<< Previous day Blog posts in this category Next day >>
<< Previous year (same day) (if any) Next year (same day) >>
March 12, 2009 [LINK / comment]
Estadio Hiram Bithorn
El diagrama del Estadio Hiram Bithorn, sitio del Clásico Mundial de Beisbol 2009, ha sido actualizado. (That last word is Spanish for "updated.") Previously I only had the pre-2004 version, when the dimensions were significantly shorter. To bring it up to Major League standards for the two years that the Montreal Expos played there, they moved the outfield fences back by about 10-20 feet.
In this year's World Baseball Classic, Mexico and Cuba have already qualified for the next round, in Pool 1. The two teams are playing in Hiram Bithorn Stadium right now to determine which one will be seeded higher; Cuba is ahead, 7-4, in the fifth inning. I don't care much for the playoff format in the WBC, as the sixth game is often not necessary, and in the case of Pool A, Japan should have been declared the winner after Game 5, because it had a 2-0 record, compared to Korea's 2-1 record. But because they had to play Game 6, Korea ended up on top, with a 3-1 record, ahead of Japan's 2-1 record. The full bracket/scoreboard is at MLB.com.
So who was Hiram Bithorn? He became the first Major League player from Puerto Rico, pitching for the Chicago Cubs in 1942, 1943 (his best year), and 1946, with three years of service in the U.S. armed forces during World War II. In 1947 he played for the Chicago White Sox, but was taken out after only two innings because of a sore arm, and that turned out to be the end of his MLB career. He later played in the Mexican winter league, and at the end of 1951 he was shot by a Mexican policeman in disputed circumstances. It was a brief, tragic career, but he inspired many other greats from Puerto Rico such as Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, Bernie Williams, and Carlos Delgado. For a more complete biography, see Sports Illustrated from 2003, when the Expos started playing on the semi-tropical island.
Posted (or last updated or commented upon): 18 Mar 2009, 8: 12 PM
(unformatted URL) .
ALL blog posts today
New blog post entry
This post is over a week old, so comments are closed.
© Andrew G. Clem. All rights reserved. Your use of this material signifies your acceptance of the Terms of use.
Hits on this page (single blog post) since July 2, 2007: 
Category archives:
(all years)
Baseball
Politics
Latin America
War
Wild Birds
Culture & Travel
Science & Technology
This (or that) year's
blog highlights
January 5, 2009 Illegal immigration: no problem
January 10, 2009 Bush's fiscal profligacy: a recap
January 20, 2009 Inauguration Day 2009
March 13, 2009 Tax revolt in Augusta County!
March 14, 2009 Mexican Army counterattacks
March 27, 2009 Facebook: resistance is futile
April 5, 2009 RPV chair Frederick is removed
April 8, 2009 Fujimori is convicted, again
May 3, 2009 (Very) Big Spring Day, 2009
June 12, 2009 Tiger Stadium memorial update
June 16, 2009 Home runs in New Yankee Stadium
June 28, 2009 Obama's health care proposals
June 29, 2009 House votes to regulate climate
July 7, 2009 R.I.P. Michael Jackson, Superstar
July 9, 2009 Conservative defeat in Mexico
August 16, 2009 Great Baseball Road Trip 2009
August 23, 2009 Road Trip 2009: The Birds of August
August 27, 2009 R.I.P. Edward M. Kennedy
September 7, 2009 Two clutch homers end Nats' skid
October 10, 2009 Republicans reunite in Verona
October 16, 2009 Health care polemics heat up
November 4, 2009 Republicans sweep Virginia races
November 5, 2009 Yankees are the 2009 champions
November 21, 2009 Senate votes on health care
December 23, 2009 Musings on health care "reform"
December 30, 2009 Decade of creation, and destruction
December 30, 2009 Whither the Republican soul?
December 31, 2009 A (half) decade of baseball in D.C.
Blog highlights have been compiled for the years 2010-2012 thus far, and eventually will be compiled for earlier years, back to 2002.
Explanation
The "home made" blog organization system that I created was instituted on November 1, 2004, followed by several functional enhancements in subsequent years. I make no more than one blog post per day on any one category, so some posts may cover multiple news items or issues. Blog posts appear in the following (reverse alphabetical) order, which may differ from the chronological order in which the posts were originally made:
- Wild birds (LAST)
- War
- Science & Technology
- Politics
- Latin America
- Culture & Travel
- Canaries ("Home birds")
- Baseball (FIRST)
Also see: My blog practices.
Blog errata (Nobody's perfect.)