waymoresports.thestar.com Mar. 18, 2003. 08:42 AM Geoff Baker

Jays closer Escobar on the best and worst cities to visit and what it's like to be rich and famous

Plucked out of the sandlots of Venezuela as a teenager, Kelvim Escobar has overcome homesickness, shyness and a poor grasp of English to become one of the Jays' most recognized players.

Baseball observers feel Escobar, armed with a devastating forkball, is on the verge of becoming one of the game's elite closers. He is also one of the team's more sought-after bachelors — he'll be 27 next month — and enjoys the singles' life.

Unplugged caught up with Escobar as he lounged by the swimming pool at the Florida condominium he's renting this spring after signing a one-year, $3.9 million (U.S.) contract over the winter.

Q What's the best pitch you've ever thrown?

A My second game in the big leagues in 1997, facing Wade Boggs. It was in the last inning of the game, there were two outs and I was very, very excited. All the fans were on their feet and I struck him out.

Q What's the worst pitch you've ever thrown?

A In Boston last year, I threw a very bad pitch and Nomar Garciaparra hit a home run (to the opposite field). I don't even know how he hit it. I was like, `Wow, what's going on here?'

Q If you hadn't become a baseball player, what would you have been?

A I used to like international languages, so I would have been a teacher, or a tourist guide down in my country, in Venezuela.

Q What was the last book you read?

A I don't know how to translate it in English. It was called Who Stole My Cheese?

Q Do you remember the author's name?

A (laughing) Some mice, three or four mice. It's about how, as a person, you have to be ready for anything that comes your way. It's about what you have to do to get better, to stay strong. It's more about staying positive.

Q Should the United States attack Iraq?

A Wow. I don't really know what's going on. I'm from Venezuela and I don't really ... I mean, it's bad for the world. Hopefully, they can come up with something so they don't have to go to war.

Q What was the last movie you saw?

A My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It was a funny one.

Q Who's the worst dresser you've ever played with and what's the worst thing they wore?

A I remember (relief pitcher) Randy Myers. He used to wear the kind of hat you use to go hunting with. And I think he wore the same pants for six months.

Q What's the item you'd most like to see on a menu in a Toronto restaurant that you can't get right now?

A In Toronto, they pretty much have everything. From Spanish, to Indian, everything. They have a place in Toronto, from Venezuela, called Momentos, and they have my arepas, my chicken, rice, black beans. All the kinds of stuff that I really like.

Q Did you ever fear for your own safety when you were living through the trouble in Venezuela this off-season?

A Yes, I did. When I saw the Venezuelan people killing each other, I thought we were going to have a civil war or something.

Q If Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was sitting here right now, what would you say to him?

A First, I would ask him why all of this is going on, why don't the people like him and why are they going to the street to protest? Second, I would tell him to find a way to fix it.

Q What kind of car do you drive and why?

A Right now, I have the Mercedes-Benz SL 55. It's so fast and comfortable and nice. It's just incredible. It's very sporty.

Q What is your favourite type of music and who is your favourite singer?

A I'd say salsa. Salsa, salsa, salsa. And my favourite salsa singer is Oscar de Leon. He's from Venezuela.

Q What do you do to impress a woman the first time you meet her?

A Wow, that's a good one. Just be myself. Be myself and be nice. Don't try to impress anybody. Just go over and if you want to say something, say something. But you don't have to impress anybody. There are some guys who do it, but I don't think I can be like that.

Q Do you ever tell women you're a professional athlete?

A No. I try to stay away from that sometimes. That question, sooner or later, is going to come up. What do you do for a living? And sometimes, you don't want that question to come up right away. You want to get to know the person. You want her to get to know you and think, Oh, this guy's nice.' And you don't want to let her know you're a professional athlete because the first thing that's going to come to her mind is, This guy has a lot of women. He makes a lot of money.' Stuff like that.

Q What's the biggest difference, personality-wise, between women in Canada and women in Venezuela?

