What we learned in the first week of LIDOM

From Albert Pujols to schedule changes, through a warning about masks and the good start of the Eagles

The 2021-22 season of the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League kicked off and there were no shortage of headlines and highlights in the first seven days.

If place to doubt the change, presentation and subsequent debut of Albert pujols in LIDOM with Lions of the Chosen One was the headline news, as the No. 1 pick in the historic 2002 draft donned a jersey for the first time to play on the land of his birth.

The 41-year-old is currently hitting .182 with a .308 OBP, although one of his two hits in 11 at-bats served to knock the Tigres del Licey out on Sunday. It must be said, as a parenthesis, that Engel Beltré has started on fire, hitting .600 (9 hits in 15 times at bat).

There were also controversies over the special shirt that El Escogido put up for sale, where the exposure of one of the main sponsors was criticized. Even so, they were all sold on the first day.

Staying in the Quisqueya, the Tigres del Licey They started by winning their first three games of the season but have lost four times in a row from then on, which has raised many doubts about the squad on the field, especially in the bullpen. Licey needs to improve and it is incredible that the highlight of the first week for the team has to do with an NBA player.

Heading for San Francisco, as Sussy Jiménez and Yancen Pujols have done in a good way (excellent work), former of the Tigres del Licey commentator chain, in the Giants of the Cibao The debut of Kelvin Gutierrez (4-2 with a homer and 2 RBIs) and the historical figure of 200 connected hits of “El Potro” Hanser Alberto stand out.

A little further, in Santiago, things are going well, with a start of 5 wins in the first 7 games, which in a short tournament already means an acceptable difference over the bottom of the table.

The Aguilas Cibaeñas will have reinforcements with the next integrations of Melky Cabrera, Zoilo Almonte, Neftalí Féliz and José Quintana.

In the East the Stars They are in the second position in the table with a record over .500 and according to their manager, Fernando Tatis Sr., they have not yet started playing their best baseball.

While the BullsPerhaps surprisingly, they are the owners of the basement of the table with only two victories in the first seven games (Thanks Licey!), although they can boast of a great start from Félix Peña who in 11 innings accumulates an ERA of 0.82 with 12 strikeouts awarded.

We cannot fail to point out the call of attention that the league made to the fans to respect the indications given by Public Health with the use of masks inside the stadiums, where some have dared to speculate that if they continue to violate the rules they would prohibit the entrance of fans to the stadiums.

And ending at the beginning it is still striking that the LIDOM It will change the starting times of the matches on the same day of the opening of the season, due to an address by the President of the Dominican Republic, which may be debatable whether it warranted it or not.

The truth is that teams must continue to make an effort to meet the start times of matches as do all organized leagues in the world, regardless of the events leading up to the first pitch.

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What we learned in the first week of LIDOM