Steroids: Worldwide

Picked up from baseballdeworld.com. Score another one for the allure of the book contract...

Former Korean League All-Star Ma Hae-young has caused a furor in South Korea with a new, tell-all book claiming that some professional Korean ballplayers have taken steroids in the past.

Ma, the the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) 2002 Korean Series MVP, wrote that he personally witnessed both Korean and foreign players used performance-enhancing drugs. The accusations have caused a media frenzy in one of the world’s top professional baseball leagues.

KBO officials belied Ma’s claims that its players are using steroids or any other illegal substances.

On Johan

From the excellent Allen Barra, in the Wall Street Journal:

The hottest party of the year in Tovar, Venezuela, is called "El Cy Youngazo," which roughly translates as "The Great Cy Young." It's held in December, and the host and No. 1 attraction is Johan Santana, the town's native son and the New York Mets' star southpaw.

Venezuelan fires perfect game for Akron

From the Cleveland Plains-Dealer:

Ross Atkins said right-hander Jeanmar Gomez is a good example of how a minor-league system is supposed to work.

When the Indians signed Gomez as a 17-year-old in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2005, he was 6-3 and 168 pounds. When he threw his perfect game Thursday for Class AA Akron, Gomez was almost 6-4 and weighed 202 pounds.

"You get to build a player's delivery, pitches, durability and routine," said Atkins, Indians director of player development.

New Americans

Here's a different bit of international baseball writing of mine, a short newspaper story about a middle school baseball team in Queens that features players from 9 countries (plus Puerto Rico).

When I.S. 235 baseball coach Jeff Cohen makes out his lineup card, he finds himself choosing between natives of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

For the record, that's nine countries, one United States territory and four or five languages; there are also five girls on the team. At that, it might just be the most diverse ball club in Queens, and if the borough is America's most diverse county, what does that make the Astoria middle school's baseball team?

"It's like a family," said Cohen, who lives in Glendale with his wife and son.

Click here for the whole article.

Juan Lara Battling Back After Accident

Here's a really good one from MLB.com, about Juan Lara, a Dominican who pitched for the Indians in 2006, then suffered a terrible car accident after a Dominican Winter League game.

Arangure: Canadians visit DR

Unless you've got an insider account, this link to Jorge Arangure's blog won't do you much good. I don't have an insider account, but I can tell you what it's about: Canada's national program sends teams to the DR to play a series of exhibitions, often against DSL teams.

New documentary

I bought a defective copy of the Republic of Baseball once, and never managed to get my hands on a working copy. Here, a write up of a new documentary out, with a blurb from Vladimir Guerrero: “I was once just like the young men in this film.”