Puerto Rican catchers in MLB.

The catcher is one of the most important players on the field. Their job consists of catching pitches, calling the game, throwing, blocking wild pitches and defensive plays on the bases. Not to mention the mental aspect of the game. So many great catchers have played the game and I'm proud to say that a good number of them have come from Puerto Rico. Some of the best have come from 'la isla del encanto', for instance, Sandy Alomar Jr., he was a 6 time All Star, won the Rookie of the Year award in 1990 and was the 1997 All Star Game MVP. Future Hall of Fame catcher, Ivan Rodriguez was the 1999 AL MVP, 7 time Silver Slugger Award winner, 13 time Gold Glove winner, 14 time All Star and 2003 World Series champion. Rodriguez is currently playing with the Washington Nationals. Benito Santiago, Javy Lopez and Ozzie Virgil Jr. are some of the most popular catchers to come from the island.

Puerto Rico continues to produce good catching, the newest member of the Puerto Rico catchers club is Cubs catcher Geovany Soto. Soto posted great numbers in his 2008 rookie season, he was named NL Rookie of the Year and was voted into the All Star game. Soto was the eighth Puerto Rican catcher to be selected into the All Star game. Lately, more often then not, a catcher from Puerto Rico is behind the plate at an All Star game. Soto struggled in his sophomore year, but looks to be on the right track in 2010. Can't forget to mention Jorge Posada, who has been a gem for the New York Yankees, the only team he's played for in his MLB career. Posada is a 5 time All Star, 4 time World Series champ and a 5 time Silver Slugger Award winner.

Molina is a Cardinal so its bittersweet when it comes to rooting for him, but I have to give credit where credit is due. Like Benito Santiago, Yadier Molina's arm is strong enough to throw runners out from his knees. He's a very gifted young player who has accomplished a lot in a short career but he, without a doubt, has a promising future ahead.

In Molina's opinion, "Puerto Rico has produced a lot of catchers because we like being involved in the game, an we're very aggressive". I agree. I hope to see more Puerto Rican talent in the big leagues, but recently the number of Puerto Rican's has declined. Many believe that MLB has stopped investing in Puerto Rico, but in my opinion boricuas have given up on baseball.Baseball takes a back seat to basketball and volleyball on the island. Regardless of all the speculation I believe that more great baseball talent from Puerto Rico is still to come.

Puerto Rican Catchers in MLB:

Sandy Alomar Jr.
Robby Cancel
Javier Cardona
Raul Casanova
Ramon Castro
Javier Lopez
Orlando Mercado
Bengie Molina
Jose Molina
Yadier Molina
Jose Morales
Wil Nieves
Hector Ortiz
Junior Ortiz
Ozzie Virgil Jr.
Hector Villanueva
Hector Valle
Javier Valentin
Valmy Thomas
Geovany Soto
Benito Santiago
Jorge Posada
Mike Rivera
Rene Rivera
Ellie Rodriguez
Ivan Rodriguez
Orlando Sanchez

"Could this be the year?"

I was watching Mondays Cubs game against the Rockies with my aunt. After Marmol walked in the tying run she started saying that no matter how bad the Cubs played, fans would always show up and cheer them on. I agreed. Then she went on saying that it seemed like the Cubs players, management, front office and owners would all have a meeting and decide that winning wasn't for them. So basically she was claiming that the Cubs were losing on purpose.

Of course I had no answer to her theory. I was shocked at her allegations. But then the image of the Ricketts, Lou , Hendry and our beloved players in a room thinking up new ways to lose played in my mind. The scary thing was, that it started to make sense. Think about it, Cubs fans continue to fill Wrigley every game with the hopes that "this is the year". And every year we die hards find out the hard way that it isn't the year. Anyway, my aunt then gave me a lecture on why the Cubs would never win the World Series. She was slowly crushing every last hope I still held on too. Now, this was all before Aramis Ramirez hit the walk off 2-Run HR. Once that happened, I was once again among the thousands of Cubs fans thinking, "could this be the year?"