The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday morning.It will never be the World Cup or the Olympics. We will not rush to a computer every March to print out brackets like we do the minute the NCAA Tournament field is announced. But just because there is little chance of the World Baseball Classic becoming a transcendent international event on par with the most recognized ones on the sports calendar does not mean the event has little intrinsic value.
The WBC has plenty of haters -- no surprise there since it was an idea drummed up by Bud Selig -- but just two days into the North American portion of the tournament, it seems like they just aren't paying attention.
The various criticisms of the tournament are not without merit. The WBC lacks tradition. There is no good time of year to hold it because the major league season is such an extended grind, and as a result many of the top players -- especially pitchers -- wind up staying home to avoid an injury that would hurt the team that actually invested millions in them.
But the Classic is not the contrived nuisance it is made out to be in some corners. It is not some forgettable hurdle to be cleared on the way to Opening Day.
Try telling the Netherlands or Australia that there are too many teams with not enough baseball tradition in the field. Both scored shocking upsets over star-studded baseball powers (the Dominican Republic and Mexico, respectively). Try telling the raucous Japanese fans at the Tokyo Dome or the infectious, reveling, rhythmic Cuban fans at Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City that this is an inconsequential competition.
You can criticize the setup of the tournament, the timing, the apathy of U.S. players and so on, but whether or not it is ultimately a success will be determined by the memorable moments it provides. Is the NCAA Tournament perfectly planned and organized? Hardly. But sports fans circle it on the calendar every year because its entertainment value is off the charts.
The Classic is no March Madness, but it is still wildly entertaining.
Where else can you see the Yankees' Derek Jeter and the Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia turn a double play, then smile and laugh about it? Where else can you hear Adam Dunn, a guy who has never played in the postseason, talk about how the WBC is his playoffs, and then be caught on camera in the dugout taking his own pulse during the final moments of a tense one-run game with Canada?
It has already offered us glimpses of foreign treasures like Yu Darvish, Yulieski Gourriel and Frederich Cepeda, as well as sneak peeks at potential future stars like Max Ramirez and Phillippe Aumont.
Aumont, a first-round pick of the Mariners in 2007, got into a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in one inning of work against the U.S., and when he managed to wriggle out of it and keep Canada within range of the lead, he pumped his fist demonstratively and let out a yell that was only matched by J.J. Putz's scream of relief after he shut the door on Canada in the ninth inning.
It's hard to find that kind of emotion in a Grapefruit League contest, or even a run-of-the-mill three-game series in May. And it's ever so easy to be jaded about hollow displays of patriotism these days, but clearly there is something special about donning your country's uniform and the enthusiasm among the players is infectious. It bleeds right through the television screen.
There are practical reasons to want the WBC to survive and succeed. It helps grow the game globally, a vital mission especially now that it won't be contested in the 2012 Summer Olympics. (A ridiculous farce if there ever was one.)
But in the end, what matters the most is that the event is captivating, that it keeps us on the edge of our seats or makes us smile. That is what will keep the fans coming back, even if not all of the top stars are present or if it isn't the best way to crown a true world champion.
The streets of Cuba or Japan or Anytown, USA do not have to be empty during Classic games like they are in Brazil or Germany or Italy during the FIFA World Cup. But the event does have to be more than just a collection of slightly meaningful baseball games one month ahead of the main event we call Major League Baseball.
In that respect, there is no debate. The World Baseball Classic is a smashing success.
