MLB FanHouse

Baseball Brunch: Halfway Home

Ed Price — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Athletics, Blue Jays, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Indians, Marlins, Mets, Nationals, Orioles, Padres, Rays, Red Sox, Rockies, Royals, Tigers, NL East, MLB All-Star Game, MLB Awards, World Baseball Classic, MLB Satire, MLB Inside Scoop, Baseball Brunch, MLB Trade Deadline

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

The most remarkable thing about this season as we hit the not-halfway halfway point of the All-Star break isn't Albert Pujols' RBI total. Or Zack Greinke's ERA. Or the PED suspension of one of the game's biggest stars.

It's the standings. And they not only reflect the season so far, they give us a clue as to the weeks head leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline.

The Phillies and Dodgers are the only first-place team with a lead of more than 2 1/2 games. And 21 of the 30 teams are within 7 1/2 games of a playoff spot: nine of 14 in the AL and 12 of 16 in the NL.

Teams have been waiting for the contenders and pretenders to shake out and loosen up the trade market. But other than Philadelphia pulling away a bit the past few days, things just keep getting tighter instead of clearer.

While parity and more teams in the races might make Major League Baseball happy, the economy hasn't. And that too affects the trade market, as contracts will be hard to dump.

"Scary quiet," as an official from an AL team told FanHouse last week about trade buzz.

The official predicted that many of the trades that are consummated will be "money-for-money" deals - teams swapping contracts they'd like to move instead of someone taking on money.

The first half, though, made plenty of noise of its own. And we're ready to present our first-half award winners.

We could give you the MVPs and Rookies of the Year to this point, but the Baseball Writers' Association of America wisely waits until season's end, and so will we.

Instead, we'll hand out some different hardware:

o. Choo Choo Coleman Award: to the Nationals, who are making a run at the 1962 Mets for record atrociousness. With a green rotation and overripe bullpen, Washington has gone 10-12 when scoring six or more runs - and no team has ever finished with a losing record when scoring more than five.

o. We Aren't The World Award: to the pitchers who worked in the WBC and have struggled and/or been hurt in the major-league season - Daisuke Matsuzaka, Matt Lindstrom, Jesse Crain, Damaso Marte, Rafael Perez, Edinson Volquez, Luis Ayala, Oliver Perez, Joakim Soria, Jonathan Sanchez, Ian Snell, Armando Galarraga, Carlos Silva, Jeremy Guthrie, Joel Hanrahan, Roy Oswalt, Scot Shields and J.J. Putz. OK, could be coincidence. Or it could be a reason to wonder if the WBC is a good idea that just isn't feasible.

o. I'm Not Dead Yet Award: to Gary Sheffield, released late in spring training by the Tigers and now, improbably, leading the Mets in home runs.

o. Trap-Door Bullpen Award: to the Indians, who have used 20 relievers already. Not that it's helped. The record is 33 relievers, by the 2002 Padres, who went 66-96.

o. Deserted in the Desert Award: to Dan Haren, whose Arizona teammates won't score runs for him, leaving him just 8-5 despite a 2.16 ERA and 0.83 walks plus hits per inning - the latter of which would rank sixth-best in history.

o. Venus de Milo Award: to Cito Gaston, for managing Toronto to a decent record despite a lack of arms. The Blue Jays have put 10 different pitchers on the disabled list this season.

o. Over the Hill Gang Award: to the Athletics, who added veterans Jason Giambi, Nomar Garciaparra and Orlando Cabrera in the offseason - and are in the bottom three in the AL in runs scored.

o. Triple Lindy Award: to Pirates rookie Andrew McCutchen, who hit five triples in his first 17 career games.

o. Mirage Award: to the three NL West teams that played past game No. 162 in 2007, Arizona, Colorado and San Diego. Two have already fired their manager from that season, and the Padres are dreadful. Maybe those teams were just above-average in a bad league two years ago and overestimated how good they were.

o. Road Sweet Road Award: to the Mets' David Wright, who has hit .304 with runners in scoring position at home (with more strikeouts than hits) and .382 with runners in scoring position on the road.

o. John Dillinger Award: to the Tigers, who stole Edwin Jackson from the Rays for Matt Joyce. Jackson is second in the AL in ERA and first in opponents' batting average.

o. The Time and a Half Award: to the Padres, who work overtime. San Diego has played an 18-inning game and a 16-inning game this year. Of course, the Padres have made up for all those extra innings pitched by going 12-31++ on the road, avoiding a lot of bottom of the ninths.

o. Bg Htter Award: to Pujols, who knocked the "I" out of the "Big Mac Land" sign at Busch Stadium with a homer on May 21. Pujols has four grand slams already; no one has ever had more than six in a season.

o. Breakthrough Player Awards: Joey Votto, Ben Zobrist, Adam Lind, Jason Bartlett, Casey McGehee, Jason Kubel, Shin-Soo Choo, Mark Reynolds, J.P. Howell, Matt Cain, Josh Johnson, Jair Jurrjens, Wandy Rodriguez, Nick Blackburn.

Overheard and Understood

o. The Red Sox's approach to the trade deadline will depend on third baseman Mike Lowell's progress in his recovery from a strained right hip. "I think we're just keeping an eye on Lowell, basically, which is a big question mark," one Boston official said. "We need to help our offense." The Sox looked at the Rockies' Garrett Atkins, but "the asking price is a bit too steep for him" and Colorado didn't like what it saw of Boston reliever Takashi Saito. Arizona is trying to shop Chad Tracy, but he hasn't looked good. So Boston's best option, if Lowell doesn't recover soon, could be to get a first baseman, which is "easier to do," and put Kevin Youkilis at third.

