Andy Pettitte aiming for a 27th title for Yanks; Pedro Martinez hoping for a Game 7
Opening Wednesday night at a $1.5 billion stadium: "Men Who Stare at Old Goats."
The eyes of the baseball world will be focused on two of the game's grand old men in Game 6 of the World Series on Wednesday. One victory from clinching another championship, the Yankees will start 37-year-old Andy Pettitte, who threw his first pitch for New York in 1995 when Luis Polonia still wore pinstripes. One loss from winter, Philadelphia counters with 38-year-old certain Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez, who didn't throw his first pitch with the Phillies until mid-August.
"I would just have to thank God, not only for the opportunity but for keeping me healthy and blessing me and Andy," Martinez said. "I have such a long career and it's gone full circle, to be able to compete in a World Series, on one of the biggest stages and to just see two old goats out there doing the best they can and having fun with it."
These two faced each other for the first time on May 31, 1998, when Joe Girardi was the Yankees' catcher, not their manager, so long ago that Pettitte says he doesn't remember the game. And perhaps for good reason. The Red Sox knocked him out of the game that day during an 11-run third inning.
"Derek Jeter and I were talking about it in the clubhouse last night, just how strange is this, after all the battles with [Martinez] being in Boston," Pettitte said. "I know I've faced him a bunch of times. I don't know about the playoffs, I can't really remember that. But in the course of a regular season and big series and stuff like that, and then to come full circle, this many years have passed, him with the Phillies and me back over here and stuff like that, it's going to be neat."
Actually, the two haven't pitched against each other that often over the years; Pedro faced Mike Mussina much more frequently in his starts against the Yankees. Still, with the World Series (aka, the Thanksgiving Classic) slipping ever deeper into November, it's only fitting that Game 6 matches two boys of autumn edging into lions of winter.
Pettitte is pitching on three days' rest for the first time in three years, which looms large given how poorly A.J. Burnett fared on short rest in Game 5. Pettitte said he felt terrible pitching on six days' rest in Game 3 -- "I just couldn't get the ball where I wanted it to go. Mechanically, I felt a little bit off." -- but said he doesn't think he'll have a problem in Game 6.
"I think just mentally people make such a big deal about it because it's just not done very often anymore," he said. "The biggest thing is I think just our routines. We get so set in just pitching on our fifth day, and you just don't do it, it's something that's a little bit unusual. For me, my mindset is just going to be the same as normal. I'm not going to try to blow balls by guys. I'm going to try to pitch like I normally would.
"Again, for me, if I can get my command and your mechanics are comfortable and stuff like that, you make the adjustments during the course of the game, and I feel like I should be successful."
Pedro, meanwhile, is pitching on an extra day of rest after holding the Yankees to three runs in six-plus innings in Game 2 last week. "I've got no choice but to expect that it will help me," he said.
It's not that surprising Pettitte is pitching here -- this is his 40th postseason start and his 13th World Series start -- but it's somewhat of an upset Pedro is here given he didn't have a job until the Phillies signed him in mid-July. Martinez was 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA for the Phillies down the stretch, helping them to the World Series -- Pedro's second in a career that has made his name one of the most recognizable in the game, probably long after he retires.
"I'm pretty sure that my name will be mentioned. I don't know in which way," he said. "But maybe after I retire, because normally when you die, people tend to actually give you props about the good things. But that's after you die. So I'm hoping to get it before I die. I don't want to die and then hear everybody say, 'Oh, there goes one of the best players ever.' If you're going to give me props, just give them to me right now."
While the spotlight will begin on the starters, the bullpen probably will play a key role. Neither team can feel comfortable about its middle relief, but the Yankees at least can rely on Mariano Rivera to close things out at the end of the game if they can get him the lead. Phillies fans, on the other hand, have to wonder about Brad Lidge, who was terrible during the regular season, appeared to regain his form during the playoffs, then saw things unravel quickly in a three-run ninth in Game 4. Manager Charlie Manuel left Lidge in the 'pen and used Ryan Madson to somewhat shakily close out a save situation in Game 5.
Manuel said he still has confidence in Lidge, but when asked how he might use the pitcher and when, the manager replied, "The way I want to, when we get there and how I feel. I'll do a lot of talking in the dugout with [pitching coach Rich Dubee] and we'll decide on which one we want to put out there."
