(I dedicate this column to Rafael Avila, one of the most notable responsible for the growth of the Dominican baseball player in the last 50 years. Avila began his efforts here in the 70s with the Licey and the Dodgers, he continued with a tremendous contribution in 1987 by building the Las Palmas academy, the first with “big league” trim.
Thanks to their initiatives, the seeds sown have allowed some 90 young Dominicans to remain on the major league roster each year.
Avila remains linked to the Dodgers as a pensioner, and resides in Pembroke Pines, Miami, with Doña Gloria, his lifelong guardian angel. Rafael is the father of Alberto Avila, the general manager of Detroit, and the grandfather of Alex Avila, a major league catcher.
His contributions to Dominican baseball are superb and he was immortalized by the Hall of Fame in 1996).
HISTORY:The Dodgers came to California in 1958 and settled in Los Angeles, . The Dodgers were from Brooklyn, NY, and despite being founded in 1883, they won only one world series crown there, in 1955. In Los Angeles they have been champions in 1959-53-65-81-88 and 2020. They have won the league title 24 times, the most winner of the National.
THE MANAGER:Dave Roberts, 49, has managed the Dodgers since 2016. He won the Western Division 5 years in a row, until they lost to the Giants last year. Roberts’ overall record with the Dodgers is 542 wins, 329 losses, averaging .622.
This club has participated in 3 of the last 5 world series. In 2017 they lost to Houston, the following year to Boston, and in 2020 they were champions against Tampa Bay.
ROTATION:They have a good and reliable pitching rotation. Leading is Walker Buehler, who went 16-4 and 2.47 last year, with 212 strikeouts. The Mexican Julio Urías had 20-3 and 2.96 and was the only winner of 20 games in MLB (number in extinction). Future Hall of Famer Clayton Keshaw went 10-8 with a 3-55 ERA. At 34, the Dodgers gave him a one-year, $17 million deal. Then Andrew Heaney, Tony Gonsolin, dud David Price…The new closer is Craig Kimbrel, acquired last week by AJ Pollock.
OFFENSIVE:Freddie Freeman will be the face after a 6-year, $162 million deal.
The catcher is Will Smith, at second Max Muncy, at short Trea Turner, at third Justin Turner, and behind them Gavin Lux and Hanser Alberto. In the outfield, Chris Taylor, Cody Bellinger and Mookie Betts, and any of them will be designated.
projections? They are favorites to win the division again, ahead of the Giants and San Diego. Last year they won 106 games, but the competition will be tougher now.
A LITTLE MORE:In recent times, Dominican figures have disappeared from the Dodger scene. Adrian Beltré was on the team at the beginning of his career, between 1998-2004 and this last year he hit an NL-leading 48 home runs and 121 RBIs. Then he went into free agency and signed with the Seattle Mariners… . Manny Ramirez arrived from Boston in 2008 and was with them for almost three seasons…. By 2022, he projected Hanser Alberto as the savior of various situations in the Dodgers’ infield. Alberto is in excellent physical and mental condition, and can play third, short and second… Right now, he is the best backup infielder in the major leagues, especially after his tremendous display with the Cibao Giants this past winter… . Manager Dave Roberts’ coaches include Bob Geren, former manager of Oakland and Licey in Lidom, Dino Ebel, former manager of the Eastern Stars and Mark Prior, former pitcher…. Manuel Mota is still in the organization doing community relations work. On Sunday I spoke with José Mota, son of Manuel, who worked for 20 years as a commentator and narrator for the Angels. Now he will debut with the Dodgers and that is good news… José was a professional player, infielder, and played in the minors in the San Diego and Kansas City organizations. The Dodgers finished second in the Western Division last year, and their 106 wins were far behind other division-winning clubs. . Examples: Milwaukee and Houston won 95 games, White Sox 93 and Atlanta only 88… Dodger Stadium was inaugurated in 1962, that is, it is now 60 years old and hosts 56,000 fans… Is that a lot?
BAD AND GOOD:. Monday was a day full of good and bad things… MLB suspended two Dominicans for consumption of prohibited substances, outfielder Danny Santana (free agent and Aguilas Cibaeñas) and pitcher Richard Rodríguez… What happened there gentlemen?… One more., Albert Pujols announces that he is in divorce proceedings with Deidre, his wife, mother of 5 children. He is divorcing the same person with whom he had a controversy last year, as a result of the Angels releasing him. And the question returns: What happened there?… Why wasn’t Pujols in the operating room last week when Deidre was operated on for a brain tumor?… The answer is obvious… The strangeness of all this is that Pujols is a great lover of God and the Bible, and you know that the Bible commands marriage “until death do us part”… Apparently, that is not always valid… Pujols, on the other hand, was already announced by manager Oliver Mármol as his designated for the opening game of the Cardinals this Thursday 7 an You the Pirates….
CHANGE: Late Monday night, a strange change is announced. Tampa sent outfielder Austin Meadows to the Pirates in exchange for infielder Isaac Paredes, a Mexican…why? It is not an economic issue because Meadows will barely earn 4 million in 2022, in a one-year agreement.