Chart of the Week
How do the NL East contenders match up? Well, the Phillies, Marlins, Braves and Mets are a combined 31-8 against the woeful Nationals. And when you measure those four against the other three, you see no team stands out - with Atlanta having played the best in the head-to-head-to-head-to-head matchups:
Team	Vs. Other Three
Braves	11-8
Marlins	10-10
Phillies	12-13
Mets	11-13

o. Baltimore is one of the few teams that knows it's in position to sell, with Aubrey Huff and reliever Danys Baez (Twins, perhaps?) good trade candidates because they are eligible for free agency after the season. But the Orioles aren't interested in a fire sale, according to a source familiar with their plan. Because the O's went 5-20 last September and 10-19 in September 2007, they want to avoid showing their fan base another flat finish.

"One of the [Baltimore] goals is to be competitive the latter half of the season," the source said. "That [coast to the finish] is the one thing [president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail] doesn't want to have happen again."

Consequently, Baltimore will need to be overwhelmed to deal closer George Sherrill, and while it might have listened on Guthrie, that won't happen now since Koji Uehara is out with a sore elbow.

Huff may wind up a target for Detroit, which could use some left-handed pop but the Tigers prefer someone more versatile or at least able to play the outfield (they inquired on Washington's Adam Dunn, but the finances didn't work). Detroit's concern would be getting Huff regular at-bats, since he's limited to first base and DH. The Orioles have been checking out some Tigers affiliates, and with not much there in the way of high-ceiling prospects, it could take a package of multiple minor-leaguers to get Huff.

o. According to a person familiar with the Indians' clubhouse, part of the problem in Cleveland has been the impatience of management. Players are looking over their shoulders, the person said, feeling that if they don't produce for a couple of games in a row, they will get benched. The Tribe has had a revolving door at second base, shortstop and left field.

o. Kansas City has not had a position player make the All-Star Game since Mike Sweeney in 2005.

o. Dodgers manager Joe Torre will serve as a coach at the All-Star Game. "Coaching is the easiest thing in the world to do at an All-Star Game," he said, "because you don't have to do anything. I just told Charlie [Manuel], I said, 'I'll keep track of the players for you.' "

o. The jersey of Dodgers catcher Russell Martin reads, "J. MARTIN." It's a tribute to his mother's side of his family, where the last name is Jeanson. Martin's full name is Russell Nathan Jeanson Coltrane Martin Jr.

o. The Rockies do need relief help. They have been using Joel Peralta and Matt Daley to set up in front of closer Huston Street and those two "are not set-up guys," one scout said.

o. Rays phenom David Price was better Thursday, but his problem all year has been that he has become, as one scout put it, a "one-side-of-the-plate pitcher." Price has been able to locate pitches to his glove side - inside to right-handed hitters - but not to the other half of the plate.

o. Florida's Ricky Nolasco has averaged 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings in seven starts since returning from a stint in the minors. Before getting sent down, he averaged 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings - which made him more vulnerable to the Marlins' defensive deficiencies. A scout who saw him recently said Nolasco had "more of a strikeout attitude, [as if he was thinking,] 'I'm not going to leave this to the guys behind me any more.' "

o. Boston's Tim Wakefield is the third pitcher 42 or older - second knuckleballer - to get 11 wins by the All-Star break. The others, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, were Warren Spahn for the 1963 Braves and Phil Niekro for the 1984 Yankees.

o. Talks to send Arizona lefty Doug Davis back to Milwaukee seem to have died down.

o. Elias says that this is the first season ever in which two third basemen - Washington's Ryan Zimmerman and Toronto's Scott Rolen - have had hitting streaks of at least 25 games.

o. Tampa Bay would like an upgrade in right field over its Gabe Gross/Gabe Kapler platoon.

o. Mets manager Jerry Manuel was asked what peers he might turn to for advice when going through tough times like he has recently. "I need Gandhi and King," he said. "They went through the same stuff. That's what I reach out to." (That's Martin Luther King Jr., not Ray King.)

Baseball Brunch: Halfway Home originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sidney Ponson Failed WBC Drug Test

Matt Snyder — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Royals, AL Central, World Baseball Classic

Thursday we passed along the news that Geovany Soto had tested positive for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic this past spring. Just one day later, another positive result from the WBC round of testing has been revealed. Sidney Ponson, the embattled 32-year-old righty who pitched for the Netherlands, also tested positive for a banned substance.

It wasn't the mellow Mary Jane that Ponson was partaking in, though. Nope, he tested positive for phentermine, a stimulant. Like Soto, he'll avoid punishment from Major League Baseball and face a two-year ban from international play.

I actually had no idea what phentermine even was, so I went to the googles. What I found is sure to cue up the fat jokes. Ponson has been abused by the general public on message boards, radio call-in shows and in the media for having something of a weight problem the past several years. Here's what phentermine is, via drugs.com:

Phentermine is a stimulant that is similar to an amphetamine. It is an appetite suppressant that affects the central nervous system.

Phentermine is used together with diet, exercise and behavioral modification to treat obesity (excessively overweight) in people with risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes.

So, yeah, Ponson was using an appetite suppressant. It's unoriginal-but-still-kinda-funny joke time.

Ponson currently plays for the Kansas City Royals. He's on the disabled list, and was1-5 with a 7.27 ERA 11 appearances (6 starts) before falling injured.