The Yankees, meanwhile, are waiting for some production from first baseman Mark Teixeira (2-for-19 in the World Series) and second baseman Robinson Cano (3-for-18). They will get designated hitter Hideki Matsui (5-for-9, two homers) back in the lineup and Jorge Posada (5-for-16, 5 RBIs) will be behind the plate again now that Burnett has made his final start.
Can the Phillies become the fourth team to rally from a 3-1 World Series deficit while winning the final two games on the road? Can the Yankees win their 27th World Series? Can Alex Rodriguez continue his dramatic postseason? We'll have to see. But Pedro knows enough to savor the moment, no matter how the Yankee Stadium crowd treats him.
"What else would I want? I'm doing the job I love," Martinez said. "I'm doing something that not everybody gets to do. If you consider the fact that two months back I was sitting at home not doing anything, none of you were thinking of me whatsoever, none of you were asking me questions, and today I am here, probably pitching one of the biggest games ever in the World Series, two great teams with a whole bunch of legendary players."
(c) 2009 ESPN Internet Ventures.
Red Sox meet with defector Chapman
BOSTON -- The Red Sox, always aggressive when it comes to the international market, met with Cuban free-agent pitcher Aroldis Chapman on Wednesday at Fenway Park.
Chapman defected back in July during a tournament in The Netherlands. His fastball was clocked at 102 mph during the World Baseball Classic.
"Boston was one of the teams he was interested in from the start, and that certainly hasn't changed," Chapman's agent, Edwin Mejia, told The Boston Globe. "It was a very good visit."
Chapman met with members of Boston's front office and one unspecified player.
The bidding war for the 21-year-old Chapman's services figures to be extensive, as Mejia told The Globe that 10 teams are interested in meeting with the power left-hander. The Yankees are believed to be one of those teams.
In December 2002, the Red Sox and Yankees engaged in a memorable derby to land Cuban right-hander Jose Contreras. The Red Sox thought they had Contreras signed, but the Yankees swooped in at the last minute. Stung at the time by losing out on Contreras, Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino referred to the Yankees as "the evil empire."
Chapman could be the most significant Cuban pitcher to enter the Majors since Contreras, who has notched 71 wins over a seven-year career.
The Red Sox signed another Cuban player -- 19-year-old shortstop Jose Iglesias -- in September. Because Chapman and Iglesias played with each other for many years in Cuba and are friendly, perhaps that can help Boston's chances of landing Chapman.
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Defector Chapman looking to sign
Cuban lefty arrives in U.S. to meet with big league teams.
Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman arrived in New York on Wednesday seeking the opportunity to sign with a Major League team and cash in on what the market might yield for a 21-year-old left-hander with top-of-the-rotation potential, according to multiple reports.
Chapman showcased his abilities for Cuba in March during the World Baseball Classic before defecting this summer when Cuba played in a tournament in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. After defecting, Chapman established residency in Andorra. Several teams had planned to see Chapman throw in Europe, but upon the advice of his agent, Edwin Mejia, he decided to apply for a visa and come to the United States to showcase his abilities.
Chapman stands 6-foot-4 and throws with an easy motion that has reportedly produced fastballs clocked as high as 102 mph. He also is said to have a quality curve and slider. New York will likely be the first of many stops for Chapman, who should land a substantial deal based on the relatively weak crop of available free-agent starters this coming offseason.
The Yankees and the Red Sox, among other teams, are reported to have interest in signing Chapman, bringing back memories of a similar competition between the two American League East giants to sign Jose Contreras in 2002. The Cuban right-hander eventually signed a four-year deal worth $32 million with the Yankees.
Despite Chapman's many tools, he is considered somewhat of an unknown commodity and could need some refinement in the Minor Leagues before moving to the Major League level.
During the World Baseball Classic, Chapman had a 5.68 ERA in 6 1/3 innings, and in the National Series in Cuba in 2008 he posted a 4.03 ERA in 118 1/3 innings.
"Until now, everything has come out fine," Chapman told the Web site cubaencuentro.com. "This is the plan that I had and this was a decision I took. I wanted to test myself in the highest levels of baseball."
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Jeter not fazed by new role in 2009
NEW YORK -- As he has done with so many media firestorms over his time in the Yankees fishbowl, Derek Jeter had a cold splash of reality waiting at his locker when the news broke that he -- and not Johnny Damon -- would be hitting leadoff in 2009.
The only difference, Jeter said this spring, was that there would be no chance of him having anybody but himself to drive in the first time he came to bat. Nothing else had to change, and as he promised with a grin, everything else would fall into place.
