World Baseball Classic

[umdulax1]

Okay, I know for the most part lacrosse and baseball don't mix.... But has anyone caught any of the action? I watched a bit of it today the Venezuela v. Dominican Republic was a decent game to watch and I don't usually watch too much baseball. I also saw that the U.S. beat Mexico 2-0. Kinda neat to see the greatest players in the game going out and playing for thier own countries...kind of like the...oh yea Olympics. But seriously, from what I've seen and read the players are taking this pretty darn seriously and doing all they can to bring a championship back to thier respective countries. Anyone have any thoughts on all of this...????

[Gregg Pathiakis]

I want to watch it, but know I probably won't get a chance to. I will be checking scores on my cell phone and online though.

I would also like to point out that Big Papi came up huge, as he always does, yesterday. I see great things with him this year.

[Sonny]

Pitch counts, little league mercy rules...... No thanks.

[KnoxVegas]

I don't know if it is worth "wathhing" but I was in Phoenix yesterday and were given free tickets and didn't go. Nor would I watch it on TV. Bud Selig is a clown and this is a desperate grab.

Anyone catch the sign the Yankees raised on Sunday at Legends Field? The one that read to the effect "Sorry but our stars are off playing in a meaningless MLB-imposed tournament elsewhere." Selig and his cronies in the league office made then take it down.

I was shocked that China went out so early. Has Japan played a game with more than seven innings yet?

[Sonny]

Saw that the crowd was "announced" at 30K yesterday in Phoenix (old BOB/new Chase). Heard if half that many people were in the ballpark, it would have been a complete miracle.

If this happened in Atlanta, local sports fans would have been called out on the carpet (not to mention unpatriotic) by the national sports media writers.

[Tim Whitehead]

Why do you say that? Is there some sort of Anti-Atlanta bias that I'm not aware of?

[Brent Burns]

I bet Tim Whitehead will be smiling.

Everyone in Canada will be singing, "O, Canada!" as they now know that their team shocked the USA today, 8-6.

[KnoxVegas]

Cue the Lee Greenwood and hand me my flag! Does one win in a meaningless baseball tournament make up for the Canadiens being the only Canadian NHL franchise to win a Stanley Cup since the 1990-91 season?

Six more teams and it will truly be a National Hockey League!

[Brent Burns]

Cue the Lee Greenwood and hand me my flag! Does one win in a meaningless baseball tournament make up for the Canadiens being the only Canadian NHL franchise to win a Stanley Cup since the 1990-91 season?

Six more teams and it will truly be a National Hockey League!

I met Lee Greenwood one time when he was at my cousin's wedding many years ago. After the reception was over, he and his band had to hit the road in a bus.

[KnoxVegas]

A couple of years ago, I met him too. I was working a tournament in Endicott, NY (outside Binghamton) and he was the entertainment at the tent the Saturday night of the tournament. It was the summer of 2001 and he seemed like a nice guy. Small, but nice. He took us on his bus and gave us a tour. To think that one song and a military conflict paid for all that. Geez, I am in the wrong business.

[laxiejen]

The Florida Gators played a team from Japan up at Disney's Wide World of Sports. THe Venezuela game was going on then and it was pretty crazy. There were a ton of fans there and they had a lot of stuff set up for the event. It seemed like it was pretty serious in terms of the fans wanting to win and such.

[jessexy]

i think i passed it when flipping channels, but it couldve been a Spring Training game also.

OH WAIT, it is a Spring Training game for everyone playing since there are no leagues that were going leading into this WBC.

[tlaing1]

here's my 2 cents....

I find it absurd that players can join a team if they are a US Citizen but were born in another country or if that person was born in the US but families were born in ______ country. I find it to be the biggest anti-patriotic idea ever to say, you know what, I'm an American but I want to play for ______ because my heritage is so strong. (I am also against people playing in a World Games Lacrosse for another country if they fall under this same umbrella)

IMO I find that if you are really concerned about heritage, read a book about where you came from and maybe do something to help the infrastructure of that country. Get to know your roots and then do something positive with your knowledge. I understand that your 1+ Million dollar a year paychecks are streatched thin with your home in the town you grew up in, your parents house, your vacation home, your bentley, your aston martin, so at the very least you can go to that country, (if it's empoverished/underdeveloped) and see how they are living, and make yourself feel better because you went there to shake a few hands and see living conditions.

If the country isn't poor, or underdeveloped that doesn't mean you cannot go back there and do something positive for the community.

I personally am a bit offended by this fiasco that they call the World Baseball Classic because there is nothing worldly about it. MLB and the sponsors are making money off of this tournament and I have yet to hear about any of the money going to a charitable cause. Maybe I'm wrong in my assumptions and maybe I'm a bit crazy but I cannot believe that this is going on.

I am on a bit of a tirade at the moment and I do apologize but I am not sure why this WBC couldn't have happened earlier in the year, perhaps after the World Series or during the off season. I love baseball, yes I said it, but this is just a travesty. I know that here in Texas, it's been a really fair season and they have done wonderful things with domed stadiums to keep the cold out. I'm done, and Im going to sleep now, please don't kill me for my opinions, that's all they should be taken as, just a crazy kid from NJ's opinions.

[beckner11]

Why do you say that? Is there some sort of Anti-Atlanta bias that I'm not aware of?

I don't know if there's one specific thing but I know they never sell out their first round playoff games and i think it was 2 years ago they even had to offer buy tickets for 1 game get the next game 1/2 off....or something to that extent. That's embarrassing that a city is so used to seeing its team in the playoffs that they just assume that they will move on to the next round and don't come out to support them in the beginning of playoffs.

[Dan Wishengrad]

I had no interest at all in the WBC before it started, but I have gotten sucked in now and have found the games themselves to be quite compelling. I am especially struck by how much better two Asian teams, Japan and Korea, are at executing the fundamentals than do the teams from here in the Western Hemisphere. I am forced to admit to myself that they play our own game better than we do.

Watched most of the USA-Korea game last night. The Koreans play baseball the way it is supposed to be played. Nasty pitchers who never throw anything down the middle. Consistently brilliant defense. Stealing bases and sacrificing runners along. Turning on the inside fastball and taking the outside pitch to the opposite field. They are masters of "small ball" yet display power too -- Seung Yeop Lee might be the most feared hitter at the WBC, with the USA giving him an intentional walk in the 4th inning last night. Lee has 5 home runs in his first 15 ABs, and he sure would look good wearing a Seattle Mariners uniform.

The announcers gush on and on about the Americans and our star-studded lineup, and talk about how great the Dominicans and the Venezuelans are with all their major-league, all-star talent. Yet Korea is 4-0 and alone in first place. Japan might be unbeaten also, except for some bad umpiring in their game against the US. Even Canada, with their minor-league roster beats the USA. I find myself rooting for the underdogs and against all the spoiled, preening mega-millionaires.

So now I am hooked and find this better than watching the Major League version. The quality of the baseball itself is mostly top-notch. Count me as a new WBC fan.