Sidney Ponson Failed WBC Drug Test originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Geovany Soto Failed Drug Test In WBC

Matt Snyder — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:10:00 EST

Filed under: Cubs, NL Central, World Baseball Classic

The bad news: Geovany Soto failed his drug test while competing in the World Baseball Classic. The good news: It wasn't for a performance-enhancing drug -- which, at this point, would probably precede his being drawn and quartered by the outraged general public. Instead, Soto tested positive for marijuana. I guess if pressed for a real classification, we'd have to say pot is a performance "dehancing" drug.

Soto will be forced to miss international play for the next two years, which isn't that huge of a punishment, really. He won't receive a punishment from Major League Baseball, and he has always tested clean in MLB-sanctioned testing. Still, he apologized and took responsibility for the positive test.

Soto released a statement saying he was "embarrassed by my lapse in judgment."

"While I full acknowledge my inappropriate behavior, I want to assure my fans and my family that this was an isolated incident," he said.

As a Cubs fan, I have to say his play on the field this season has been far more disconcerting than the fact he took a toke or two in the spring. Last season's NL Rookie of the Year, Soto is hitting .228 with 6 home runs and 21 RBI. His OPS is down about 150 points, and he's not playing defense as well as he did in 2008. Take a dropped pop-up in foul territory Wednesday night that ended up opening the door for two Tigers runs as a perfect example of the difference in two seasons.

Wait, what are the symptoms of using pot, again? Maybe he is still taking the occasional hit after all.

(Yes, I'm a presently-bitter Cubs fan)

DYST V3 test

LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers watches as Mo Williams #2 takes a shoe to the face by Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers after a steal in the closing seconds of the first half at The Quicken Loans Arena on February 8, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. (David Liam Kyle, NBAE/Getty Images)

David Liam Kyle, NBAE/Getty Images

Brazil's Diogo (L) vies for the ball with Paraguay's Hernan Perez during their U-20 South American Championship football match in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela on February 8, 2009.(Juan Barreto, AFP/Getty Images )

Juan Barreto, AFP/Getty Images

A Dalmatian looks at its handler as a judge goes to touch the dog during the first day of the 2009 Westminster Dog Show in New York February 9, 2009.(Lucas Jackson, Reuters)

Lucas Jackson, Reuters

Denver Nuggets forward Chris Anderson touches his head during a time out in the first half of their NBA basketball game with the New Jersey Nets in East Rutherford, New Jersey February 7, 2009. (Ray Stubblebine, Reuters)

Ray Stubblebine, Reuters

Margarita Marbler, of Austria, skis to a bronze medal finish the ladies moguls freestyle FIS World Cupskiing qualification at Cypress mountain in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. (Jonathan Hayward, The Canadian Press/AP)

Jonathan Hayward, The Canadian Press/AP

West Virginia guard Darryl Bryant (25) is fouled by Providence guard Jeff Xavier (1) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Morgantown, W.Va. Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. West Virginia won 86-59. (Don Wright, AP)

Don Wright, AP

Missouri's DeMarre Carroll, top, celebrates the Tigers' 62-60 win over Kansas in Columbia, Missouri, Monday, February 9, 2009. (Rich Sugg, Kansas City Star/MCT)

Rich Sugg, Kansas City Star/MCT

David Clarkson #23 of the New Jersey Devils fights Erik Reitz #4 of the New York Rangers during their game on February 9, 2009 at The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey (Al Bello, Getty Images)

Al Bello, Getty Images

Driver Patrick Sheltra (60) begins to spin coming out of the fourth turn during the ARCA 200 auto race in Daytona Beach, Fla. Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009.

Darryl Graham, AP

Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives serves the ball, in this multiple exposure, to Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic during their Fed Cup tennis match in Brno February 7, 2009.

Petr Josek, Reuters

Geovany Soto Failed Drug Test In WBC originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Baseball Aims for 2016 Return to Olympics; 'Best Players' Will Be Available

Pat Lackey — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:10:00 EST

Filed under: World Baseball Classic

With baseball wiped off of the Olympic slate for the 2012 Olympics in London, MLB President Bob DuPuy and player's union chief Donald Fehr went before the IOC Moneay with International Baseball Federation president Henry Schiller to plead baseball's case for reinstatement to the games by 2016. Their presence at the meeting was undoubtedly to calm the IOC's concerns that Major League Baseball isn't supportive of the Olympics.

In fact, the Chicago Tribune's Phil Hersch is reporting some interesting concessions that MLB says they're willing to make to accommodate the Olympics. Among the more interesting is that they say they won't schedule major league games on the day(s) that the medal games are played and that they'll make a "representative number of the best players available" to play in the proposed five-day Olympic tournament.

This is, from what i can tell, a logistic nightmare. If Chicago hosts the 2016 Olympics, it might not be a big deal to send some players to the Olympics, but what if the games are in Tokyo or Madrid? You'd be asking a big-league club, potentially in the heat of a pennant race (the Olympics are always in August), to give up one of their best players for a week or so. No team will ever agree to that and honestly, I doubt many players would either.

It really seems to me like Major League Baseball is trying to have its cake and eat it too when it comes to the Olympics. They've already created a tournament to push as the premier international event in the World Baseball Classic and they've had at least reasonable success to this point with the WBC. Trying to turn the Olympics into something similar, especially when it takes place in the middle of the season, is really asking a lot. I'm sure that a vast majority of readers could tell me that Italy won soccer's last World Cup, but how many people know that Argentina won the gold medal in the Olympics last summer?

Instead of bowing to the IOC's demands, why not focus on making the WBC a bigger, better event? Cramming a premier international baseball event into two weeks in mid-March isn't exactly an ideal scenario. If baseball is going to take time off to accommodate international play, why not spread the WBC out over the year and play the championship round over a slightly extended All-Star break?

