Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
I want Venezuela on my desk by Friday morning!
—Mike Nelson in Mystery Science Theater's take on "Assignment: Venezuela"
A: My education was to become a Miss
Q: You mean a Mrs.? To get married?
A: No, no. A Miss. Like Miss Venezuela, Miss World ...
—Claudia Schiffer
Last week Venezuelan-born Chico Carrasquel passed away at the age of 77. Carrasquel was a four-time All-Star as a member of the "Go Go" White Sox in the Fifties.
Carrasquel paved the way for his Hall-of-Fame countryman Luis Aparicio and many other great Latin players. Valenzuela currently ranks third in major-leaguers. Here is the breakdown by country for all major-leaguers active in 2004:
| Country | # | % |
| USA | 904 | 72.49% |
| Dominican Republic | 128 | 10.26% |
| Venezuela | 66 | 5.29% |
| Puerto Rico | 49 | 3.93% |
| Mexico | 22 | 1.76% |
| Canada | 18 | 1.44% |
| Japan | 15 | 1.20% |
| Cuba | 12 | 0.96% |
| South Korea | 8 | 0.64% |
| Panama | 7 | 0.56% |
| Australia | 5 | 0.40% |
| Colombia | 3 | 0.24% |
| Taiwan | 2 | 0.16% |
| Virgin Islands | 2 | 0.16% |
| Curacao | 2 | 0.16% |
| South Vietnam | 1 | 0.08% |
| West Germany | 1 | 0.08% |
| Aruba | 1 | 0.08% |
| Nicaragua | 1 | 0.08% |
| 1247 | 100.00% |
Twenty-seven clubs had Venezuelan-born players led by the Twins seven:
| Team | # | % |
| Minnesota Twins | 7 | 10.14% |
| Detroit Tigers | 5 | 7.25% |
| Baltimore Orioles | 4 | 5.80% |
| Cleveland Indians | 4 | 5.80% |
| Montreal Expos | 4 | 5.80% |
| Houston Astros | 3 | 4.35% |
| New York Yankees | 3 | 4.35% |
| New York Mets | 3 | 4.35% |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 3 | 4.35% |
| Anaheim Angels | 3 | 4.35% |
| Chicago White Sox | 2 | 2.90% |
| Cincinnati Reds | 2 | 2.90% |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 2 | 2.90% |
| Colorado Rockies | 2 | 2.90% |
| Kansas City Royals | 2 | 2.90% |
| San Francisco Giants | 2 | 2.90% |
| Seattle Mariners | 2 | 2.90% |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 2 | 2.90% |
| Oakland Athletics | 2 | 2.90% |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 2 | 2.90% |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 2 | 2.90% |
| San Diego Padres | 2 | 2.90% |
| Florida Marlins | 2 | 2.90% |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 1 | 1.45% |
| Chicago Cubs | 1 | 1.45% |
| Texas Rangers | 1 | 1.45% |
| Atlanta Braves | 1 | 1.45% |
| 69 | 100.00% |
There have been 22 Venezuelan All-Stars:
| Name | Appearances |
| Luis Aparicio | 10 |
| Dave Concepcion | 9 |
| Andres Galarraga | 5 |
| Manny Trillo | 4 |
| Chico Carrasquel | 4 |
| Magglio Ordonez | 4 |
| Ozzie Guillen | 3 |
| Omar Vizquel | 3 |
| Ugueth Urbina | 2 |
| Tony Armas | 2 |
| Freddy Garcia | 2 |
| Bo Diaz | 2 |
| Francisco Rodriguez | 1 |
| Edgardo Alfonzo | 1 |
| Carlos Zambrano | 1 |
| Melvin Mora | 1 |
| Carlos Garcia | 1 |
| Bobby Abreu | 1 |
| Ramon Hernandez | 1 |
| Vic Davalillo | 1 |
| Wilson Alvarez | 1 |
| Alex Gonzalez | 1 |
Venezuela's 60 All-Star appearances ranks fifth all time:
| Origin | # | % |
| USA | 3556 | 88.17% |
| Puerto Rico | 118 | 2.93% |
| Dominican Republic | 115 | 2.85% |
| Cuba | 70 | 1.74% |
| Venezuela | 60 | 1.49% |
| Panama | 32 | 0.79% |
| Canada | 24 | 0.60% |
| Mexico | 18 | 0.45% |
| Japan | 10 | 0.25% |
| Jamaica | 6 | 0.15% |
| Nicaragua | 5 | 0.12% |
| Colombia | 5 | 0.12% |
| Scotland | 3 | 0.07% |
| Curacao | 3 | 0.07% |
| Holland | 2 | 0.05% |
| South Korea | 2 | 0.05% |
| W.Germany | 1 | 0.02% |
| France | 1 | 0.02% |
| South Vietnam | 1 | 0.02% |
| Australia | 1 | 0.02% |
| 4033 | 100.00% |
Though in the last ten years they've moved up to fourth:
| Origin | # | % |
| USA | 456 | 72.61% |
| Dominican Republic | 53 | 8.44% |
| Puerto Rico | 48 | 7.64% |
| Venezuela | 21 | 3.34% |
| Canada | 11 | 1.75% |
| Japan | 10 | 1.59% |
| Panama | 6 | 0.96% |
| Colombia | 5 | 0.80% |
| Cuba | 4 | 0.64% |
| Mexico | 4 | 0.64% |
| Curacao | 3 | 0.48% |
| Nicaragua | 2 | 0.32% |
| South Korea | 2 | 0.32% |
| Australia | 1 | 0.16% |
| South Vietnam | 1 | 0.16% |
| Jamaica | 1 | 0.16% |
| 628 | 100.00% |
