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Tagged: Baseball, ESPN Deportes
As the 2008 Major League Baseball season comes to an end, ESPN Deportes will present the most extensive coverage of winter baseball from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Mexico. ESPN Deportes will televise more than 60 winter league baseball games, including each league’s championship series. In addition to its extensive coverage of each league, ESPN Deportes will for the first time air Beisbol Esta Noche every Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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Winter baseball-related content will be featured across various platforms: ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN Deportes La Revista. ESPN Deportes will feature more than 200 hours of winter baseball-related programming — the most ever televised by any network in the U.S. — with a group of at least 12 commentators, including hosts, analysts, reporters and contributors. Coverage of Winter Baseball will culminate with the Exclusive coverage of the 2009 Caribbean Series LIVE from Mexicali, Mexico.
Live coverage begins Wednesday, Oct. 15, with the Venezuelan League featuring name=”OLE_LINK1″> name=”OLE_LINK2″>Navegantes del Magallanes and Cardenales de Lara at 8:00 p.m. ET. Coverage of winter baseball from the Dominican Republic begins Sunday, November 2 with the battle between Leones del Escogido vs. Las Aguilas del Licey. ESPN Deportes will also air the finals of the Mexican Pacific League in January.
VENEZUELAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE
This season, ESPN Deportes will televise one regular-season game per week, every Wednesday, plus exclusive select playoff games and the entire championship series. The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League consists of eight teams in two divisions (East Division: Navegantes del Magallanes, Leones de Caracas, Tiburones de la Guaira, Caribes de Anzoategui; and West Division: Tigres de Aragua, Aguilas de Zulia, Cardenales de Lara, Bravos de Margarita). The league’s elimination (opening) round includes 62 games from October to December. The top two teams from each division, as well as the best third place team, will move on to the 16-game round robin semifinals in January. The top two teams from the semifinals advance to a best-of-seven series in a 2-3-2 home field format at the end of January. The Venezuelan champion moves on to the Caribbean Series. Venezuela has won the Caribbean Series six times, most recently in 2006, when the Leones del Caracas took the title. Notable player’s that have played in Venezuela include: Luis Aparicio, Dave Concepcion, Francisco Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera and Johan Santana.
Commentator Lineup
Luis Alfredo Alvarez, play-by-play
Alvarez joined ESPN in 1995 and continues to handle play-by-play for a variety of sports. His assignments have included baseball, golf and tennis. He also serves as host for Beisbol Esta Noche, the company’s Spanish-language original production of Baseball Tonight, and Cronometro, modeled after Pardon the Interruption. He has covered high-profile events such as tennis’ Australian Open and French Open, golf’s PGA Tour, Champions Tour and LPGA, and both the Summer and Winter X Games. A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Alvarez began his broadcasting career at Omnivision, where he served as a play-by-play commentator for baseball and basketball.
Francisco Blavia, analyst
Blavia joins the ESPN Deportes team this year as an analyst for the 2008/2009 Venezuelan Baseball League. Blavia has more than 10 years of experience covering sports; has worked for some of the most recognized TV and radio networks in Venezuela including Venevision, RCTV, SportPlus and Deportes Union Radio covering Venezuelan baseball, MLB, soccer and Venezuelan basketball. Blavia also had the opportunity to work as a commentator for the Cardenales de Lara baseball team for 4 years and currently covers Leones del Caracas. A native of Barquisimeto; Blavia obtained his degree in Communications at the Universidad Catolica Cecilio Acosta de Maracaibo. Blavia currently resides in Caracas, Venezuela.
DOMINICAN BASEBALL LEAGUE
Exclusive coverage begins Sunday, November 2, at 4 p.m. ET with a live telecast of the Leones del Escogido vs. Tigres del Licey. This season, ESPN Deportes plans to telecast 26 Dominican Baseball League games, mainly on Fridays nights and Sunday afternoons. The Dominican Baseball League consists of six teams: Aguilas Cibaenas; Azucareros del Este; Estrellas Orientales; Gigantes del Cibao; Leones del Escogido; and Tigres del Licey. Each team plays a 50-game schedule, with the top four teams advancing to the playoffs. The titleholder then goes on to represent the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Series. Notable player’s include: Juan Marichal, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Jose Reyes.