Getting baseball back into the Olympics isn't going to be easy and in the long run, it may not even be worth it. So why are league officials promising things that are just going to make the teams and maybe even the players upset down the road?

Baseball Aims for 2016 Return to Olympics; 'Best Players' Will Be Available originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No WBC Hangover For Peavy

Jeff Fletcher — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:44:00 EST

Filed under: Padres, World Baseball Classic

PHOENIX -- Jake Peavy knows the questions are going to be there, and the only way to answer them is with long lines of zeroes.

So far, so good.

Peavy pitched on Friday night for the Padres, his first outing with his real employer since finishing off his moonlighting for Team USA. All he did was work six scoreless innings, striking out seven and walking none. The A's, who trotted out their honest-to-goodness opening day lineup, managed just two hits.

Peavy was filthy.

"Jake was outstanding," Padres manager Bud Black said. "The velocity was very solid. It looked like he was spotting the ball, keeping it down. There weren't very many misses."

Peavy threw sharp biting sliders and pinpoint fastballs all night. He didn't look like a guy who hadn't pitched in a game since Mar. 14, when he faced Puerto Rico in the WBC. Such a layoff would normally be cause for a little concern, especially when considering what happened to Peavy in 2006.

Remember 2006? Peavy had his worst season in the past five years, with shoulder problems complicating matters. The general consensus was that his spring routine was disturbed by the WBC. Peavy has denied that at every turn.

When asked on Friday night if he has something to prove this time, he said: "I can't prove anything. I'm sure if I miss some starts, (reporters) will be asking me again about the WBC. I'm healthy right now. In 2006 I had some shoulder stiffness and it caused me to miss some time. Guys get hurt all the time in spring, whether they did or didn't pitch in the WBC. If I get asked again in 2013, I'd do it again. It was an unbelievable experience."

Even though the U.S. didn't win. Again.

Peavy had an explanation for that, too. The calendar. He said that players in the U.S. are conditioned to peak later in the year.

"Japan is going to play its best game every night," Peavy said. "The U.S., you never know what you are going to get each night. I feel like we'd have a very good chance of winning that if it was played at any other time of the year, midseason, after the season, whenever."

No WBC Hangover For Peavy originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:44:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boos in Classic Bothered Ordonez

Matt Snyder — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:38:00 EST

Filed under: Tigers, AL Central, MLB Fans, World Baseball Classic

When the Venezuelan World Baseball Classic team played in Miami a few weeks ago, Magglio Ordonez was booed and taunted by fans. The overwhelming majority were Venezuelan-Americans who opposed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's political views. Ordonez had appeared in a commercial supporting Chavez's campaign to do away with presidential term limits.

Considering most professional athletes have endured their fair share of heckling over the years, one could easily draw the assumption that Ordonez just brushed the taunts aside and went about his business. For whatever reason, this wasn't exactly the case.

Yes, the fans in Miami bothered him. In fact, he said it "bothered the whole team."

I'm unable to put myself in Magglio's shoes, so I don't want to speculate why this would bother him more than the treatment he surely gets on a traditional trip to the south side of Chicago. Obviously, it has something to do with his fellow countrymen.

For the record, Carlos Guillen also supports Chavez.

"You know, in this tournament we got a lot of support from the government," Guillen said Thursday. "We never had that before. Money. Everything. We talked to Chávez after the games. He called players to congratulate us. That never happened before. I never heard of a president do those things for a sport in Venezuela."Those people who boo Magglio, they don't understand. They don't care about the sport."

Regardless, the event is now over and both are Tigers. During the season, it would be shocking to see political views mean anything to Tigers fans. They'll take a winner.

Boos in Classic Bothered Ordonez originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:38:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Perez Disputes Claim He's Out of Shape

Matt Snyder — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:40:00 EST

Filed under: Mets, NL East, World Baseball Classic

When Oliver Perez returned from a 19-day stint with Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, the Mets were none too happy at the current state of his game. With the season rapidly approaching, Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen accused Perez of being out of shape. In fact, he said Perez was overweight (no word on whether or not they'll start calling him Oliver "Miller" Perez).

Perez only made two starts for Mexico in the WBC, and even admitted the workout regimen was different than it would have been had he stayed with the Mets. Still, Perez denies that he's out of shape.

"If you want to run with me, we can run," Perez said. "I feel good. Maybe we were working different in the Classic. We didn't do [pitchers fielding practice] and all the exercises we do here, but I feel good."

"I'm a little behind," Perez said. "But I have to [sic] more games and I have to be ready."

Considering the Mets just re-upped with him in the offseason -- he'll be making $36 million over the next three years -- I'm sure Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel would agree that he has to be ready. He's got some work to do over these next two starts, too.

Wednesday, his line against the Tigers was atrocious. In 3 2/3 innings, he allowed 11 base runners and 6 earned runs. Of the five allowed hits, four were of the extra base variety. That doesn't fit very well with the six walks. If you can't throw a strike, you should at least gets out when you do.

Also, Perez compiled a 9.45 ERA for Team Mexico.

At least his three-year contract is guaranteed. If this spring is a sign of things to come, it's going to be awfully fitting that he plays home games in Citi Field.

Perez Disputes Claim He's Out of Shape originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fear Not Bud, I'll Fix the WBC

Jeff Fletcher — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: World Baseball Classic

Say this about the just-completed World Baseball Classic: It created a lot of debate. Unfortunately, most of the debate was about how to fix it.

Since everyone else seems to have their ideas, I figured I'd share mine. The key is to follow a mantra that hitters have been using for ages: "Don't try to do too much."

