What National baseball meant and means to me.
     When I was a little kid, I do not remember having any kind of attraction about baseball. This changed when I was about eleven. I started to observe my father watching national baseball games on TV. I remember about how much he enjoyed the games. The entire neighborhood -almost at the same time- cheered when Los Tigres del Licey did a hit (most of the people in Santo Domingo city were Liceistas at that time). At first, their behavior because of a simple game seemed funny to me. I did not understand why those people felt so excited about simple games. I really started to like watching the games, specially those matches between Las Aguilas y Los Tigres. My passion lasted some years but on the heels of some other teams were emerging, my enthusiasm decreased. I guess baseball team´s owners were most interested about lucrative aspects than the feelings of the audience. Recently, I watched the baseball world series and I could not hide my emotion when the dominican team won the 9 games consecutive. I am not the best national baseball fan, but I feel very happy to see how dominican baseball players are revered worldwide because of defeating their rivals. Dominican baseball players are among the best!!!!!!!!

Mastering the Law of Gravity

The Master is Yuen Woo-Ping the eldest of twelve children born in China. Choreographer and director who mastered lot of martial marts and choreography in his movies and some famous movies as Matrix, Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Snake in the Eagle´s Shadow starring Jackie Chan and Kill Bill sequels. He mastered wire work where actors seem like flying in movies, swordsmanship and other climbing and surreal fighting scenes. He worked with Ang Lee.

Ang Lee is the director of the Life of Pi film in 2012 a movie that won the academic awards for the best special effects. It says Yuen and Ang Lee´s combination make a mastership of masters in films area the creators of a lot of films that win prizes and awards around the world.

More Info about the master of special effects movie click there:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi_(film)

The Name Game

The company of my dreams is a beauty center. I´ll like to call it Renna´s AIO Beauty Center. The name´s meaning is Renewing Anyone and it´s a nice name (Renna) All in One (AIO) Beauty Center.

I´ll be the owner.

It shall have a complete beauty Salon with Spa including Manicure, Pedicure, Gym, Massage Center, Maybe a Mini-Bar, Exercises for unstressing, a Mini-Market with products to maintain women beauty always at top. It´ll include healthy food and also creams and all products we use in the Beauty Center if our costumers want to open their new company to help us to be more beautiful. Maybe it can be a Beauty Mall, women heaven where we can find ourselves and happiness overflow us

Urban Legend

I think that Urban Legends are secondhand story told as true and just plausible enough to be believed, about some horrific, embarrassing, ironic, or exasperating series of events that supposedly happened to a real person.

The Galipote ~ The Lugaru ~ The Drone

The magical tradition that realize the power of men who can turn into animals, is embodied in our legends in the figure of Galipote. However, Galipote also called the man who becomes inanimate objects such as tree trunks and stones, the one who transfers his consciousness to an animal, and that magical powers have become an animal for various purposes. 

According to the belief the galipotes are cruel and violent, tremendous strength and incredible immunity to weapon. Other legends say that these creatures just like people do bad things, such as prevent passage nightwalkers, or scare them in dark areas. There are few places in the country as places galipotes taken, and when the traveler must cross them uses spells and amulets to ward off these creatures. The galipote which becomes Lugaru called dog. This word comes from the French loup-garou, which means the legendary werewolf or werewolf of universal lycanthropic legend. Our Lugaru is a legacy of European magical tradition with African elements, and as there are no wolves in the Caribbean, is the dog that embodies it. Moreover, the walking stride galipote high rise or become night bird flies, drone or zancu called. It is said that this creature sucks the blood of children in the evenings and is linked to alleged sexual activities with children. They say they also can become invisible. People who know of these beings, argue that they are immune to the branch of a tree popularly called "cross stick", which has to be cut on Holy Friday. Others say it is necessary to use a knife that has been blessed with water and salt. 

Bibligraphy

http://www.quisqueyavirtual.edu.do/wiki/Galipote

J-Ball

Ichiro Suzuki, actual Japanese MLB Player

Baseball is not my favorite sport because I don’t like any sport, but I can say that j-ball had a long journey in the history and it´s part of a miracle that the sport is still alive after being born in north America and continued traveling a lot of countries until being one of the most watched sports over the world and also in Japan!

I´m really impressed because people still play j-ball after the devastation caused by World War 2 and i´m proud because Japan and all its culture including j-ball still appears in history and can be announced around the world.

