FanPost

Searching for Pedro Florimon

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My friends and I visited the DR starting New Year's Day to watch some winter league baseball and relax on the beach. When we planned the trip I was hoping to see Miguel Sano hit some jonrons like this. When I learned "Bocaton"had shelved himself, I changed my goal to watching slick-fielding shortstop and ex-Twin Pedro Florimon, who I knew played on Sano's winter team, Estrellas Orientales.

What I found was Lew!

LIDOM is staging a "Round Robin" (not translated). Following a 50-game regular season, two of the six LIDOM teams were eliminated, and the other 4 teams are playing an 18-game mini-season. Two teams are from Santo Domingo and play their games in the same ballpark in midtown Santo Domingo. The other Round Robin teams are from San Pedro de Macoris and La Romana, down the road east from the capitol one hour and 1.5 hours each.

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The first game we attended was on Saturday, January 2. We took a taxi from our place in the Colonial Zone to Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal. We didn't know much about the teams before we arrived. I bought a Licey hat and my friends bought Toros del Este hats. Licey was the home team.

Licey thumped Toros 16-5. We bought second row seats because they were affordable, relatively speaking - just over $20. Licey started to rake immediately. They knocked the Toros' starter out after 1 1/3. The relievers didn't have much more luck. Toros ended up needing two innings of relief from Bobby Korecky.

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I did not notice any pitcher hitting 90 MPH on the speed gun. My friend said he saw it in Game 2. The defense and hitting seemed generally very high quality. There was a lot of aggressive baserunning, which I always appreciate.

Another doomed Toros pitcher

Pitching to contact.

It turns out Licey is pretty much the Yankees of LIDOM. It appears that Manny Acta is the club's GM. The Tigres were 4-1 when we saw that first game, and they did not lose while we were there. According to Wikipedia, the other Santo Domingo team, Escogido, was formed specifically to try to take Licey down a notch.

The Toros (from La Romana - maybe the Twins of the league?) had a traveling fan section, but they lost their mojo after the first inning. At every game we were at there was a lot of yelling and ribbing between the fans. It all seemed very good-natured, however. At one point I saw Licey fans in the Toros section having their photos taken together.

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The Saturday game was fairly well attended. The stadium was about two-thirds full, although it took three or four innings before it got to maximum capacity. The crowd was lively, as we hoped it would be. Merengue and disco music blared between innings. One friend remarked that the park had a great sound system. There was a fine drum corps that could give that lame guy at Cleveland's ballpark a lesson.

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Get stuffed, John Adams.

After the Saturday game, we went back to our neighborhood bodega for post-game Presidentes. The other game that day, between Estrellas and Escogido, had tied in the ninth and was in extra innings. We saw Fernando Rodney hold the game tied in the tenth for Escogido, after a batter interference call at first base and some ump-bumping. Late inning defensive replacement Pedro Florimon (who made a nice pick at the top of the inning) came to the plate in the bottom of the 13th and struck out swinging on a ball in the dirt. Catcher Wilkin Castillo threw Florimon out at first, but the first baseman could not get the ball back home before Junior Lake slid in head first from third, a la Eric Hosmer.

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Bodega living.

I lost one friend to Tainos Revenge on Sunday, so on Monday, my other buddy and I left him at our AirBnB to take a guagua to San Pedro de Macoris to see Pedro Florimon in person. The Monday game began at 5:00, rather than 7:30, so we were able to watch an hour or two of daytime baseball.

In the guagua the driver asked where the "Americanos" wanted to stop. The fellow who took our money told him the ballpark. He told the driver that my buddy was a Toros fan. "Toros!" the driver laughed, and a smattering of guffaws rippled through the bus. My friend never wore his Toros cap again.

San Pedro is a much dustier-looking town than Santo Domingo. Before the game we had time to stroll around the park. I wanted to see the other side of the Presidente sign that Sano hit. The neighborhood was made up of very modest homes. Some buildings were built all the way to the outfield wall!

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Before the game I waited forever at the Estrellas dugout to get a close up look at - and maybe a photo with - Pedro Florimon. He did not come out of the dugout until we had to get to our seats, and then he sat away from the dugout while the game was played. Florimon never got on the field. Apparently, his bat plays as well in the DR as in the US.

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Waiting for Pedro.

The Toros were once again the away team, and once again they got beat, this time 2-0. My friend looked good in his new Estrellas cap. (I could not get myself to buy one because they are an obvious ripoff of the North Stars cap. Rot in hell, Norm Green.) This game we sat up with the hoi polloi. The fan scene was always as entertaining as the games themselves.

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I tried to get my buddy to put his old cap back on so that I could take a picture of him with the Toros rooters (seen in orange - above), but he refused.

From Tuesday to Thursday, we took a break to sun on the beach in Samana Province. But we were back in Santo Domingo on Friday to watch a third and final game.

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Rum and coke vendor.

Is there anything better than Friday night baseball? And this game was between the two Santo Domingo teams, Licey and Escogido. By now I had things figured out better. Rather than buying beer, I went to one of the women with coolers at the top of the aisles. These vendors sell entire set ups, a .33 L bottle of rum, a bottle of cola, and a styrofoam cup full of ice. Pretty much everyone in the place has their own mini-bar.

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Watching the 911 Energy Drink cheerleaders. (It's the closest thing in LIDOM to a 7th inning stretch.)

The ballpark was rocking. It was mostly Licey blue (they were the home team), but there was a strong contingent of Escogido red. There was non-stop banter - it's a shame none of us speak any Spanish. Licey came on early, but Escogido scored 4 in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 7. However, Licey scored in the bottom of the inning, and then held on for another win.

Escogido's center fielder, 39-year old Lew Ford, was 2-for-4 for with 2 RBI. I keep up with Ford some on the Internet. The last I heard of him he was playing the the Venezuelan winter league, but I know he has been loaned out to the DR before. It was a pleasant surprise to see the ex-Twin in action again. It was fun to yell Lew!!! for old time sake, even as a new Licey fan.

If you're tired of sitting around your hot stove - if you like hot baseball, warm fans and summertime weather in the middle of winter - I recommend a visit to watch winter league baseball in Santo Domingo. It's not too late to get your tickets to the Caribbean Series!