Don't swing for the fences, Bud. You can't have a perfect event that is going to be embraced by everyone in China, South Africa and the U.S. Do the best you can with what you've got, and you'd be surprised how good it can be.

So, here goes ...

1. Get rid of all of those "other" countries. Yeah, sure, it's all fine and dandy to say you want to grow the sport's interest in the Netherlands and China and Italy, but c'mon. Seriously. If you really must, Bud, I'm willing to have a little play-in tourney, which you could have in March, to determine one country join the field of real baseball-playing nations.

2. Those nations are: the U.S., ~~Canada~~ Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Japan, Korea and Mexico. If you want to have the play-in tourney, take out the team from the Big Eight that does the worst in the previous WBC and put them in the play-in round. ~~(Canada didn't look too hot this time around.)~~

3. OK, here's where I'm getting a little radical. Forget the whole idea of double-elimination or round-robin or multi-layered rounds. None of those are the way baseball playoffs are meant to be played. As long as it's already a less-than-optimal structure, might as well go with the quickest and simplest of the less-than-optimal: single elimination. You want drama? That's drama. Was anything a bigger waste of time than those "seeding games" where both teams had already made the next round?

4. Do it in July, after the All-Star Game. Depending where the All-Star Game is that year, the WBC would be either on the West Coast or East Coast. You'd use four ballparks within close proximity, in California or in the Washington-New York-Boston corridor. There would be an off day on Wednesday following the All-Star Game. Play two first-round games on Thursday, two on Friday. The semifinals on Saturday. The final on Sunday. (Yeah, it would be a slight advantage for the teams that had the extra off day after the first round, but it would be marginal because you'd need three different starters for the three games either way.)

That's it. Quick. Easy. Entertaining.

Yeah, there would be grumbling about teams missing out on a home weekend series if baseball were shut down that weekend, but MLB would just give an extra piece of the TV revenue from the WBC to the teams that ended up with one less home weekend.

See, perfect.

Now that I've solved this problem, I'll get to work on fixing the economy.

Fear Not Bud, I'll Fix the WBC originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Piniella, Geren and Defined Relief Roles

Matt Snyder — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:35:00 EST

Filed under: Cubs, NL Central, MLB Fans, World Baseball Classic

The tradition in baseball, for the past few decades, has been for each team to choose one defined closer at the back end of their bullpen. Heading into the 2009 season, there is one team who has already intentionally chosen to head into the season with two closers, and they are both right-handed.

Oakland manager Bob Geren has decided that Joey Devine and Brad Ziegler will both handle closing duties this season. Cubs manager Lou Piniella -- a grizzled veteran skipper who, yes, can be a bit stubborn -- believes that's not necessarily the best way to run a bullpen.

"That just hasn't worked in baseball with a particular team," Piniella said. "If you have a lefty and a righty who were dominant from each side, you might look at it differently. I think it works well for everyone to have a role and know their role."

Generally speaking, closers tend to be overrated because of the save statistic. How difficult can it really be to get three guys out before allowing three runs to score. As a Cubs fan, I can tell you Carlos Marmol was more important to the team's success last season than Kerry Wood. It's very possible Jose Arredondo and Scot Shields will be more important to the Angels this year than Brian Fuentes.

What Piniella means, though, is that players should have defined roles. These guys all know the role they serve on the team. Using my Cubs example from last season -- that is, after all, my wheelhouse -- when the Cubs held a two-run lead in the sixth inning, Marmol knew he would need to be ready to either get the Cubs out of a mess in the seventh or to shut down the opposition in the eighth. Wood knew he needed to be ready for the ninth.

I'm sure you could argue that before each game, Geren can tell Devine and Ziegler what roles they'll be serving on that particular day. That's additional work to be done for each game, and it's a shift in mentality for each player on a game-by-game basis. It's just not practical.

I'd trust Piniella. He's won with some stellar relief pitching before. He had the "Nasty Boys" in Cincinnati -- yet he still had a defined closer in Randy Myers. He had Marmol setting up for Wood last season, but he stuck with Wood even through early season struggles. Sure, Rob Dibble had 11 saves in 1990 and Marmol accrued 7 last year. That's the luxury you have with multiple studs at the back of the 'pen.

The job of a manager is to make decisions. I'd say Geren needs to be decisive and give his two late-inning relievers a definite job. If he wants a 30/10 split in saves in order to keep his "real" closer fresh, so be it. Just make a call.

Piniella, Geren and Defined Relief Roles originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tommy Lasorda Can Give Interviews in His Sleep

Tom Fornelli — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:57:00 EST

Filed under: Dodgers, MLB Video, World Baseball Classic

You kind of have to feel sorry for Tommy Lasorda in this video, even as you're laughing at him. It seems that the 81-year old Dodgers legend was somewhat worn out before going on television to do an interview with Chicago Tribune Live, which coincidentally is taped in Chicago.

He literally looks like he's sleeping during the interview, and I keep waiting for him to answer a question with an "I don't wanna go to school today, mommy." Somebody get the man a cup of coffee, or at least a hat to keep the sun out of his eyes.

(Hat tip to Deadspin)

Tommy Lasorda Can Give Interviews in His Sleep originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:57:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Wa' Reigns Supreme at WBC

Lisa Olson — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 04:21:00 EST

Filed under: World Baseball Classic, FanHouse Exclusive

LOS ANGELES -- It's all about the Wa, the forfeiture of self for the unity and harmony of the greater good, or team. You could sense Wa all around Monday night, as Japan and South Korea engaged in one of the finest back-to-basics baseball games you might ever see.

