .159 in 88 at-bats and it’s the third time he’s been released by a major league team this year. That started in training with the Cubs, then he signed with Arizona and hit .189 there, signed as a free agent with San Diego and you see the results. This boy (El Chico Maravilla del Licey) is going through a bad time.
