Carp, Soriano, Dominican Academies
Soriano's player profile page is another first stop. I've added his fielding data for 1997, which only emphisizes Soriano's lack of playing (7 games in the field, 9 games with at bats). Soriano really wasn't given much of a chance with the top team during his two years in Japan. At ni-gun, Soriano hit:
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB K Avg
1996 57 131 28 5 0 0 13 4 7 17 .214
1997 68 242 61 13 2 8 34 14 14 35 .252
*BB includes hit by pitches.
While by all accounts that I've read Soriano was very popular with his team mates, his stats just didn't scream for promotion to the top team during the his two years in Japan. I hope you can find something more promising from his Academy days.
I don't know how helpful they'll be, but you can try to contact the Carp via snail mail, fax, or phone (no e-mail that I know of). You can get the necessary information in the contact information FAQ. I don't know how to contact the Carp Academy in the Dominican Republic, but I'm sure that if you could track that down that they'd have something more encouraging.
Well, I don't know that I've been helpful enough to deserve any formal recognition. I'm really better at pointing people to other resources to further their studies and entering data gathered from Japanese resources. Nonetheless, I wish you well in your research.
This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
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Cody