Commentator Lineup
Kevin Cabral, play-by-play commentator
One of the most respected sportscasters in the Dominican Republic, Cabral returns for his third consecutive season of Dominican Baseball League. Cabral started his broadcasting career in 1983 as the host of the radio program Frente al Deporte. In 1986, he began what would become an 18-year stint as a television commentator and announcer for Major League Baseball games on the regional channel Circuito del Cibao.
Ernesto Jerez, play-by-play commentator
A native of Santiago, Dominican Republic, Jerez joined ESPN in 1995 as a baseball announcer and has become the signature voice for the company’s Spanish-language Major League Baseball games. He primarily serves as game announcer during ESPN’s Spanish-language Sunday Night Baseball telecasts. Known to viewers for his famous home run call, he also regularly contributes to SportsCenter, ESPN Deportes Radio and ESPNdeportes.com.
Carlos Jose Lugo, sideline reporter
Lugo brings vast baseball knowledge and more than 17 years of broadcasting experience in radio, television and print media to his role as field reporter for ESPN Deportes’ telecasts of the Dominican Baseball League. Lugo launched his broadcasting career in 1987 as an MLB analyst on Radio Dial in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. He is a familiar voice on radio, known for his work as a sports commentator and MLB analyst for FM-103, Radio Continental and Radio Clarin, and Rumba FM (98.5).
Juan Marichal, analyst
San Francisco Giants great and Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal returns for his third consecutive season. Marichal, the only Dominican-born player in the Hall of Fame, started his career with Dominican League’s Leones del Escogido. The high-kicking right-hander made his Major League Baseball debut against the Phillies in 1960, finishing his first game with a one-hitter, striking out 12 in a 2-0 victory. Marichal won 243 games, was named to nine All-Star teams and was named the All-Star Game’s Most Valuable Player in 1965.
MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE
ESPN Deportes will air the finals of the best baseball Mexico has to offer; the Mexican Pacific League in January. The Mexican Pacific League (Spanish: Liga Mexicana del Pacifico, LMP), also known as MexPac, has been running for over five decades as a winter league. It has long been recognized as one of the big four winter leagues and features a mix of major league players, top prospects and Mexican League players. The champion team has played in the Caribbean Series since 1971. The season is from the middle of October to the end of December with playoffs and final series in January. Notable players include: Fernando Valenzuela, Vinny Castilla, Jorge Cantu, Oliver Perez and Esteban Loiza.
Commentator Lineup
Jorge Eduardo Sanchez
Sanchez currently serves as anchor for ESPN Deportes’ SportsCenter. He first joined ESPN in 2000 as a commentator and play-by-play announcer for ESPN 2 in Mexico, serving as a play-by-play announcer for Mexican Pacific League, the Caribbean Series, Tennis Masters Series, and NCAA Basketball.
Oscar Soria, analyst
Longtime Spanish-language voice of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Oscar Soria returns for his third consecutive season as Mexican Pacific League analyst on ESPN Deportes. Soria is a veteran of 18 seasons as a broadcaster with Mexican Pacific League’s Hermosillo Naranjeros and also covers the Diamondbacks for Spanish-language paper El Imparcial, writing a daily column. The native of Tijuana, Mexico graduated from Universidad del Noroeste.
Eitan Benezra, sideline reporter
A native of Queretaro, Mexico, Benezra brings vast knowledge in Mexican baseball to ESPN Deportes’ telecasts. Benezra hosts show “3 y 2 Cuenta Maxima” Estadio W in Mexico and serves as baseball commentator for Estadio W 730 AM in Mexico.
Beisbol esta Noche
Carolina Guillen, host
Now host of Beisbol esta Noche, Guillen joined ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor for ESPN+ (serving the Southern Cone) in May 2004. Her work outside of SportsCenter has included a variety of assignments. She served as co-host for ESPN’s Spanish-language coverage of the Summer X Games and has served as sideline reporter for the MLB All-Star Games, Little League World Series and Caribbean Series. Guillen began her career in her native Venezuela with Meridiano Television as a reporter for Winter Baseball.
