It’s been six years since he last pitched in affiliated baseball, but right-hander Ramiro Mendoza told Jose Pineda that he hopes to play for Panama in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. “It’s a source of pride for me,” said the former Yankees swingman, who has been training with his home country’s squad. “It’s a great honor to wear Panama’s uniform. I want to do it here, in front of my fans and I hope it’s not the last time.”
Mendoza, 40, pitched in the 2009 WBC and spent that summer with the independent Newark Bears, but he hasn’t been in the big leagues since his ill-fated second stint in pinstripes in 2005. He was a valuable arm and generally underappreciated part of the late-90s dynasty, pitching to a 3.48 ERA (3.79 FIP) in 698.2 innings and 277 appearances (57 starts) from 1996-2002 before joining with the Red Sox and promptly falling apart. Mendoza was the original Embedded Yankee.
* * *
Here is your open thread for the evening. The Giants and Cardinals are playing Game Seven of the NLCS (Cain vs. Lohse, 8pm ET on FOX), and the Monday Night Football game is the Lions at the Bears (8:30pm ET on ESPN). Talk about those games or any other non-politics topic right here.