Actual Japanese MLB Players are:

·                     Ichiro Suzuki

·                     Yu Darvish

·                     Norichika Aoki

·                     Hisashi Iwakuma

·                     Munenori Kawasaki

·                     Hiroki Kuroda

·                     Daisuke Matsuzaka

·                     Hisanori Takahashi

·                     Yoshinori Tateyama

·                     Junichi Tazawa

·                     Koji Uehara

·                     Tsuyoshi Wada

·                     Kurt Suzuki

·                     Hideki Okajima

·                     Hiroyuki Nakajima

                                   PASSION FOR BASEBALL

    In our country, Baseball is a serious thing! Dominicans are very passionate for this sport, which is one of the most famous worldwide. Dominican baseball players are very good hence all Dominicans are crazy about baseball. What makes a sport interesting and exciting is when players give everything to win, and also, when they let fans feel part of the game. In our Country, the Tournament of baseball has taken root since every year the energy and adrenaline can be felt during that time. The stadiums get crowded and the ratings on TV are a scandal! I love this sport!

Urban legend

An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore  consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true. As with all folklore and mythology, the designation suggests nothing about the story's veracity, but merely that it is in circulation, exhibits variation over time, and carries some significance that motivates the community in preserving and propagating it.

Despite its name, an urban legend does not necessarily originate in an urban. Rather, the term is used to differentiate modern legend from traditional folklore in pre-industrial times. For this reason sociologist and folklorists prefer the term contemporary legend.

Here it is I think the most popular urban legend  in the Dominican republic:

EL CUCO 

El cuco is a mythical monster whose origins can be traced to Spain. The legend of El Cuco is used through out Spain and Latin America as a fright tool to make children go to sleep. It is very similar to the Boogy Man in USA. There is no real description of this mythical being. It is as if he has no form or shape. It is just a being that is more felt than seen. Parents and grandparents alike tell the children if they do not go to sleep and fast that El Cuco will come and take them.

So be careful if you can't sleep and you see a shadow passing near your bed. It could be El Cuco....

*A few artists have used the name. Cuco Valoy, a Dominican salsa and merengue singer makes many references to El Cuco. Tonio Rosario has an album named "La Magia de El Cuco". There is a trip music festival in Puerto Rico that uses the name of this nocturnal faceless creature.

 

Baseball

THOSE ARE THE BASICS OF THE GAME. FOLLOWING ARE SOME ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS AND OTHER INFORMATION:

The BATTER'S BOX is the area within which the batter shall stand during his time at bat.
The BATTERY is the pitcher and catcher.
A DEAD BALL is a ball out of play because of a legally created temporary suspension of play.
The DEFENSE (or DEFENSIVE) is the team, or any player of the team, in the field.
A FORCE PLAY is a play in which a runner legally loses his right to occupy a base by reason of the batter becoming a runner.
A GROUND BALL is a batted ball that rolls or bounces close to the ground.
An INFIELDER is a fielder who occupies a position in the infield.
IN FLIGHT describes a batted, thrown, or pitched ball which has not yet touched the ground or some object other than a fielder.
OFFENSE is the team, or any player of the team, at bat.
An OUTFIELDER is a fielder who occupies a position in the outfield, which is the area of the playing field most distant from home base.
"SAFE" is a declaration by the umpire that a runner is entitled to the base for which he was trying.
After the ball is dead, play shall be resumed when the pitcher takes his place on the pitcher's plate with a new ball or the same ball in his possession and the plate umpire calls "Play." The plate umpire shall call "Play" as soon as the pitcher takes his place on his plate with the ball in his possession.

Legal pitching delivery.

There are two legal pitching positions, the Windup Position and the Set Position, and either position may be used at any time.

1. The Windup Position.

• The pitcher shall stand facing the batter, his entire pivot foot on, or in front of and touching and not off the end of the pitcher's plate, and the other foot free. From this position any natural movement associated with his delivery of the ball to the batter commits him to the pitch without interruption or alteration. He shall not raise either foot from the ground, except that in his actual delivery of the ball to the batter, he may take one step backward, and one step forward with his free foot.

1. The Set Position.

• Set Position shall be indicated by the pitcher when he stands facing the batter with his entire pivot foot on, or in front of, and in contact with, and not off the end of the pitcher's plate, and his other foot in front of the pitcher's plate, holding the ball in both hands in front of his body and coming to a complete stop. From such Set Position he may deliver the ball to the batter, throw to a base or step backward off the pitcher's plate with his pivot foot. Before assuming Set Position, the pitcher may elect to make any natural preliminary motion such as that known as "the stretch." But if he so elects, he shall come to Set Position before delivering the ball to the batter. After assuming Set Position, any natural motion associated with his delivery of the ball to the batter commits him to the pitch without alteration or interruption.

Taken from: http://www.todayifoundout.com/

By: Daven Hiskey April 4, 2011

  
The first fully professional baseball team was the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, ten men on salary for eight months from March 15th to November 15th.  The team was organized by Harry Wright, who also played center field for the team and managed the defensive positioning, which was something that typically wasn’t done at that time.

