Is this one of Uncle Jeff's "nephews?"

Yeah, I think he's legitimately 19 and could be the real deal.

Martinez is his mother's name. She died when he was young and Carlos was raised by an uncle who's last name is Mattias. He took the name Mattias, but not legally. It was a very innocent discrepancy. For clarity, he's using his legal name.

"it would be interesting to learn a bit more about culture in the DR, particularly as regards baseball, to find out more about what might be behind the identity issue thing."

It's pretty simple, Max. You either lie about your age and enhance your chances of getting off one of the poorest islands in the Western Hemisphere or tell the truth and risk, as Pedro Martinez once said, picking fruit for the rest of your life.
There are other elements, like these so-called scouts/agents/uncles who get paid by the number of kids they get signed, who know their way around miniscule issues like a Dominican birth certificate. Here's an archived story from the Washington Post that goes into pretty good detail:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/03/08/ST2009030802175.html

I thought the advantage to lieing about your age was to turn a guy who was really 27 and at his prime into a 21 year old with no limit to were his talent could take him.  He gets his big contract only to fade because he is now past his prime.  I didnt figure kids in their early 20s or late teens would lie about their age because they had yet to reach their prime years.

sounds like this kid didn't lie about his age, nor even really about his name.  he just used the name of the woman who was raising him.  people in indonesia can be very naive about issues of legality.  my MiL needed a new passport and she somehow thought it would be kosher to simply remove her 5-year visa to America from her old passport, and glue it into her new passport.  You want to pull your hair out sometimes, it's so maddening.

I usually don't encourage people to watch ESPN, but it's worth tuning in to BBTN tonight to see a clip of the double play Yuniesky Betancourt just started against the Padres. Ozzie-esque.

APRTW wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

"Martinez is his mother's name. She died when he was young"

Well, don't I feel like an asshole ...

Is it to harsh for me to say "you are what you eat" and it be taken as a joke?

I really shouldn't have expected any less ...

Max wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

"my MiL needed a new passport and she somehow thought it would be kosher to simply remove her 5-year visa to America from her old passport, and glue it into her new passport.  You want to pull your hair out sometimes, it's so maddening."

It's not just Indonesians. We took a cruise to the Caribbean a few years ago and the cruise line didn't let a family on board the boat in Florida because they hadn't brought their passports. They had that incredulous "Who knew you needed a passport to go to the Bahamas?" attitude, which went over really well.

wait a moment, don't we own the Bahamas? I thought they were like Puerto Rico, just sort of an American possession.

I thought the whole world was America's property.  We are not welcome anyplace?

artie_fufkin wrote:

"my MiL needed a new passport and she somehow thought it would be kosher to simply remove her 5-year visa to America from her old passport, and glue it into her new passport.  You want to pull your hair out sometimes, it's so maddening."

It's not just Indonesians. We took a cruise to the Caribbean a few years ago and the cruise line didn't let a family on board the boat in Florida because they hadn't brought their passports. They had that incredulous "Who knew you needed a passport to go to the Bahamas?" attitude, which went over really well.

Nay, nay. Bahamians are more than happy to let you in with a wave of your passport. As you probably know from your travels abroad, it's getting back into the U.S. that's the difficult part. If there's one bit of advice I'd ever pass along, it's do whatever you can do to avoid the Miami airport if you're arriving on an international flight. That place would have to get about 50 percent more organized to rise to the level of a clusterfuck.

Memphis

Rick Porcello ... er, Pete Kozma went 4-4 today in a 10-2 win over Fresno. His avg. improved to .220.

Stavi leads the team with 6 HRs and 23 RBI, but is batting .242

Might want to hold off Donovan Solano Bobblehead Night. He's batting .130 in 54 ABs.

Ottavino is 1-3, but with a 2.85 ERA. He's walked 23 in 41 IP.

Lefty Nick Additon (46th round, 2006) was 2-0 with a 2.85 with 32 Ks in 40 innings in Springfield before being called up this week. He's pitched three scoreless innings for the Redbirds.


Springfield

Matthew Adams (23rd round; 2009) leads the team in all three triple crown categories with .300/10/30 in 132 ABs. He also leads the team in errors with five. He's a first baseman.

Steven Hill is batting .188 as a DH.

Palm Beach

Zack Cox has a .328 BA but only a .765 OPS in 33 games. 134 ABs, 2 homers and 4 walks. Yikes.

Shelby Miller now has 59 Ks in 40 innings. He's 2-2 with a 3.15 ERA in 7 starts.

Jordan Swagerty gave up 2 runs in 5 IP with no walks and 6 Ks in his first start in High A.

QC

Oscar Taveras (18yo FA from the DR) is putting up slow-pitch softball numbers - .500/.692/1.228 through 14 games. He a L/L outfielder. He hit .322/8/43 in 53 games last year at JC.

Seth Blair is 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA and 17 Ks and 17 walks in 20 innings.

Carlos Martinez's second start didn't go as well as his first: 2.2 5 6 6 3 2

JV wrote:

"Lefty Nick Additon"
Thanks for the update, Artie, but I'm steeling myself for what I presume will be another pronunciation travesty a la Lohse and Favre: "Nick Addition".  Say it ain't so.  Of course, if he's good I'll get over it.

Aye to that. I had to look at it three times, and then my fingers still tried to spell it wrong. That name is a copy editor's nightmare. Can't wait for the P-D's headline "Additon good addition to bullpen ..."