Was he right. Now, the Yankees look at their lineup and don't want to construct it any other way. Manager Joe Girardi's switch, a perfect storm that hit while batting Damon second during the World Baseball Classic, paid major dividends as Jeter just happened to have one of the best seasons of his career.
"I try to get better every year," Jeter said. "I try to contribute and I try to be consistent."
That's Jeter, in his typical style, understating the obvious. But there's nothing mundane about the type of season he assembled in 2009, hitting .334 with 18 home runs and 66 RBIs in 153 games while displaying improved range defensively and stealing more bases (30) than in 2007 and '08 combined.
Owing a big part of this season to his hard winter work, Jeter will certainly figure into the discussion for the American League Most Valuable Player Award once this postseason race is all said and done, but for now, that march is well under way.
"In Derek's case, he's constantly interested in doing nothing but improving," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "That's why he's one of the greatest players who ever played for the Yankees."
Setting the table for a club that hopes to vault past the Angels and enter its first World Series since 2003, Jeter hit .400 (4-for-10) in the Bombers' three-game whitewash of the Twins in the AL Division Series, including a game-tying home run in Game 1.
Nick Swisher, always good for a way to wrap things up in a snappy way, said it best: "Once the lights hit the postseason, it's Jeter time."
The World Series heads into next month, and the man who already lists Mr. November among his nicknames is counting on the fact that he will be there.
Everything else -- passing Lou Gehrig's all-time Yankees hits mark, turning in nifty defensive plays to save runs and crush the Twins' hopes in the ALDS, the seventh 200-hit season of his career -- doesn't really matter if there isn't a fifth World Series ring on Jeter's finger.
George Steinbrenner doesn't show up much in the Bronx anymore, preferring to keep tabs on his players from a cushy pad in Tampa, Fla. But his words spill out of Jeter's mouth at almost every turn. The captain learned a little something from The Boss in those closed-door meetings across the street at the old place, you see.
"Our goal when we come into the season is to win a championship," Jeter said. "That's how it is every year. You don't go home and celebrate regular-season championships. You don't go home and celebrate getting to the World Series. Our goal is to win it. That's been my mind-set since I've come up, and it never changes."
It's the only way for Jeter, having spent his first 12 big league Octobers playing baseball and usually winning, taking home four titles in his first five seasons. Then came last year, the lost one for Jeter and the Yankees. The Phillies won that World Series, but Jeter never reached for the remote.
"It's like when you're a little kid and your parents don't let you go outside and play," he said. "You're not going to sit in the window and watch."
In a clubhouse stocked with players who don't boast the postseason credentials of the so-called "Old Guard" Yankees teams, Jeter is a calming influence, the franchise's face and spokesman over the past 14 seasons.
"We have four or five guys in our clubhouse that have been there and done that, and have played extremely well in October," Alex Rodriguez said. "I think all of us can follow those guys. Those guys, especially Derek -- he is our captain and our leader. I think we can learn from all of them."
Behind closed doors, teammates say that Jeter is a different person, never completely letting his true persona out of the bag. That's calculated -- Jeter's public presence sets the tone for the Yankees, a dapper Wall Street suit in a room full of blue jeans.
Most players have pictures of family members or Yankees logos on the computer screens installed at their lockers. Jeter keeps an AccuWeather forecast, always watching, monitoring. It is that work ethic that has allowed him to bounce back.
Jeter's resurgence was no better exhibited than the fountain of youth he found in Florida over the winter, having something to prove to all those who flooded the message boards and said Jeter couldn't do it anymore.
"You have to make adjustments throughout the years, and if things don't go the way you want them to go or you don't feel the way you want to feel, you make adjustments in order to compensate for it," Jeter said. "I just wanted to be healthy, that's it."
So here we are, deeper into the postseason, and once again things feel right for Jeter. He is the leadoff hitter for baseball's winningest team, and the player most trusted to come through in the moments when the Yankees need it most.
Like a certain famous cola, the formula is time-tested and true. All Jeter wants to do is prove it still tastes as sweet.
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Five years after defecting from Cuba, Morales has arrived
Kendry Morales' walk-up song at Angel Stadium -- Permiso Que Llego Van Van -- tells more about the Los Angeles Angels first baseman than he can say in his own words, at least in English.
The tune is performed by the salsa group Los Van Van, which was born in Cuba like Morales, and it has engendered his nickname, "Bam Bam."