The Cincinnati Red Stockings won their first game on May 4th, 1869 by a score of 45-9.  They then went on to go 57-1 (wins-tie), touring the U.S. playing teams from Boston to San Francisco, something that had not been done before.

The following year, they won another 24 straight games before finally losing 8-7 in 11 innings against the Brooklyn Atlantics on June 14th.  After their first loss, attendance declined substantially and they were disbanded the following year despite only losing 6 games all season.

Read more at http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/04/the-first-professional-baseball-team-was-the-1869-cincinnati-red-stockings/#Xo4Js18tTgscPxWY.99

Baseball in Japan

From Wikipedia

Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan.It was introduced to Japan in 1872 by Horace Wilson, who taught at the Kaisei School in Tokyo. The first baseball team was called the Shimbashi Athletic Club and was established in 1878. Baseball has been a popular sport ever since. It is called 野球 (やきゅう; yakyū) in japanese, combining the characters for field and ball.

History

Hiroshi Hiraoka, an engineering student who was exposed to baseball during a period of study in the  United States, introduced the game to his co-workers at Japan’s national railways in upon his return in 1878. He and his co-workers created the first baseball team, the Shimbashi Athletic Club, and dominated other teams which popped up in Japan. However, it was not until the team from Ichiko (also known as the First Higher School of Tokyo, now a part of Tohyo University), the country's most prestigious prep school, started play in 1886 that the sport began to take hold in Japanese culture. In 1891, Ichiko challenged the "whites only" Yokohama Athletic Club to a match-up on the diamond, only to have the request refused, as the Yokohama squad refused to play against non-Caucasian players. As a result, the team from the Christian missionary school Meiji Gakuin offered to play Ichiko and subsequently handed them a decisive defeat. Humiliated, Ichiko began developing an intense training philosophy wherein players would train to the point of complete physical exhaustion for the betterment of the team. This training ideology would serve as the foundation of the Japanese game well into the 20th century. In 1896, the Yokohama Athletic Club (fielding a team composed mainly of sailors) finally agreed to play against Ichiko and were defeated 29 to 4. It was the first recorded international baseball game in Asia. After the 1896 victory over Yokohama Athletic Club, universities began adopting the sport and it quickly spread throughout Japan. The university teams began to travel to the United States as well as host American university teams in Japan to play and learn from their American counterparts. Waseda university was one of the first teams to cross the ocean to improve their skills; in 1905, the Japanese government funded the Waseda team’s tour of the United States, where it played college teams from around the country. Other universities in Japan made similar trips, and American university teams in turn traveled to Japan to play in a trend which would continue into the 1930s. Waseda and Keio university began a fierce rivalry (the Sokeisen) in 1903, which has been going on for over a century (with the exception of 1905-1925, when it was banned because of overly rowdy behavior). By 1925, four other major universities had created teams, leading to the formation of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League. Before 1908, only amateur players competed in the games between United States and Japanese teams. In that year, a team composed of American minor and major league players, the Reach All-Americans, played teams from several countries, including Japan. The Chicago White Sox and New York Giants visited Japan on a similar international tour in 1913. In 1920, Major League Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis supported former major leaguer Herb Hunter’s efforts to send a team of major and minor leaguers to Japan for a series of games and coaching clinics with university teams. The success of the tour led to seven additional Hunter-led excursions of major and minor league players to Japan, which culminated in what is possibly the most notable series of match-ups between American and Japanese teams to date, the All-Star tour of 1934. During this 1934 series, a team of Japan’s finest players, assembled by Yomiuri Shimbun owner Matsutarō Shōriki, were outplayed in all 18 of their games against Major League All-Stars. However, in one of the contests, pitcher Eiji Sawamura gained status as a national hero and baseball legend by striking out Hall of Famers Charlie Gehringer, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx in order in a 1-0 loss. Shōriki kept his team together after the tour, and after a series of exhibition games throughout the United States and Canada in 1935, the team declared professional status in 1936 and became the Yomiuri Giants, the first team to join the new Japanese Baseball League.

Nippon Professional Baseball

The professional baseball association is called Nippon Professional Baseball. Japan has two leagues, as in the United States. The Central and Pacific Leagues each consist of six teams. The Pacific League uses the designated hitter style of play. The pro baseball season is eight months long with games beginning in April, and a Championship held in October. Teams play 144 games, as compared to the 162 games of the American major league teams.

Corporations with interests outside baseball own the teams. Historically, teams have been identified with their owners, not where the team is based. However, in recent years, many owners have chosen to include a place name in the names of their teams; seven of the 12 NPB teams are currently named with both corporate and place names. Maruha Corporation has taken this one step farther by completely dropping its name from its NPB team, the Yokohama BayStars.