By the way, the All-Star apperance leaders per country are:
| Origin | # | Name |
| Australia | 1 | Dave Nilsson |
| Canada | 5 | Larry Walker |
| Colombia | 4 | Edgar Renteria |
| Cuba | 8 | Tony Oliva |
| Curacao | 3 | Andruw Jones |
| Dominican Republic | 9 | Juan Marichal |
| France | 1 | Charlie Lea |
| Holland | 2 | Bert Blyleven |
| Jamaica | 3 | Devon White/Chili Davis |
| Japan | 4 | Ichiro Suzuki |
| Mexico | 6 | Fernando Valenzuela |
| Nicaragua | 4 | Dennis Martinez |
| Puerto Rico | 12 | Roberto Clemente/Roberto Alomar |
| Panama | 18 | Rod Carew |
| Scotland | 3 | Bobby Thomson |
| South Korea | 1 | Chan Ho Park/Byung-Hyun Kim |
| South Vietnam | 1 | Danny Graves |
| USA | 21 | Hank Aaron |
| USA | 20 | Stan Musial |
| USA | 20 | Willie Mays |
| Venezuela | 10 | Luis Aparicio |
| West Germany | 1 | Glenn Hubbard |
And yet, Aparicio remains the only Venezuelan–born Hall of Famer. Here are the Hall of Famers by country:
| Origin | # | % |
| USA | 210 | 96.33% |
| Puerto Rico | 2 | 0.92% |
| Canada | 1 | 0.46% |
| Cuba | 1 | 0.46% |
| Dominican Republic | 1 | 0.46% |
| England | 1 | 0.46% |
| Panama | 1 | 0.46% |
| Venezuela | 1 | 0.46% |
| 218 | 100.00% |
Aside from Joe Morgan's fixation on Dave Concepcion, I have to think that a number of current players will have a shot at the Hall some day. Here are the Win Shares leaders from Venezuela:
| Name | First | Last | WS | G | BA | Hr | OBP | SLUG | OPS |
| Luis Aparicio | 1956 | 1973 | 293 | 2601 | .262 | 83 | .311 | .343 | .653 |
| Dave Concepcion | 1970 | 1988 | 269 | 2488 | .267 | 101 | .322 | .357 | .679 |
| Andres Galarraga | 1985 | 2004 | 251 | 2257 | .288 | 399 | .347 | .499 | .846 |
| Omar Vizquel | 1989 | 2004 | 209 | 2138 | .275 | 66 | .341 | .358 | .699 |
| Edgardo Alfonzo | 1995 | 2004 | 202 | 1367 | .288 | 144 | .362 | .436 | .797 |
| Bobby Abreu | 1996 | 2004 | 202 | 1167 | .305 | 166 | .412 | .517 | .929 |
| Cesar Tovar | 1965 | 1976 | 178 | 1488 | .278 | 46 | .335 | .368 | .703 |
| Ozzie Guillen | 1985 | 2000 | 148 | 1993 | .264 | 28 | .287 | .338 | .626 |
| Manny Trillo | 1973 | 1989 | 146 | 1780 | .263 | 61 | .316 | .345 | .660 |
| Magglio Ordonez | 1997 | 2004 | 140 | 1001 | .307 | 187 | .364 | .525 | .889 |
| Chico Carrasquel | 1950 | 1959 | 132 | 1325 | .258 | 55 | .333 | .342 | .674 |
| Tony Armas | 1976 | 1989 | 131 | 1432 | .252 | 251 | .287 | .453 | .740 |
| Vic Davalillo | 1963 | 1980 | 111 | 1458 | .279 | 36 | .315 | .364 | .680 |
| Wilson Alvarez | 1989 | 2004 | 105 | 285 | .140 | 0 | .175 | .140 | .315 |
| Luis Salazar | 1980 | 1992 | 99 | 1302 | .261 | 94 | .293 | .381 | .673 |
| Bo Diaz | 1977 | 1989 | 94 | 993 | .255 | 87 | .297 | .387 | .684 |
I can't remember the last substantive comment I've gotten.
Did you read Jayson "Do you believe you have to pay for most of his stuff now" Stark's piece on the World Championship? Other than learning that Mike Lowell is a Puerto Rican citizen, I found it interesting but lacked any real analysis.
Would make a nice excercise wouldn't it - American pitching depth vs. Dominican lineup? Of course I have to ask you because I am inept and incapable.
As always, thanks for your work.
Thanks.
I think the "Bobby Abreu can't play" talk has died down for two reasons:
1) Abreu has been so good over the last year-plus that even the idiotic Philly fans can tell he's great.
2) Hardly anyone else on the team can play.
I'm sorry I did not read the Stark piece. I think this World Baseball Classic is sort of an APBA game gone awry. Besides I'm not going to knock Starks anyway since he's one of the few people in the media proper who read (or admit to reading) my stuff.
As far as how these All-Star teams will compete against each other, I think it'll come down to luck. They're so close that'll come down to who's hot when the play. I'm just not that excited about it. Maybe it's me.
Not knocking Starks - have loved him since I was a kid and he did his piece on tuesday in SportsExtra in the Inquirer...just have been so accustomed to reading his stuff for nothing forever...
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