The song's title, which translates into, "Excuse me, Van Van has arrived," serves as a metaphor for his baseball standing. After three years of bouncing between the majors and minors and five years after defecting from Cuba on his 12th attempt, Morales has arrived.
The switch-hitting slugger helped power the Angels' run to a fifth American League West title in six years, surprising much of baseball by leading the club in home runs (34) and RBI (108) while batting .306. He was considered an MVP candidate until he slowed in September.
"He's definitely exceeded expectations of what I thought he was going to do," Angels ace John Lackey says. "I was thinking 15-20 homers, 80 RBI."
By setting career highs in every meaningful hitting category, Morales filled the void left when Mark Teixeira signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees for eight years and $180 million.
"Everybody talked about how Teixeira left to go to the Yankees, but with the numbers he has put up, he has been this year's Teixeira for them," says third baseman Mike Lowell of the Boston Red Sox, who face the Angels in an AL Division Series for the third year in a row beginning today.
As he enters the caldron of October baseball as a starter for the first time, Morales, 26, has completed the difficult transition from young star in Cuba's powerhouse amateur teams to big-time producer in the majors.
His adjustment to American culture, especially the language, remains a work in progress.
"Getting used to the lifestyle here has been the toughest part, because it's so different from Cuba," Morales says in Spanish. "Baseball's the same. You have to swing at strikes. But when I first got here (after defecting in June 2004), everything was so jarring. It wasn't my way of life. It wasn't my language. It wasn't my people. But I'm used to it now."
Well, mostly.
Not a name from 'Flintstones'
Morales still is hesitant to speak English, and his communication with non-Spanish-speaking teammates, though friendly, is limited. He doesn't understand why fans show up with signs referring to Bam-Bam -- he thinks it's a misspelling -- because The Flintstones was not shown on TV in Cuba. (The cartoon character's name actually was Bamm-Bamm.)
When not playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic, Morales makes his offseason home in Miami, where Spanish-speaking friends are readily available.
One of them is Kansas City Royals catcher Brayan Pena, who has known Morales since they played youth baseball in Cuba around age 10 and was his teammate the last four winters.
Pena is familiar with Morales' uninhibited side and remarks on his humility, pointing to a lunch together with two other friends when Morales insisted on picking up the tab, only to discover later his friends had taken care of it.
"The next day he showed up in the house of each of us guys and brought us a nice present," recalled Pena, who defected in 2000. "He said we shouldn't have paid the check."
Their paths might not have crossed again had Morales been allowed to simply play ball. But after becoming suspicious that he planned to defect, Cuban officials sent him home from a tournament in Panama in 2003 and banned him from the game.
Determined to get on the field again, Morales says he tried to escape 12 times, usually failing because of rough seas. Thrice he was caught, spending a mandatory 72 hours in jail each time.
"I would always tell them I was going to leave sooner or later," Morales says.
Why was he so determined?
"Because they wouldn't let me play baseball in Cuba."
On June 8, 2004, 12 days short of turning 21, Morales finally made it out on a rowboat that took him and other passengers to a larger boat, which carried them to Florida.
As opposed to other Cuban players who were driven by a desire to test their skills in the majors, Morales says he would have been happy to stay with the Industriales team in Havana. He had been the rookie of the year in the island's Serie Nacional (the Cuban league) in 2001-02 and promptly established himself as a fixture on the national team.
"I never thought of playing (in the majors), but once I had that problem there, I tried to get here," says Morales, one of eight Cuban-born players in the majors this season. "It wasn't even in my mind before. I had my life pretty much made in Cuba."
Morales, an only child who lost his father at age 8, was later rejoined stateside by his mother and his girlfriend, Yarley Pereira, who now is his wife. They have a 17-month-old daughter, Hanely, and are expecting a son in December. Morales also has a 6-year-old daughter, Andrea, who remains in Cuba with her mother.
Taking his show to America
Morales' indoctrination into American baseball began the day of his minor league debut with Class A Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) in 2005, a few months after the Angels signed him to a six-year, $4.5 million contract that included a $3 million bonus.
Scouting director Eddie Bane, who established a quick rapport with the slugger, remembers Morales' reaction when he homered in his first pro at-bat.
"He threw the bat down on top of home plate, stood there and watched it, then took a big circle around the bases with his arm up in the air. I thought, 'Oh-oh,' " Bane says. "After the game, the other guys said, 'Hey, man, that's not the way the Angels do things.'
