Jair Jurrjens to make history tonight

Some people that read this site may know this but I guess that most probably don't. I'm not an American citizen and I don't live in the States. I live in Curacao, small island in the Caribbean and since we are property from Holland, it means that I have a Dutch passport.

Now, why is this relevant you ask? Well, because tonight a kid called Jair Jurrjens takes the mound for the Detroit Tigers, making his major league debut. Jurrjens will be the first pitcher ever from Curacao to play in the majors and that means that we'll all be watching tonight.

There have been 6 guys from Curacao that have played in the bigs, with the best and most famous one of them being Andruw Jones. And no, I was a Braves fan long before Andruw came along so don't go thinking that I'm a bandwagon fan that just follows the team because of him. I've been watching the Braves since 1988 when the team still sucked donkey balls and the fact that Andruw came along 8 years later was just an awesome coincidence.

Either way, it's safe to say that the other 5 locals haven't had nearly as much success as Jones or even the longevity. Hensley Meulens paved the way and played a few years for the Yankees. Randall Simon had a nice little career but sadly he'll be forever known as the "sausage beater" but the other guys, Ivanon Coffie, Yurendell DeCaster and Ralph Milliard have been roster fodder at best.

So, the young Jurrjens takes the mound tonight in Cleveland and he'll have his work cut out for him. The Tigers and Indians are separated by just 1 game in the AL Central standings and the Indians' offense is one of the more potent ones in the league.

The 21 year old Jurrjens is taking Kenny Rogers' spot in the rotation as Rogers is on the DL right now and was 7-5 with a 3.20 ERA in 19 starts this season with Double-A Erie. So yes, I'll be keeping a close eye on him tonight, and hopefully can follow in Andruw's footsteps.