2008 WINTER BASEBALL SCHEDULE ON ESPN DEPORTES
(All times ET; Schedule Subject to Change)
(* denotes delayed games; all other games live)
Venezuela Baseball League Schedule
Date Time (ET) Teams
Wednesday, Oct. 15 8:00 p.m. Lara @Valencia
*Wednesday, Oct. 22 4:00 a.m. Bravos @ Aragua
*Wednesday, Nov. 5 4:00 a.m. Bravos@ Caracas
*Wednesday, Nov. 12 4:00 a.m. Zulia @ La Guaira
Wednesday, Nov. 19 8:00 a.m. Aragua @ Magallanes
*Wednesday, Nov. 26 4:00 a.m. Magallanes @ La Guaira
Wednesday, Dec. 3 8:00 p.m. Caracas @ La Guaira
*Wednesday, Dec. 10 4:00 a.m. La Guaira @ Caracas
Wednesday, Dec. 17 8:00 p.m. Bravos @ Caracas
Wednesday, Dec. 17 8:00 p.m. Lara @ Aragua
Dominican Baseball League Schedule (Games to be announced at a later date)
Mexican Pacific League (Games to be announced at a later date)
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Knowledge is Power and this page is just the start. Hispanics/Latinos are a growing diverse force in this country. Check out some of the 54,753 items found on this site below or dig into the Site Map
Best of the Rest
- November 21, 2009
- A federal judge dismissed dozens of immigration charges Thursday against the former manager of a kosher slaughterhouse, at the request of prosecutors who had already won a conviction on multiple counts of financial fraud. – Postville news
- Meg Whitman’s Latino Outreach & the Pete Wilson Connection – CA politics
- Poetry Series Spurs Debate on the Use of an Old Slur Against Latinos – “Spic Up/Speak Out” — at El Museo del Barrio
- Marco Rubio, A Crossover Success – (good read)
- A fire destroyed 106 houses in the Ecuadorian Pacific coast city of Guayaquil and left more than 500 people homeless, as well as 14 children with symptoms of smoke inhalation.
- LatAm Immigrants Are Changing Spain, Sociologist Says
- Mexico’s top domestic security official said Friday that sectors of the general public have cooperated with drug cartels in the violent border city of Ciudad Juarez, and the government is about to launch new social programs there to combat gangs.
- Pro-Castro mob attacks spouse of top Cuban blogger – Yoani Sánchez
- Miguel H. Díaz is first Hispanic to represent U.S. at Vatican
- Efrain’s Corner: A Response to….”Puerto Ricans in New York Struggling…Still” Comment
- Puerto Ricans in New York Struggling…Still – Puerto Ricans are some of the most prominent figures in New York politics and culture, so some people are surprised when they hear that, overall, Puerto Ricans are among the poorest and least educated New Yorkers. Almost a third in New York are living in poverty.
- Lalo Alcaraz on Lou Dobbs (departure from CNN)
- November 20, 2009
- Police in Peru say gang members killed people to drain their fat for cosmetics
- Mexican authorities predict fewer Mexican immigrants will be back home for Christmas
- Interview with Aurora Anaya-Cerda, owner of La Casa Azul Bookstore – NYC
- We need an honest definition of who is a “real American”
- Immigration Reform: The Phone Call Heard Around the Country – On the call were Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.; Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y.; and Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz. Immigrant rights advocates from various parts of the country also spoke.
- Digital out-of-home (DOOH) Effectively Reaches Latinos On The Go – few marketers truly utilized digital media when reaching out to the Hispanic community.
- A week after abruptly quitting his longtime job as a CNN television news host and commentator, Lou Dobbs said on Thursday he is considering career options including possible runs for the White House or U.S. Senate.
- ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton announces 1,000 new workplace audits to hold employers accountable for their hiring practices
- In Virtual Town Hall with Immigration Reform Activists, Gutierrez Promises Bill By December
- Economic Blame Game: U.S. Unemployment is Not Caused by Immigration
- November 19, 2009
- Shakira Refuses To Do Interviews In Spanish
- BMI Foundation Announces Opening of 7th Annual peermusic Latin Scholarship Competition
- Video: Sofia Vergara’s “Modern Family” Costar Trashes her on “Chelsea Lately”
- The Cuban band Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro can legitimately claim to be inventors of salsa. But it last played in the United States when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, and there was no telling when it might be able to return — until the very slightest hint of a thaw in cultural relations between the United States and Cuba quietly brought the band to New York early this month.