"Kendry explained to us when they play a game in Cuba, it's a show."
Morales toned down his act but still put on a show in the minors, hitting .332 with 55 home runs over parts of four seasons. More advanced players such as Casey Kotchman (now with Boston) and later Teixeira, plus his own shaky fielding, stood in his way. Morales had to smooth out his rough edges -- coaches jokingly called him "Brick Hands" -- after playing the outfield and infield corners in Cuba.
Plus, the Angels wanted to give him time to develop and adjust.
"The game is definitely different. The culture is different," general manager Tony Reagins says. "So a player at that age needs to spend time in the minor leagues."
Morales' talent has flourished with the chance to play daily, without the fear that a couple of bad games might get him sent back to the bench or the minors.
His fielding, while still not on the same level as a Gold Glover such as Teixeira, has improved to the point where first-base coach Alfredo Griffin, who works with the infielders, says Morales can scoop balls in the dirt with the best in the league.
Before his September slide, which manager Mike Scioscia attributed to expanding his strike zone, Morales hit at least .273 in every month, topped by a huge August -- .385, 10 homers and a team-record 33 RBI -- that earned him AL player of the month honors.
Center fielder Torii Hunter says Morales is quick to recognize changes in how opponents pitch.
"He doesn't wait 10 at-bats to make an adjustment. He makes it the next at-bat," Hunter says. "You rarely see a first-year guy make adjustments like that."
Now comes the chance to perform on baseball's biggest stage, which requires adjusting to the attention and intensity. Angels broadcaster Jose Mota, who often serves as Morales' interpreter, expects him to handle it well.
Mota recalls a conversation he had during the World Baseball Classic in March with Cuban national coach Higinio Velez, who coached Morales for nearly three years. Velez told Mota his players go through psychological screening to make sure they don't wilt under pressure.
"Playing in front of 40,000, 50,000 people doesn't bother him," Mota says of Morales. "There's no awe factor."
When you've seen the inside of a Cuban jail, few situations faze you.
(c) 2009 USA TODAY.
After Olympic shutout, baseball WCup is a success
NETTUNO, Italy --- International baseball officials are starting to get over the shock of being shut out of the Olympics, and the recently concluded World Cup was hailed as a success in spreading the sport's reach in Europe.
The United States beat Cuba 10-5 in Sunday's final to cap a 22-team tournament spread over seven countries, several of which were almost completely new to baseball.
"New stadiums were built in Sweden, facilities were renovated in Croatia. It has certainly contributed to the development of baseball in Europe," said Italian baseball federation president Riccardo Fraccari, who plans to run for the presidency of the International Baseball Federation later this year.
In Italy, 16 cities hosted games and Sunday's final in Nettuno drew a sold-out crowd of 5,000 despite a starting time that coincided with Italian league soccer matches. Games were broadcast on the MLB Network in the United States, Eurosport2 across Europe and on local networks in Cuba, Venezuela and Italy.
"This has really been the first world championship of baseball in every sense of the word 'world.' We've never had this many countries involved, this many teams and this many cities," Fraccari said. "This has been quite a response and the Olympic movement should take notice. This sport is alive and growing, even in Europe where we all know football is the top sport."
Baseball was a full medal sport at the Olympics from 1992-2008. Unable to deliver the top professionals, it was dropped from the 2012 program in a 2005 International Olympic Committee vote.
Baseball officials decided last year to move its biannual World Cup from Cuba and stage it across Europe in an effort to make the sport more visible for IOC members. That went for naught when the IOC's executive board decided last month not to reinstate baseball to the program for the 2016 Games.
Instead, the IOC is recommending golf and rugby sevens at its meetings in Copenhagen beginning this week.
"I've always learned that when you think things are down you start leading a parade," said Harvey Schiller, the outgoing IBAF president. "We're saying, 'You know what? We'll make baseball the biggest sport in the world.' And that's the plan."
Spain, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic also hosted games, and in Germany first-round attendance over four days numbered 36,000.
The tournament did have its troubles, with crowds as small as 150 watching some games affected by bad weather.
"It's all a matter of time. It's new, or fairly new, here in Europe, and it's going to take a little time to cultivate. We're glad we can be a part of it. I thought it was a very successful tournament, other than the travel," United States manager Eddie Rodriguez said after his team played 15 games in 10 different cities over 18 days.