A I think in Toronto, because the culture is different, the girls are more open-minded.

Q How are they more open-minded?

A Maybe because of the culture, they're a bit more ... wow ... how can I explain it? Maybe sexually and as far as being easy-going. They're very easy-going. In Venezuela, sometimes, they're very conservative.

Q How often is your first name misspelled by people?

A Oh, lots of times. And even myself, having a Spanish accent, I'll say Kelvim and it sounds like Kelvin. ... I have to spell it for them sometimes.

QWhat's the best city to visit on the road and why?

A New York is very interesting. Everybody wants to go to New York. I mean, it's a beautiful town, the people are all different. There's good shopping, it's good to go out, good to eat. You just have everything in New York. New York is New York.

Q What's the worst city to visit on the road?

A Oh my God, Detroit. There's nothing to do there. And we stay away from everything. I don't like the downtown. It's ugly and there's pretty much nothing to do.

Q Are you going to read the new book by your former teammate, David Wells?

A No, because I don't care. Whatever he says in there, I don't care. I don't think I have time for that. If somebody says my name is in there, I might read it. But if not, there are too many important things going on in the world right now that you have to worry about. So, I don't need to worry about that book.

Q Now that you're a millionaire, what have you bought that you used to dream of buying while growing up in Venezuela?

A I always wanted to have a boat because I grew up by the beach. And now I have a nice boat. And a nice car. First of all, I wanted to get a nice house for my Mom. And I got it. That was the first thing. To be able to make enough money to buy a big house for my Mom and treat her like a queen. And next, I thought of having a big house for myself, a boat and a car. And to support my family, because I really support my family and help a lot of people in my family.

Q What do you miss most about Venezuela when you're not there?

A Being around my family. I'm very much a family guy. Then, the second thing I miss is the Venezuelan ladies. The girls. That's one of the things I miss most. They're so beautiful, man. I just miss them.

news.bbc.co.uk

Brazil are the reigning World Cup champions
Brazil looks certain to hold the 2014 World Cup after the South American Football Federation (CSF) voted to back the country as its candidate to host the event. Football's world governing body, Fifa, decided earlier this month that a South American country would host the 2014 tournament.

Peru in December proposed a joint bid to host the finals along with their fellow Andean nations Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, while Chile and Argentina had also been expected to launch a joint bid.

But CSF chief Nicolas Leoz said: "All 10 countries which make up the South American Confederation agreed that the 2014 World Cup to be held in South America should be hosted by Brazil."

The five-time world champions last held the event in 1950, when they dramatically lost to Uruguay in front of 200,000 fans at the newly-completed Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

Rotation

Argentina were the last South American country to host a World Cup in 1978, while Brazil (1950), Uruguay (1930) and Chile (1962) have also staged the event.

Fifa's decision to award the tournament to South America is part of its plan to rotate the event between continents.

Asia hosted the World Cup for the first time in South Korea and Japan last year, when Brazil beat Germany 2-0 in the final.

The World Cup will return to Europe when Germany hosts the 2006 finals, while the 2010 event will be the first to be held in Africa.

Brazil will, however, have to overcome some major stumbling blocks if it is to host the 2014 tournament.

Its major stadia need rebuilding, and its infrastructure in terms of hotels, transport and communication links - may not be good enough.

Colombia was set to host the 1986 finals but, confronted with the same sort of problems, ended up handing the event to Mexico.

Brazil also suffers widespread poverty and deprivation, while drug-related crime is an increasing problem.

Brazil's domestic football is also notorious for its corruption.

Less than two years ago, the Brazilian Senate produced a damning 1,600 page report on the game.

But Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Ricardo Texeira claims the country would be ready to stage the 2014 finals.

He said: "Normally, countries are only awarded the World Cup six years in advance, and this gives us a big advantage.