- Mexico’s Drug Violence Gives Rise To Vigilantism
- The wave of crime besetting Puerto Rico seems to be out of control with 800 murders being committed here so far this year, but the island’s top police official says the problem does not fall exclusively within his department.
- The University of Panama indefinitely suspended classes on Wednesday after confrontations between students and police during a protest against alleged U.S. involvement in plans to build new military installations.
- There are 16 million children in immigrant families in the United States
- Over the last 3 years, high schools that received the lowest marks from the city have been the ones with the highest percentages of poor, black and Hispanic students, despite an evaluation system that was meant to equalize differences among student bodies, according to an analysis by The New York Times of school grades released this week.
- Who seriously wants the Cuban trade embargo?
- A legislator from El Paso has criticized proposed history and social studies standards for public schools as being unfair to Hispanics. – Rep. Norma Chavez raised the issue Wednesday in Austin before the State Board of Education.
- Farewell to an icon: Artist who tore at racism is buried at 99 – R.I.P. José Cisneros
- November 18, 2009
- Hispanics are 9% of the Virginia’s schoolchildren, but 5% of gifted students.
- A New United Movement Stops Mexico for a Day
- Analysis reveals driving out undocumented immigrants doesn’t bode well for congressional representation
- After accidental deportation, critics say immigration officials making mistakes – After a Salvadoran man was mistakenly deported, immigration rights activists have complained about toughened enforcement by authorities.
- Governor Deval Patrick urged Massachusetts residents today to avoid getting mired in “the usual debate” over illegal immigration as he gave his cabinet 90 days to craft a plan for better integrating all foreign-born residents into the state’s daily fabric.
- More Americans are playing tennis – The biggest increases were among Hispanics, with 32% more playing the game.
Latest Essentials
- November 21, 2009
- Hispanic Caucus: ‘You Lie!’ Outburst to Blame for Senate Health Bill Provision on Illegal Immigrants
- Central American nations will demand $105 billion from industrialized countries for damages caused by global warming, the region’s representatives said on Friday.
- “They” Are “Us”: The Devastating Effects of Broken Immigration Policy on Children in Immigrant Families
- November 20, 2009
- Hispanic lawmakers say an old adversary, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, has his fingerprints all over a push to prohibit illegal immigrants from buying health insurance plans in a new market for people who don’t get insurance through their employers.
- Some U.S. Democrats see momentum building for an overhaul of immigration laws that would legalize millions of undocumented workers, but analysts say a crowded agenda and struggling economy may once again sink hopes for reform next year.
- The current global crisis will cause the number of poor people in Latin America to rise by 9 million to 189 million this year, the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said in a report presented on Thursday.
- Do Long Island Police Ignore Hate Crimes?
- Mexican migrants are spending more money on taxes in the United States than on the remittances they send home to relatives, according to a new study by Mexico’s largest bank, BBVA Bancomer.
- Ana Maria Perez Gonzalez, said to be the oldest woman in the world, died in Mexico this week. She was 119.
- Part of a Cuban blogger’s essay that advocates lifting the ban on U.S. travel to Cuba was read aloud at a House Foreign Affairs committee hearing. – Yoani Sánchez
- November 19, 2009
- TOP Ten reasons you should watch Lopez tonight not Conan
- Migration Policy Institute (MPI) Report Finds Immigrants Hit Harder During Economic Downturn than Native-Born Workers
- After a 3 year trial of producing regionalized news for several top 10 Hispanic market stations via the Telemundo Production Center in Dallas, the network is reverting to producing local news. Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Phoenix and San Jose will once again have locally produced news.
- Nacional Records Sampler 2009 | The New Sounds Of Latin Music – 21 FREE mp3s over at Amazon – (cool!)