Wa was there in the sacrifice flies bringing home runners, in beautifully positioned bunts, in terrific pitching duels that caused 54,846 fans at Dodger Stadium to stand and sing for 10 fantastic innings. Fittingly, the World Baseball Classic final lasted a perfect four hours, ending with Japan beating Korea, 5-3, for the championship.

Make that the world championship, for only the most xenophobic would consider Team Japan not worthy. Team Samurai defended its WBC title from 2006, thanks to Ichiro Suzuki's finely placed single that sliced Korea's gut and scored two runs in the top of the 10th. But really, as often happens in Japanese baseball, the beauty was carved out in Ichiro's eight-pitch at-bat against reliever Chang Yong Lim, with two outs, with runners on second and third, with millions upon millions of fans in the Far East holding their breath.

"Today we were able to greet the day, and the fact that we were able to remain one of the best two was within myself, wonderful," said Japan's manager Tatsunori Hara, long after his team offered gracious bows to their longtime rivals and paraded around Dodger Stadium with the Rising Sun flag and shared the trophy with fans who didn't want to leave.

Here, baseball purists, was the game at its prime, extra innings packed with smallball, dazzling defense, daring baserunning. It was a test of which country best mastered the fundamentals, a passion play leading up to the ninth inning when Yu Darvish, the closer who one night earlier finished off Team USA, erratically sandwiched two walks inside a pair of nasty strikeouts. But like nearly every young child who learned to play baseball in Asia, Korea's Bum Ho Lee has the patience of a nun, and he waited for the right pitch to slap through the hole at short, tying the game, 3-3. The Dodger Stadium scoreboard came alive with pictures of crowds packed tight into Seoul's Jamsil Stadium, partying hard 6,000 miles away.

And then Darvish returned for the 10th, Hara taking a risk that highlighted the terrible importance of this game, and Darvish made sure Ichiro's efforts weren't wasted. After a leadoff walk, Darvish cooly retired the side. Pandemonium in Dodger Stadium, delirium in the streets of Tokyo.

That, baseball lovers, is why the Classic matters.

"Well, in the bullpen, the pitcher who was the best is the one I picked," said Hara, making his decision sound so easy, so enlightened. And of Ichiro's epic, game-winning at-bat, Hara admitted, "it's an image that will forever be imprinted in my mind."

Ichiro insisted he was in a far more rocky zone while wiggling at the plate. "I really wish I could be in the state of Zen but ... I kept thinking of all these things that I shouldn't think about," he said. "But I was able to hit, so I felt like maybe I surpassed something myself."

One night earlier, Japan blew away Team USA, 9-4, in the semifinals, a loss that flushed out another round of snide remarks by Americans who can't see beyond their own belts, who are stunned, absolutely stunned, that other nations play a better, smarter brand of baseball than the country which invented it. How could this happen?

Really, the answer is quite obvious to anyone who's been paying attention to the sport's expansion across the past decade. Teams from Asia and elsewhere have this odd habit of racing down the line as soon as the ball is put into play, of circling the bases following home runs like they'll never again hit a ball so far, of treating strike outs as a curse that shames the entire group.

"Little things," Jeter, captain of Team USA, was saying late Sunday night, in the gloom of Dodger Stadium. "Somewhere along the way Americans lost the idea of practicing and teaching fundamentals. We need to figure out how to get back to that."

The contrast first struck Jeter in 2004, when the New York Yankees traveled to Japan for Opening Day, with a series against Tampa Bay. I covered the Yankees on that journey (and was with the New York Mets when they ushered in the 2000 season in Tokyo). Each trip included exhibition games against Japanese teams, providing ample opportunities to observe the militaristic manner in which the Japanese prepared.

The sport was first introduced to the Japanese masses in 1878, by a Boston engineer who had his players run the bases in geta, or wooden sandals. It was a painful exercise, designed to build or break the spirit (typical masochistic Red Sox fan, even then). Modern pre-game warmups are still a blend of martial arts and worker bee ethos, the players fielding more ground balls and pop ups than some Little League teams do in a year.

The fierce dedication trickles down to school children, many who routinely train for six hours a day. Little Leaguers are taught defensive skills and the art of playing catch long before they master hitting; Americans do it in reverse. And if those children lose a big game, they scoop up the infield dirt, pack it in plastic bags and display it prominently at home, a reminder of lessons to be learned.

The South Koreans are similarly nurtured, before facing one more obstacle: a mandatory stint in the military. That's one of the major hurdles MLB teams have to navigate before more Koreans land on this side of the pond.

Jung-Keun Bong, Korea's starting pitcher Monday, cut a rare path across baseball's landscape, spending time with the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds before returning to Korea to finish his career. He pitched splendidly in the title game, but Japanese starter Hisaski Iwakuma was even better, and after Michihiro Ogasawara's third-inning RBI single gave Japan a 1-0 lead, Bong was removed in the fifth, with no outs and runners on the corners.

A few hours earlier, manager Hara had predicted the championship would "feel like it's the game of the century." That's how fierce the Korea-Japan rivalry is, far more intense than Yankees-Red Sox, gloriously existing without the ESPN hoopla.

How many tens of millions of office workers choked on their mid-morning coffee Tuesday when Hyun Wook Jong came in for Bong and promptly blew away the side, the inning ending with Ogasawara striking out and Norichika Aoki, so firefly quick, caught stealing?

Shin-Soo Choo, one of four Koreans in the major leagues, tied the game, 1-1, in the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff home run, spinning Dodger Stadium into a sweet cacophony of bands and whistles and dancing children and national chants and controlled madness.