"We have got a lot of time to work with and we can do this bit by bit - Brazil is up to the task."

www.duluthsuperior.com Posted on Mon, Mar. 17, 2003
JOSH DUBOW Associated Press

TEMPE, Ariz. - Francisco Rodriguez might be the most accomplished rookie in major league history.

Many heralded prospects have tantalized teams during late-season callups, then had to prove themselves again the next year. Now Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui and Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras face questions about how they'll adjust to the competition against the best baseball players in the world.

Rodriguez already has answered such concerns.

On baseball's biggest stage, no less.

The 21-year-old pitcher nicknamed "K-Rod" quickly made his mark last October. He tied a major league record with five postseason wins, set a relief record with 28 postseason strikeouts, posted a 1.93 ERA and became the youngest pitcher ever to win a World Series game.

"That's in the past," he said. "I have to live in the future. I need to have a good year and help the team as much as I can."

Rodriguez is a rookie because he only pitched 5 2-3 innings last September. He was eligible for the postseason roster because of a loophole in the rules that allows for teams to replace players on the disabled list with a player on their 40-man roster.

Instead of just getting a taste for the majors like most late-season callups, he performed in the highest-pressure spots.

"He pitched in the toughest situations you can be in," manager Mike Scioscia said. "He did it for six weeks. We're looking for consistency. If Frankie Rodriguez shows the consistency he showed in the playoffs, he'll be fine. That's the challenge for all young players - being consistent."

Unlike most rookies, Rodriguez comes with a lot of advance billing. Opposing players watched him overpower some of the game's toughest hitters last October with his 95 mph fastball and nasty, late-breaking slider.

A successful at-bat against Rodriguez could be the highlight of a young player's spring - the opposite of last March, when Rodriguez tried to impress his team.

"From last year to this year is a big difference," he said. "Last year, nobody knew me. Now when I pitch, people know who I am because of what happened in the playoffs. It feels a lot different.

"Guys are swinging a lot more on the first couple of pitches. They don't take too many pitches. They try to be aggressive and swing early in the count. They don't want to go deep in the count and fall behind. I like to be aggressive, but I have to mix it up more early in the count."

That's just one of the many adjustments Rodriguez will have to make this season. Opposing scouts have spent hours breaking down video of Rodriguez, trying to learn his tendencies and weaknesses.

Rodriguez will also have to learn to deal with the ups and downs of a 162-game season. As dominating as he can be, the Angels know he won't have it quite as easy as he did during the postseason.

"He just needs to be himself. He's very competitive and throws strikes," Anaheim general manager Bill Stoneman said. "He has good stuff. All he needs to do is go out and compete. Things won't always go as easily for him as they did in the playoffs. He'll hit some rough spots. But overall, if he stays consistent, he'll be good more than bad."

Rodriguez is especially fresh this spring. He usually pitches in the winter back home in Venezuela, but he was limited to two games of winter ball because of political unrest.

Rodriguez couldn't even go out to celebrate his 21st birthday, staying inside with his family to avoid trouble on the streets.

He bought an exercise bike so he wouldn't have to run in the park and even turned down a meeting with President Hugo Chavez in order to keep a low profile.

His mother and brother were robbed at gunpoint because people figured the family of a baseball star would have money. Houston Astros outfielder Richard Hidalgo was wounded in his left arm during an attempted carjacking in November.

"It is very dangerous," Rodriguez said. "I stayed in the house."

He talks every day with family members who are still back home in Caracas, unable to get visas to come to the United States.

But he also is focused on his job here. He's not content with last season's success and knows he must keep proving himself.

"I'm not sure I'm making the team," he said. "What I did is in the past."

www.sfgate.com JOSH DUBOW, AP Sports Writer Monday, March 17, 2003 (03-17) 13:19 PST TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) --

Francisco Rodriguez might be the most accomplished rookie in major league history.

Many heralded prospects have tantalized teams during late-season callups, then had to prove themselves again the next year. Now Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui and Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras face questions about how they'll adjust to the competition against the best baseball players in the world.

Rodriguez already has answered such concerns.