- Ironically, Latinos should be greatful to former CNN blowhard Lou Dobbs – commentary by Albor Ruiz
- When White Writers Do “Latino” Issues – It was chaos this week in the LA Weekly’s virtual mailroom, which received a deluge of reactionary attitude in regard to Christine Pelisek’s cover story “Chaos in the Casitas: Lawless, south of the border–style speakeasies get a grip on L.A.”
- More Than 60,000 Americans in 45 States Organize for Immigration Reform
- New Report Shines Light on Detainee Rights Violations in Minnesota
- CIS Report Attempts to Erase 100 Years of Data on Immigrants and Crime
- Video: Senator Menendez Speaks on Behalf of Hispanic Farmers’ Discrimination Lawsuit + update
- November 18, 2009
- New Report: More Than 2 Million Hispanic Households With Children Face Hunger – Hispanic households with children experiencing very low food security up almost 50%
- On November 18 at 8:00 PM Eastern time/5:00 PM Pacific, all across the country people are hosting house parties with their families, friends, neighbors, churches, classmates and anyone else who supports comprehensive immigration reform for America.
- Video report of Latina forced to give birth while in chains in Maricopa County, AZ courtesy of Sheriff Joe Arpaio (en Español)
- California’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman told a group of supporters Tuesday that she is making an unprecedented effort to attract Latinos to the Republican party – in South El Monte
- Hundreds of defendants awaiting trial for violent crimes in Dallas County have been deported by federal immigration officials and then set free in their home countries. – The practice goes back to at least 1991 and includes the release of murder, kidnapping and child rape suspects.
- Environmentalists alarmed by Puerto Rico policies – Sweeping from lush mountain rain forests to pristine beaches, a corridor of land protected by Puerto Rico’s last governor hosts dozens of rare and endangered species and was championed by celebrities who helped fight off resort proposals. – Now new Gov. Luis Fortuno has revoked the reserve as part of a drive to bring jobs and investment for the U.S. territory’s struggling economy. And activists see a broader pattern of looser protection for the island’s environment.
- Deporting undocumented students affects the chances for legal return if Congress doesn’t address it in immigration reform bill
- Eleventh-hour criticism is arising over President Obama’s nomination for United States attorney in northern Iowa of a prosecutor who had a leading role in the criminal cases against hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested in a May 2008 raid at a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. – Stephanie Rose
- From a group calling themselves Electronic Civil Disobedience comes the Transborder Immigrant Tool, a simple mobile application intended to aid and abet border-crossers from Mexico to the United States by mapping the safest routes to take. – This GPS app is built to work on the cheapest cell phones available.
- Report from America’s Voice: The New Constituents… How Latinos Will Shape Congressional Apportionmention After the 2010 Census
- November 16, 2009
- 15th annual Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza in San Antonio – more than 1,000 professional & student musicians participating – 8-day festival of mariachi competitions, workshops, presentations, serenades & concerts attracts more than 15,000 visitors annually.
- Money Trickles North as Mexicans Help Relatives – reverse remittances from Mexico
- Scarlet “A” will dominate immigration reform rhetoric – Greg Tejeda on immigration reform & Janet Napolitano’s speech
- The first Texas Hispanic legislators didn’t want to go public when they organized some 40 years ago out of fear they might be considered “un-American.” – Today, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) is growing in influence — and raising record amounts of money — as Texas’ population turns increasingly Hispanic.
- Supporters of tough U.S. sanctions against the Cuban government have given more than $10 million to congressional campaigns over the last seven years
- Oregon universities try to recruit more Latino students – In 2007, Latinos made up nearly 12% of the 12th-grade class and less than 6% of freshmen in the university system. About 20% of first-graders that year were Latino.
- The Obama administration will insist on measures to give legal status to an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants as it pushes early next year for legislation to overhaul the immigration system, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Friday.
- Authorities say a 7-year-old boy, three women and a university professor are among 15 people who were killed in a single day (this past Friday) in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez.
- Sonia Sotomayor unwittingly adds celebrity touch to Supreme Court
- One of the Republican Party’s most respected and relied-upon consultants has serious reservations about two the party’s biggest names. – Alex Castellanos, a conservative media strategist and regular presence on CNN, raised questions of Sarah Palin’s viability for office and took major swipes at Florida Senate candidate Charlie Crist