That's the other thing about international baseball. Fans enjoy games without worrying about foul-mouthed thugs destroying the experience. If Koreans and Japanese can share a stadium peacefully, without fights in the stands and curse words polluting the air, perhaps there is hope for us still.

No doubt, the WBC has inspired its share of positive moments: competitive, entertaining games, good sportsmanship, lessons for the Americans. There are plans to expand the tournament in 2013 beyond the scope of this year's carnival, which featured 16 teams playing 38 games across seven cities, from Tokyo to L.A. Paul Archey, senior VP of MLB International and architect of the WBC, stood near the Dodger dugout before Monday's game and said the idea is to keep dreaming big, beyond borders.

"We like March as a time to do this tournament," Archey said, reminding reporters that MLB owners approved the timing, the travel and other inconveniences that have prompted American players and fans to either whine or yawn. Archey wouldn't rule out the possibility of the semifinals and final being played in Tokyo, where TV ratings and attendance are Super Bowl-sized. (Total attendance for this year's WBC was 801,408, and if organizers counted fans who attended Team Japan's practices, the number would have cleared 1 million.)

Yes, it appears Team USA will again be handicapped next time around, by the format and, if lessons aren't learned, by their own style of play. Appearances by A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia and Joba Chamberlain -- just three of the American pitchers who couldn't be bothered, though there were others -- might have saved Team USA from being knocked around by Japan's line drives in Sunday's semifinal.

It may be too late for the US to ever retrieve a version of Wa. Generations have passed, glorifying power hitters over basic fundamentals. "Little things," as Jeter said, though he knows the cultural divide cuts much deeper.

Ichiro and fellow major leaguer Daisuke Matsuzaka joined Team Japan for training in early February, enduring two-a-days when they could have been sipping Mai Tais on the beach. It was all for the Wa, group harmony over self. Ichiro's bat scored the winning run, Dice-K's arm was a perfect 3-0 and earned him tournament MVP honors.

So offer a tip of the Kabuto, helmet of the samurai, toward Team Japan, world champions who can teach us a thing or three.

Latest World Baseball Classic Images

Team Japan's pitcher Yu Darvish (L) and catcher Kenji Johjima celebrate their team's win over Team Korea in the tenth inning of the World Baseball Classic championship game in Los Angeles, California March 23, 2009. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

Reuters

Team Japan's (L-R) pitcher Yu Darvish, catcher Kenji Johjima, and Munenori Kawasaki celebrate defeating Team Korea after their World Baseball Classic championship game in Los Angeles, California, March 23, 2009. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

Reuters

Team Japan holds up their manager Tatsunori Harar after they defeated Team Korea in the World Baseball Classic championship game in Los Angeles, California March 23, 2009. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL IMAGE OF THE DAY TOP PICTURE)

Reuters

Team Japan's pitcher Yu Darvish (R) and catcher Kenji Johjima celebrate their team's win over Team Korea in the tenth inning of the World Baseball Classic championship game in Los Angeles, California March 23, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

Reuters

Japan's Ichiro Suzuki hits a line drive single past South Korea's Lim Chang Yong driving in two runs in the tenth inning of Japan's 5-3 victory in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic Monday, March 23, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

Team Japan's Ichiro Suzuki (L) hits a two RBI double in front of Team Korea catcher Park Kyung-Oan (R) during the tenth inning of play in the World Baseball Classic championship game in Los Angeles, California March 23, 2009. REUTERS/Fred Greaves (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL IMAGE OF THE DAY TOP PICTURE)

Reuters

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 23: Ichiro Suzuki #51 of Japan hits a single to center to score Seiichi Uchikawa #24 and Akinori Iwamura #8 in the tenth inning of the finals of the 2009 World Baseball Classic on March 23, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ichiro Suzuki

Getty Images

LOS ANGELES - MARCH 23: Ichiro Suzuki #51 of Japan hits a single to center to score Seiichi Uchikawa #24 and Akinori Iwamura #8 in the tenth inning the finals of the 2009 World Baseball Classic on March 23, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ichiro Suzuki

Getty Images

Team Japan's pitcher Yu Darvish (R) celebrates his team's win over Team Korea in the tenth inning of the World Baseball Classic championship game in Los Angeles, California March 23, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL IMAGE OF THE DAY TOP PICTURE)

Reuters

'Wa' Reigns Supreme at WBC originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Tue, 24 Mar 2009 04:21:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In Classic, Japan Still on Top of World

FanHouse Newswire — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:43:00 EST

Filed under: World Baseball Classic

LOS ANGELES (March 23) -- Three years since it began, nothing has changed at the World Baseball Classic.

Japan, which won the inaugural Classic in 2006, successfully defends its title, prevailing in a 5-3 extra-inning nailbiter over bitter rival South Korea on the strength of its greatest star.

Ichiro Suzuki's fourth hit in the championship game brings in the decisive runs, finishing off the Koreans for good after their stunning ninth-inning rally against Japanese phenom Yu Darvish.

The Japanese won the inaugural tournament three years ago, beating Cuba 10-6 in the finals at Petco Park in San Diego.

South Korea had tied the game at 3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on Lee Bum-ho's run-scoring single off of Darvish (2-1), who got in trouble by issuing one-out walks to Kim Hyun-soo and Kim Tae-kyun, the 3-4 hitters in the lineup.

Darvish struck out Choo Shin-soo before Lee lined a 1-1 pitch into left field, with pinch runner Lee Jong-wook scoring easily from second.

Seiichi Uchikawa opened the 10th with a single, was sacrificed to second and took third on a single by Akinori Iwamura. After pinch hitter Munenori Kawasaki popped out, Iwamura took second on defensive interference.