On baseball's biggest stage, no less.

The 21-year-old pitcher nicknamed "K-Rod" quickly made his mark last October. He tied a major league record with five postseason wins, set a relief record with 28 postseason strikeouts, posted a 1.93 ERA and became the youngest pitcher ever to win a World Series game.

"That's in the past," he said. "I have to live in the future. I need to have a good year and help the team as much as I can."

Rodriguez is a rookie because he only pitched 5 2-3 innings last September. He was eligible for the postseason roster because of a loophole in the rules that allows for teams to replace players on the disabled list with a player on their 40-man roster.

Instead of just getting a taste for the majors like most late-season callups, he performed in the highest-pressure spots.

"He pitched in the toughest situations you can be in," manager Mike Scioscia said. "He did it for six weeks. We're looking for consistency. If Frankie Rodriguez shows the consistency he showed in the playoffs, he'll be fine. That's the challenge for all young players -- being consistent."

Unlike most rookies, Rodriguez comes with a lot of advance billing. Opposing players watched him overpower some of the game's toughest hitters last October with his 95 mph fastball and nasty, late-breaking slider.

A successful at-bat against Rodriguez could be the highlight of a young player's spring -- the opposite of last March, when Rodriguez tried to impress his team.

"From last year to this year is a big difference," he said. "Last year, nobody knew me. Now when I pitch, people know who I am because of what happened in the playoffs. It feels a lot different.

"Guys are swinging a lot more on the first couple of pitches. They don't take too many pitches. They try to be aggressive and swing early in the count. They don't want to go deep in the count and fall behind. I like to be aggressive, but I have to mix it up more early in the count."

That's just one of the many adjustments Rodriguez will have to make this season. Opposing scouts have spent hours breaking down video of Rodriguez, trying to learn his tendencies and weaknesses.

Rodriguez will also have to learn to deal with the ups and downs of a 162-game season. As dominating as he can be, the Angels know he won't have it quite as easy as he did during the postseason.

"He just needs to be himself. He's very competitive and throws strikes," Anaheim general manager Bill Stoneman said. "He has good stuff. All he needs to do is go out and compete. Things won't always go as easily for him as they did in the playoffs. He'll hit some rough spots. But overall, if he stays consistent, he'll be good more than bad."

Rodriguez is especially fresh this spring. He usually pitches in the winter back home in Venezuela, but he was limited to two games of winter ball because of political unrest.

Rodriguez couldn't even go out to celebrate his 21st birthday, staying inside with his family to avoid trouble on the streets.

He bought an exercise bike so he wouldn't have to run in the park and even turned down a meeting with President Hugo Chavez in order to keep a low profile.

His mother and brother were robbed at gunpoint because people figured the family of a baseball star would have money. Houston Astros outfielder Richard Hidalgo was wounded in his left arm during an attempted carjacking in November.

"It is very dangerous," Rodriguez said. "I stayed in the house."

He talks every day with family members who are still back home in Caracas, unable to get visas to come to the United States.

But he also is focused on his job here. He's not content with last season's success and knows he must keep proving himself.

"I'm not sure I'm making the team," he said. "What I did is in the past."

www.signonsandiego.com By Chris Jenkins UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER March 16, 2003

TEMPE, Ariz. – He got the welcome-home of a conquering hero. The kind of fanfare that could get you killed.

Although merely 20 last fall, Francisco Rodriguez was not so young as to think his life wouldn't change after the incomprehensible postseason he had with the Anaheim Angels, who claimed a World Series championship with a rookie relief pitcher who won five postseason games and earned the nickname "K-Rod" for all his strikeouts.

Rodriguez returned a national celebrity to his native Venezuela, a country that loves its baseball with a religious fervor, but also a country being torn apart by political unrest and uncontrolled lawlessness. If some of his countrymen saw Rodriguez as a source of inspiration in desperate times, others saw him as a target, so much so that Rodriguez grew leery of anybody approaching him in his hometown of Caracas.

