World Baseball Classic

[JMK]

There was once a time when the idea of this had me salivating. We knew some players would drop out, but this tournament is looking more and more like a waste of time with each passing day.

Pedro, Manny, Vladdy have all backed out of the Dominican team. They'll still be a powerhouse, but this tournament was supposed to be a who's who of baseball, and it's turning out to be anything but.

I guess I'll still pay attention and get somewhat excited, but it's clear that the players won't be ready to go 100% in March before their own seasons start.

[jjwr]

This definetly wasn't handled well, hopefully in another 4 years they can do it right. They need to either make an arrangment with mlb to have a short delay in the season for this or do it after the season when the players are already in baseball mode.

[JMK]

They have to do it mid-season. They have to do it when the players are in mid-season form, that goes for all the players. If you do it at the end of the season, a lot of teams are out of the playoffs and those players are done with ball for the year.

MLB has to make the concession to shut down for a couple weeks as the NHL does for the Olympics. That's the only way you'll get the best turnout and best quality of play possible.

[CMJ]

Unfortunately I think the whole enterprise will be a joke. I wouldn't be surprised if there is never another one.

[Darth McBain]

Maybe I've been hiding under a rock of late, but I hadn't even heard of this until I read this thread... Doesn't seem to be well marketed or organized at all...

[JMK]

What did you expect? MLB can't get anything right.

It's a shame, because a tournament like this could be dynamite, but it's probably never going to work out for one reason or another.

[jjwr]

There are so many great international players that are never seen and it would also be nice to see a team like Japan come in and mop up on the MLB heavy rosters.

[JMK]

That would be great to see. But then you'd really see the detractors of this event crush Selig for even dreaming of this tournament, let alone get it started.

But it's becoming more and more evident that people just don't seem to care about this. I believe the reason is that everyone knows that the players won't be in peak form, and that because of the timing of it, many players have backed out. That has hurt interest immeasurably.

[Jedieb]

http://espn-att.starwave.com/i/mlb/worldbaseballclassic06.gif

[JMK]

Canada defeats the U.S. 8-6, and clinches a spot in the 2nd round. Can't argue with that! :D

And by the way....the Curse of A-Rod LIVES! >D

Edit: I guess I was wrong, having beaten a team you're tied with does not ensure your passage to the next round. :thumbdown

[Jedieb]

A-Rod comes through in the clutch with a game winning hit against Japan. After the game stadium security observed cats and dogs living in harmony, raising offspring, and brokering a peace treaty between the Israelis and Palestinians. In other words; MASS HYSTERIA!!! :crack

[jjwr]

I"m amazed....A-Rod came through in the clutch!

I heard Japan got hosed in the 8th though, did anyone watch it?

[JMK]

I didn't see it live, but I've seen the replay. The Japanese were completely hosed on that call. Absolutely robbed. It doesn't mean the U.S. wouldn't have won eventually anyway, but that was huge. It really doesn't help that most of the umps are from the U.S., which isn't a surprise, but it only adds weight to those who may think the U.S. is getting a helping hand. This after they already benefitted from a ridiculous tie-break rule. Now they got spanked against Korea yesterday and STILL have a chance of advancement.

If there's one thing MLB got right with this tournament, it's that they didn't forget to include controversy. ;)

[jjwr]

Well the US needed a lot more help last night and didn't get it.

I'm guessing they will have to win their next game to have a shot at the finals.

Also read word that Damons throwing shoulder is sore and he is no longer playing the field.

[JMK]

They have to beat Mexico, and will probably need some other help from other teams. Not sure how that works yet, but that's what I've heard.

I'm sure the Yankees are cringing right now that Damon's arm is no good. They knew that when they signed him, so they deserve whatever they get as far as I'm concerned but I'm sure we'll hear King George start a rant soon about how bad the WBC is.

[Jedieb]

I saw the last few innings of the Japan game. The Japanese were completely robbed. That call didn't just take a run off the board, it killed the inning. They could have put another run on the board. I wish I had ESPN Deportes. As it is, I barely get to watch any of the games. I did see Cuba get beat up the other day. They may not last much longer.

[jjwr]

So if Japan beats Korea then the US is done....Go Korea!

[jjwr]

And the US is done, they had a chance in the 9th but couldn't get a hit with only 1 out and Chipper & A-Rod on.

[JMK]

Hate to say it, but the U.S. did not even deserve to be in the position they were in tonight. They should have been bounced in the first round.

[jjwr]

Hard to say, they could have still won that game. The way they are playing though no way they would have beaten Cuba or the Dominican Republic.

So we lost to both Mexico & Canada...ouch!

[Jedieb]

Wow, this is pretty bad. It'll certainly kill some interest, epecially here in the US. I'd say the front runners right now are the Koreans and the Dominicans. The Cubans have been really inconsistent. Great one game, horrible the next.

[JMK]

Originally posted by jjwr
Hard to say, they could have still won that game. The way they are playing though no way they would have beaten Cuba or the Dominican Republic.

So we lost to both Mexico & Canada...ouch!

True, they could have won that game, it was only a 2-1 score. My point was that they didn't even deserve to play in that game.

