PEDRO G. BRICEÑO
The one that thousands of people consider to be the The Dominican Republic’s greatest sporting achievement celebrates its eighth anniversary on this date.
While time passes and passes, the memories remain latent of the baseball team’s golden achievement in capturing the World Baseball Classic in 2013, a feat accomplished in an undefeated fashion.
On March 19, 2013, the Dominican Republic played its last game against Puerto Rico, their always-arch-rival, a team they defeated 3-0 by shutout, after a great outing by Samuel Deduno, who pitched 5.0 innings with only two hits and five strikeouts. and the attack by Edwin Encarnación, who produced two rounds with a single.
This outcome gave rise to a great celebration in every corner of the nation that, despite the years enjoyed and remembered by many, because the event has so unfolded, it deserves.
An unbeaten figure of 8-0 recorded in all registers amplified the utterances of a Galician at the time, who said in a television commercial made for the occasion, “It is that they are the best,” referring to the Dominican team that At his tremendous pace, he left the mighty teams of the United States and Venezuela on the road, as well as a group from Puerto Rico who only found the famous “pebble in the shoe” among the Dominicans.
Ah, with this brilliant performance he had left behind the bitter taste he got four years ago when the people from Santiago were packing suitcases early, after only being beaten twice by the Netherlands in the first round.
That of 2013 became a concerted effort, with the Dominican Baseball Federation leading the way, manager Tony Peña, general manager Moisés Alou and with them a group of brave players who, from the first concentration, look with hunger, bravery and company to erase the fateful performance of 2009.
The long-awaited revenge on the team of the Netherlands Antilles, the executioner of the Quisqueyanos in the World Classic 2009, also took place, as the Dominicans with a timely at bat of José Reyes, Edwin Encarnación and Moisés Sierra, in addition to the starting pitching of Edinson Vólquez and the efficient execution of the relay defeated the Orange 4-1 in a clash on Monday, March 18.
The Dominican population enjoyed each of the 72 full innings played in the team’s eight games at the tournament, which is estimated to have been followed by tens of millions of fans around the world. In total, the various stadiums were attended by 885,716 people, a figure that was a record for this event at the time.
This pennant united a nation that all promoted the same cause and that became a curfew, where even the country’s major personalities delayed appointments or, at best, did not put them on their calendars during the hours that the Dominican team played. .
A performance that began that afternoon of March 6, when the Dominicans defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 15-2 in an exhibition game, led to star lefthanded Cole Hamels complimenting the team for saying they were very strong.
Robinson Cannon JMV
Robinson Canó was voted Most Valuable after hitting .469 (32-15) with four doubles and two homers and the feat should be highlighted José Reyes, Nelson Cruz, Hanley Ramírez, Carlos Santana, Erick Aybar, Alejandro de Aza, Miguel Tejada, Moisés Sierra, as well as pitchers Fernando Rodney, Pedro Strop, Octavio Dotel, Kelvin Herrera, José Veras, starters Samuel Deduno, Wandy Rodríguez, Edinson Vólquez, Lorenzo Barceló, among others.
The Dominicans Edwin Encarnación, initialist; Canó, intermediary; José Reyes, short stop; Outfielder Nelson Cruz was included in the All-Star team.
World Classic matches
The Dominicans had to start the day against a very strong team, that of Venezuela, but the result started to leave a pleasant taste with players and thousands of fans of all latitudes, who knew that the confrontation was not going to be easy at all. A resounding 9-3 win started to usher in big things in the coming days.
Triumphs against Puerto Rico and Spain gave the Quisqueyanos their unbeaten standings.
The second round got off to nothing positive for the Dominican Republic, as Italy put the game in their favor 4-0 against an uncontrolled Edinson Vólquez and it foreshadowed another surprise, but the Quisqueyans recovered and Nelson Cruz singled sure they won the match 5-4. Victories against the United States (3-1) and Puerto Rico (2-0) gave him his second advance to the semi-finals.
In the semifinals they had to face the Netherlands, the team that had beaten them twice in the first round of the 2009 tournament, but the Dominicans took a sweet revenge by counting on the attack of Reyes, Encarnación and Sierra and a good pitching from Volquez, who joined the formidable Dominican auxiliary corps.
Every gathering was a curfew, it was the theme of choice, the main drinking establishments were busy, the national symbols were even revealed on people’s clothes, even on bananas, an item never missing from The Country Tables became more widely known, because it became the standard of the national team, so popular that consumption increased dramatically both here and in many other countries.
The last game was against Puerto Rico, and with the starting pitching of Deduno, who threw 5.0 innings of two hits, as well as the relief of Dotel, Pedro Strop, Santiago Casilla and Rodney, who saved his seventh game, everyone expected that to come true ., conquering the World Classic, after his 3-0 victory.