(Though beaten to publication by the New York Times and MLB.com, your humble narrator insists that he had the idea first. So there.)
Out of some 1,200 players who appeared in a MLB game this year, about 85 were born in Venezuela. Of the 15 who logged 400+ PAs this year, five will be fixtures in the World Series lineups:
The third baseman and second baseman for each side hails from Venezuela — Pablo Sandoval and Marco Scutaro, Miguel Cabrera and Omar Infante. Both keystone tenders came over in July trades, while each beefy hot-corner minder is in his 5th year with the club. The Giants start Gregor Blanco in LF, while Detroit features rookie Avisail Garcia in RF against southpaws.
When the Series shifts to AL rules, the Giants’ DH might be Hector Sanchez, the switch-hitting reserve catcher. If so, the first pitcher he’ll face would be Anibal Sanchez; both come from Maracay, on the Lake Valencia shore, as does Cabrera.
Lefty reliever Jose Mijares joined the Giants in August on waivers from KC, despite a 2.56 ERA, which he virtually matched with SF; he’s pitched in 5 postseason games. Detroit’s Venezuelan reliever, Brayan Villarreal, had the best ERA, SO/9 and H/9 in Detroit’s bullpen this year, but was left off the postseason roster in favor of 5th starter Rick Porcello, who has faced one batter in the first two rounds.
On the other hand, Ozzie Guillen was fired yesterday. Hey, it can’t all be buenas noticias.