Differences with Major League Baseball

The rules are essentially those of Major League Baseball, also know as the MLB. In the Nippon league, however, tie games are allowed, and technical elements are slightly different: a smaller baseball, strike zone, and playing field are used. The Japanese baseball is wound more tightly and is harder than an American baseball. The strike zone is narrower "inside" than away from the batter. Also, five Nippon league teams have undersized home fields (as compared to the post-1958 MLB rule of 325/400/325 with slight allowances for height of fence). A team cannot have more than four foreign players, limiting the cost and competition for expensive players of other nationalities, similar to rules in many European sports leagues' roster limits on non-European players.

The other major difference between NPB and MLB is that there are "hard" limits to game lengths. In the regular season, the limit is twelve innings, while in the playoffs, there is a fifteen-inning limit (In Major League Baseball, on the other hand, ties are not allowed, with the exception of the 2002 All-Star Game, an exhibition match.) The limit is designed to prevent spectators from missing the final train. During the 2011 NPB season, owing to concerns over power limits imposed because of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the game would end in the inning occurring three hours and thirty minutes after the first pitch.

Teams with the best winning percentage go on to the bowling stepladder-format playoffs (3 vs 2, winner vs 1). Occasionally, a team with more total wins has lost to a team that had more ties and fewer losses and, therefore, had a slightly better winning percentage.

Professional baseball

Main article: Professional baseball in Japan

Nippon Professional Baseball started in 1920. It is called Puro Yakyū (プロ野球?), which simply is a translation of professional baseball.

In 2005 the Japan Samurai Bears began playing in the Golden Baseball League, the first Japanese team in an American professional baseball league.

The Japanese first professional league was formed in 1936, and by 1950 had grown big enough to divide into two leagues. The Central League included the established teams; the Pacific League, which made up of new teams and players. Both leagues had 6 teams and adopted a playoff system, much like the American one. The contest between the league winners was named the Japan Series.

Strike of 2004

In September 2004, the owners and the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB) met to discuss the merger of two teams. Prior to this, the JPBPA had decided to strike on weekends for the remainder of September. They held talks with the owners and with the JPB. The owners offered to help the players by reducing the "entry fee" to join the league; they guaranteed that the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, both of the Pacific League, and the two leagues would remain; the Central League would have six teams, and the Pacific League would have five. They also put the merger of the Buffaloes and Blue Wave on hold.The players decided to strike, as there was insufficient time left in the season to hold discussions. On 18 and 19 September 2004, the professional Japanese players struck for the first time in over seventy years. The fans supported the players, which made the owners review the idea of finding another team for the following season. On September 23, 2004, the players and owners reached an agreement: the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles would enter the league at the beginning of the 2005 season, and the leagues would adopt inter-league play, which would make the game more appealing, and would help the Pacific League gain exposure by playing the more popular Central league teams. In December 2004, SoftBank, an internet service provider, purchased the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks to help with finances in the Pacific League.

High school baseball

Hanshin Kōshien Stadium during the 1992 Kōshien tournament

In Japan, high school baseball (高校野球 kōkō yakyū?) generally refers to the 2 annual baseball tournaments played by high schools nationwide culminating at a final showdown at Hanshin Kōshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Japan. They are organized by the Japan High School Baseball Federation in association with Mainichi Shimbun for the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament in the spring (also known as "Spring Kōshien") and Asahi Shimbun for the National High School Baseball Championship in the summer (also known as "Summer Kōshien").

These nationwide tournaments enjoy widespread popularity, arguably equal to or greater than professional baseball. Qualifying tournaments are often televised locally and each game of the final stage at Kōshien is televised nationally on NHK. The tournaments have become a national tradition, and large numbers of frenzied students and parents travel from hometowns to cheer for their local team. It is a common sight to see players walking off the field in tears after being eliminated from the tournament by a loss.

Amateur baseball

Amateur baseball leagues exist all over Japan, with many teams sponsored by companies. Amateur baseball is governed by the Japan Amateur Baseball Association (JABA)

International play

Japan has won the World Baseball Classic both times since the tournament was created. In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, they defeated Cuba in the finals and in 2009 World Baseball Classic they defeated South Korea in 10 innings to defend their title.

References

1.       Gillette, Gary; Palmer, Pete, editors (2006). "Baseball in Japan" in The 2006 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.. pp. 1733, 1734. ISBN 978-1-4027-3625-4.

2.      Staples, Bill (2011). Kenichi Zenimura, Japanese American Baseball Pioneer. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 15.

3.      Whiting, R. (1989).You Gotta Have Wa. New York: Vintage Books.