Interest in the WBC is certainly going to plummet now, especially with March Madness underway. I'm sure this is not the way Butt Selig had this planned out when he came up with this idea. He started this tournament to make up for the fact that they didn't even qualify for the Olympics. So that's 2 major international baseball tournaments, and the U.S. has come up less than empty.

[jjwr]

Well the interest hasn't been huge and the other countries really are taking good note of it. The US/Mexico game was played in the US and when Mexico made the last out the crowd was quite loud, they had a lof of fans there.

[Jedieb]

Word has it Selig has greenlit an MLB investigation of Bonds. Please, let MLB or the IRS get this cheater off the field before he passes Ruth.

[JMK]

Good lord yes...but the problem is, any investigation (any thorough one that is) has to come back to him. I don't think they can just open an investigation on Bonds, and not the other cheats who have since retired. I would love nothing more than for all of these guys to have their records striken from baseball history, or at least have an * beside everyone's stats, but you can't just go after Bonds. Ultimately any real investigation that goes through the entire list of cheaters will circle back to Selig & co. and we know that spineless weasel will not implicate himself in any way.


Back to the WBC, isn't Cuba a great story? For a team that could have been left out of the tournament altogether, to a run to the finals with a chance to win it all. I think that's good for baseball.

[Jedieb]

Well, the final game is tonight, Cuba V. Japan. Of course, this Cuban has only one team to root for... Japan. Part of me is thrilled to see the Cuban team do so well, but make no mistake, a Cuban win tonight is a win for Fidel. That communist scumbag can go rot as far as I'm concerned. What the Cuban team has done has been pretty impressive. You also have to consider that they probably don't even have a few of their better players on the team. If they're are any players who are even a remote threat to defect, they were left back on the island. It's what they did to El Duque the last couple of years he was on the team.

Tonight take a good look at that Cuban dugout. A few of those guys in the dugout aren't players. They've got another job, basically, they're there to make sure no one makes a run for the fence.

[Jedi Master Carr]

That SS they have looks pretty impressive, some say he should defect. Of course the reason why Cuba is so close to winning is because they had a huge advantage they probably practiced months for this one event.

[Jedieb]

They've been playing a regular season for quite some time so they're in mid season form. Here's an article from ESPN that pretty much sums up the mixed emotions Cubans in the U.S. are experiencing right now.


MIAMI -- Cuban immigrant Luis Gomez was quick to pick his favorite in the World Baseball Classic championship game between Japan and Cuba.

"We're Cubans. We root for Cuba," the 83-year-old said as he picked up his usual lunch of chicken and rice at Los Pinarenos cafe in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood.

Across the counter, shopkeeper Angel Hernandez, 66, shook his head.

"If Cuba wins, Fidel wins," Hernandez said. "I hope Japan wins."

As Cuba and Japan prepared for Monday night's game in San Diego, Miami's Cubans found themselves in an awkward position, split over whether to root for the Cubans or protest the participation of the communist country in the tournament.

Their passion for baseball and Cuba is legendary, but so too is their hatred of Fidel Castro and their opposition to anything that makes him look good.

Hernandez, who fled Cuba in 1960, was quick to note that he has nothing against players such as pitchers Pedro Lazo and Ormario Romero, but added, "Fidel, he uses everything. He will use a win. It will make him look better at home and internationally."

Gomez agreed with that, but added: "What does a baseball player, or a doctor for that matter, have to do with the politics?"

For decades the answer has been a lot.

Hundreds of Cuban musicians, artists and intellectuals have been refused U.S. visas under a 1985 U.S. presidential proclamation that prohibits most Cuban government employees from entering the United States. Most of these artists are compensated by the Cuban government.

The restrictions have gotten even tighter in recent years.

The U.S. Treasury Department initially refused the visa for the Cuban team to play in the World Baseball Classic, reversing its stance only after Cuba promised to donate profits from the tournament to victims of Hurricane Katrina -- meaning Castro's government would receive no financial gain.

Over the weekend, demonstrators decried the participation of the Cuban team during a protest along Little Havana's main drag, Calle Ocho, and the AM radio dial's Spanish-language talk shows were filled with people sounding off about the Classic.

South of Little Havana in the upscale city of Coral Gables, where cafes and haute couture bridal boutiques line the central street, Omar Quereshy, who describes himself as half Cuban, half Pakistani, scoffed at the notion that he should boycott the team of his mother's native country.

"That's ludicrous," the 25-year-old accountant said. "Athletes are athletes."

Yet for 30-year-old Victor Uranga of Sweetwater, rooting against Cuba would be showing respect for family. His fled Cuba in the 1980 Mariel boatlift.

"I was rooting for the U.S., but I guess now I'm going for Japan," Uranga said, with what were clearly mixed feelings.

"We've got to give credit, a lot of credit, to that Cuban team. Everyone was just under the impression that they always played amateurs, and they never going to go toe-to-toe with the professionals, and definitely they've done that and then some," he said. "But feelings are still strong, especially in the older generation, and I'm not about to go against that."

[JMK]

Yesterday's game was great. A very fitting championship game. If you're a baseball fan and you skipped it because you believe it's just not important, then shame on you, that was terrific baseball between 2 countries that really care. I look forward to 2009's tournament.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I skipped it for two reasons, (a) I was too busy last night, had zero time and (b) 24 is on Mondays so I would't have watched the first hour anyway heh. I caught a few minutes of it, before I went to bed.