"Way different," said Rodriguez when asked if people in Venezuela responded to him him differently than Americans. "Over here, people see you on the street, they say can you sign this? Over there, when they come up to you, you don't know if they want to be good to you or if they want to rob you."

Actually, Rodriguez said, it happened twice over the offseason to family members who were held up at gunpoint.

"If they think you have money," Rodriguez said, "they want it."

The environment was so terrifying that after awhile, Rodriguez stopped leaving his house; he stayed indoors to work out and stay in shape. Venezuela's winter leagues were shut down by the violence and, for the first time, Rodriguez didn't throw for months.

"That part was good," he said. "I needed the rest."

That his offseason was so short was largely Rodriguez's fault. Many things went right last year for the Angels, whose previous history was based mostly on their complete inability to reach the World Series.

A September call-up, Rodriguez threw only 51/3 innings in the regular season, but 13 of the 16 outs he recorded were by strikeout, the majority with a slider at least as nasty as Randy Johnson's. Anaheim already had baseball's best bullpen, but it became other-wordly with Rodriguez, who pitched in 11 postseason games and won just under half of them while striking out 28 in 182/3 innings.

"It wasn't a case of lightning in a bottle," said general manager Bill Stoneman. "The lightning was in Frankie's arm."

Frankly, too, the Angels were not surprised at what they saw. Rodriguez has been in their organization since he was 16. He was with the Lake Elsinore Storm – now the Padres' Class A affiliate – when Stoneman first saw him in a simulated game.

"I went 'Holy Smokes!' " said Stoneman. "He had this incredible life on his fastball. He cuts the ball and it goes this way, then it goes that way. His slider can be unhittable."

Perhaps any other major league team would have had him in its uniform on Opening Day, but with the luxury of having a well-stocked bullpen in Anaheim, the organization started Rodriguez in Class AA and had him work on his command.

In retrospect, you'd swear the Angels were sandbagging, saving him for the perfect moment.

"Obviously, he pitched exceedingly well in the postseason," said pitching coach Bud Black. Amused by his own understatement, Black added, "OK, what he did is crazy."

Crazier yet was the cool and calm that Rodriguez showed after each of his amazing relief appearances. As the media crowds multiplied in front of his locker, he seemed no more flustered by the attention than he had been by the Yankees, Twins and Giants hitters.

Most of those batters will get other cracks at Rodriguez, who's technically still a rookie. Because postseason stats don't count on your official résumé, he's got an 0-0 career record in the majors.

"Hitters may figure out some things about Frankie, like which pitches he likes to throw and when he likes to throw them," said left-hander Jarrod Washburn, the ace of Anaheim's starting rotation. "But they'll still have to deal with his filthy stuff."

More of it, too. Rodriguez said his primary goal in camp is to get better overall, but especially to develop his change-up, which would almost be unfair.

"I threw it a lot last year, but it wasn't that good," he said. "The movement was totally straight on it."

Rodriguez has come to one conclusion, a concession of sorts. Again, other teams might immediately try to make a starter of Rodriguez to maximize his talent, but the Angels know better. He was mediocre at best as a starter in the minors, much owing to the fact that he puts such intensity into his pitches, his arm won't stand the strain of seven or six or even five innings.

"It causes tendinitis," he said. "I have three ways to pitch – over-the-top, three-quarter, sidearm – and I throw all three. If I do that as a starter and throw so many pitches, it bothers me a lot. But it doesn't bother me for one or two innings. So, definitely I'll be a reliever. I have no problems with that."

A setup reliever, for the time being, too. Troy Percival, one of the game's top closers and a longtime leader of the Angels, is not going anywhere soon. Anaheim does intend to cut back on Percival's appearances to save his arm, and in most cases, the ninth-inning call then would go to Rodriguez.

This time, nobody will go "Who?"

"People watched TV and see me in the World Series," said Rodriguez. "People know me now."

For better and worse.