Tupman ready to report
That gives Tupman, who spent last season with Omaha, at least a couple days to celebrate after helping lead the Licey Tigres over the Aguilas Cibaenas for the 2008 Caribbean Series championship.
Tupman had two of Licey's 15 hits last night in Santiago, Dominican Republic, as the Tigres defeated the Aguilas, 8-2, to finish on top of the round-robin standings for the championship. Licey went 5-1 in the tournament and Tupman hit .364 (8-for-22) and knocked in two runs in the six games. That performance put an exclamation point on the first season of winter ball for the 28-year old resident of Concord, New Hampshire. In the Dominican Winter League's regular season, Tupman batted .293 and had 12 RBI in 36 games.
The Caribbean Series title for Licey is its 10th and comes in the 100th season of the historic franchise. The fact that it came over the Aguilas, who was the Dominican Winter League's regular season champion, was not lost on Tupman.
"This is such a great rivalry, period," Tupman told Baseball America. "They killed us, just killed us in the playoffs. So to be able to come through here and win this championship, it's special."
Kansas City shortstop Tony Pena, Jr., did his best to help the Aguilas repeat as Caribbean Series champs. He had the third-best batting average in the series, hitting .429 (9-for-21) with 5 RBI. But, the Aguilas finished 3-3, settling for first runner-up in the first tournament that featured two teams from the Dominican Republic.
Venezuela's Tigres de Aragua and Mexico's Yaquis de Obregon each finished the series with 2-4 records. The Venezuelan team was led by Kansas City infielder Alberto Callaspo, whom the Royals obtained this off-season in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for pitcher Billy Buckner. The switch-hitting Callaspo batted .346 (9-for-26) in the championship series, after finishing fourth in batting in the Venezuelan Winter League with a .331 average, plus two home runs and 18 RBI in 41 games.
The Royals 2008 season opener is set for Rosenblatt Stadium on Thursday, April 3rd at 7:05 p.m. vs. the Albuquerque Isotopes. Season tickets, mini-plans and other ticket packages for the team's 2008 season are currently on sale, with single-game tickets to go on sale at a later date to be announced. For tickets or more information, contact the Royals ticket office at (402) 738-5100.