The World Cup features players just below the major league level. The sport's international showpiece is now the World Baseball Classic, which features the top professionals.
Schiller suggested the classic will likely include more teams at its next edition in 2013, with the possibility of an international All-Star game.
Japan won the first classic in 2006 and defended its title in March.
"The Classic will be in its own right far bigger than any Olympic baseball tournament could ever be," Donald Fehr, the head of MLB's players association, said while watching the final in Nettuno. "The perception was that baseball needed the Olympics, but that was mostly held by Olympic people, and in fact I think it's quite the reverse.
"I think they will discover over time as baseball continues to grow and its popularity internationally continues to grow, that the Olympics will come back to baseball," added Fehr, who indicated he would be interested in aiding the next IBAF president when he steps down as union head soon. "Part of the problem quite frankly is that it is not widely played in Europe and the overwhelming majority of IOC members are European and they want sports that they know. I don't think there's anything more involved than that."
Fraccari's chief opponent in the December IBAF election will likely be John Ostermeyer, an Australian who is currently the IBAF's secretary general.
While Fraccari wants baseball to keep fighting to get back into the Olympics -- with the top professionals -- Schiller is of the belief that the sport should drop those efforts for now.
"We did everything that they asked -- every single thing -- and we were still rejected, so what's the next step?" said Schiller, a former executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee, adding that the IOC has indicated the next opening won't come until the 2024 Games.
"Sports have the obligation of controlling themselves, not being controlled by outside sources. I'm a big Olympic fan, it would be great to be in, but they don't want us. How would you feel? Business is business."
(c) 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Cecil Cooper fired by Astros
HOUSTON --- The Houston Astros fired manager Cecil Cooper on Monday with only a handful of games left in another disappointing season.
Third-base coach Dave Clark was named interim manager. The Astros are 70-80 after Monday night's loss to St. Louis.
General manager Ed Wade said the change couldn't wait until the end of the season. He added that more changes could be coming for a franchise just four years removed from its only World Series appearance.
"We're tasked with evaluating all aspects of our situation," Wade said.
Cooper, 59, was hired on Aug. 27, 2007, to replace Phil Garner. Houston went 171-170 under Cooper, who was the bench coach under Garner from 2005 to 2007.
Cooper became the fourth manager to be fired this season, all in the National League. Arizona dismissed Bob Melvin on May 7, Colorado replaced Clint Hurdle on May 29 and the Washington Nationals fired Manny Acta on July 13.
Cooper did not answer calls to his cellphone.
Cooper could not be blamed for all the Astros' shortcomings in 2009. A number of offseason moves fizzled, and All-Star first baseman Lance Berkman and pitching ace Roy Oswalt have had subpar seasons.
"It stinks when you know that you're responsible for somebody else's job security," Berkman said. "We didn't get it done on the field. ... Coop never threw a pitch or batted with runners in scoring position."
Astros owner Drayton McLane pointed out that the Astros' payroll -- almost $103 million -- is among the highest in baseball and that he thought the assembled roster was capable of having a better season.
Cooper was a first-time major-league manager and the first black manager in Astros history. He played 11 seasons for the Milwaukee Brewers.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic --- A top prospect for the San Francisco Giants was charged with murder in the death of a 25-year-old man last weekend at a bar in his Caribbean homeland.
Angel Villalona, who received a club-record $2.1 million bonus when he was signed by the Giants in 2006, wore a bulletproof vest to his hearing at a court in the city of La Romana. He pleaded innocent.
The 19-year-old Villalona could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty in the Saturday night shooting death of Mario Felix de Jesus Velete.
Villalona turned himself in 12 hours after the shooting at a La Romana bar.
The first baseman played in 74 games with Class A San Jose this season, batting .267 with nine home runs and 42 runs batted in. Baseball America chose him as the Giants' top prospect before the 2008 season.
Notes
* Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman, who defected in July, has established provisional residency in Andorra. Chapman pitched for Cuba in this year's World Baseball Classic. The 21-year-old left-hander has a 100 mph fastball and is considered one of the top pitching prospects in the world.
* The Cubs activated OF Reed Johnson from the 15-day disabled list and called up OF Tyler Colvin, a former first-round draft pick, to replace the suspended Milton Bradley on the roster.
* Blue Jays SS Marco Scutaro will likely miss the rest of the season after an MRI revealed a tear in his right heel.
(c) 2009 The Seattle Times Company.
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