Suzuki managed to foul off a pitch after it had bounced then lined the eighth pitch of the at-bat from Lim Chang-yong (1-1) to center for his fourth hit. The Mariners' star entered with a .211 average and three RBI in eight previous games.

Given the lead, Darvish worked around a leadoff walk to retire South Korea in the bottom of the 10th, setting off a wild celebration when he struck out Lee Jin-young to end the four-hour game.

The game was the latest in an intense rivalry between the Asian powerhouses - a Far East version of a Yankees-Red Sox matchup. They split four previous games in this 16-team tournament, with Japan's 6-2 triumph in San Diego last Thursday giving it the Pool 1 title in the second round.

Two days earlier, South Korea won a 4-1 decision, and its players planted the nation's flag on the mound afterward-not the first time that's happened. Suzuki made sure it wouldn't happen on this night. Suzuki is 6-for-10 in two WBC title games.

South Korea beat Japan twice last summer in the Beijing Olympics en route to the gold medal. The South Koreans also beat Japan twice in the inaugural WBC three years ago before the Japanese won their semifinal matchup. And South Korea beat Japan 3-1 to win the bronze medal in the 2000 Olympics after losing to its rival 8-0 earlier in the Games.

Japan, which outhit South Korea 15-5 and blew several scoring opportunities and stranded 14, took a 3-1 lead with single runs in the seventh and eighth. Yasuyuki Kataoka singled off Jong Hyun-wook to open the seventh, stole second, took third on Suzuki's bunt single and scored on Hiroyuki Nakajima's single. Japan had a chance to blow the game open, but after Suzuki took third on Norichika Aoki's fly to deep right, Kenji Johjima grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Latest World Baseball Classic Images

Reuters

Getty Images

Reuters

Iwamura's sacrifice fly off Hyunjin Ryu in the eighth gave the Japanese a two-run lead. The run was charged to Jong, who left after giving up a one-out single to Uchikawa. Atsunori Inaba followed with a ground-rule double before Iwamura's fly to left.

South Korea got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Lee doubled, took third on an infield out and scored on pinch hitter Lee Dae-ho's sacrifice fly. Toshiya Sugiuchi relieved after starter Hisashi Iwakuma issued a two-out walk to Park Ki-hyuk, and retired Lee Yong-kyu on a liner to left.

Iwakuma, a 27-year-old right-hander who won 21 games for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles last year, worked 7 2-3 innings, longest outing of the WBC, and allowed just four hits and two runs. He walked two, struck out six and threw 97 pitches-three shy of the maximum.

Japan took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run off Bong Jung-keun in the third on Michihiro Ogasawara's RBI single, but it could have been a lot worse because Japan loaded the bases with one out before Kenta Kurihara grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Choo tied the game by hitting a 1-1 pitch from Iwakuma over the center field fence to open the fifth for his second homer in as many games. Iwakuma allowed only one baserunner in the first four innings.

Bong allowed six hits and one run in four-plus innings with three walks and one strikeout while using 94 pitches. Jong relieved with runners at first and third and nobody out in the top of the fifth and worked out of trouble, striking out two before catcher Park Kyung-oan threw out Aoki trying to steal second.

Bong, a 28-year-old left-hander who pitched in 48 big-league games with Atlanta and Cincinnati from 2002-04, beat Japan twice earlier in the WBC, giving up six hits and one run in 10 2/3 innings.

An elaborate ceremony was held beforehand, with the teams entering the field in single file from their respective bullpens before lining up down the first and third baselines. Among those participating was Sadaharu Oh, the Japanese career home run leader who managed the Japanese to the WBC title three years ago.

Then after the Japanese, South Korean and United States national anthems were played, the players met in the middle of the diamond to shake hands before and Hall of Fame manager and WBC global ambassador Tom Lasorda and former Dodgers pitching star Fernando Valenzuela, a native of Mexico, threw ceremonial first pitches.

South Korea advanced to the championship game by beating Venezuela 10-2 Saturday night, and Japan earned its berth by topping the U.S. 9-4 Sunday night.

Information from the Associated Press used in this report.

In Classic, Japan Still on Top of World originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:43:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily Jolt: Asian Domination at WBC

Andrew Johnson — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: World Baseball Classic

The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday morning.

In the United States, the World Baseball Classic seems to have become little more than a nuisance to sports fans -- a not entirely welcome distraction from March Madness and a good way for some of America's best players (and some of its second-stringers) to embarrass themselves as they go through spring training in a strange uniform.

In the Far East, the Classic has become almost entirely about winning and to a similar extent about one of the better simmering international sports rivalries this side of a Brazil-Argentina World Cup qualifier.

By my count there are seven international baseball powers in a class all their own right now -- Cuba, Venezuela, Japan, South Korea, Puerto Rico, the United States and the Dominican Republic.

Those countries have monopolized the semifinal spots in the fledgling Classic's short history, with six of the seven powers earning a berth in the single-game elimination phase of the tournament in either 2006 or 2009. (Only Puerto Rico has failed to qualify for the semifinals thus far, and it was a sinking David Wright liner away from making it this year.)

However, even within that group, there seems to be an overclass of two forming. South Korea and Japan reached the semifinals in 2006 and 2009 -- the only two countries to reach the final four in both Classics -- and Monday night they will meet for the staggering eighth time in the WBC's brief existence, this time with a title on the line.

Oh, the South Koreans and Japanese have a few factors working in their favor. In both 2006 and 2009, they have been placed in an opening-round pool with China and Chinese Taipei. Having such weak baseball-playing nations as competition makes advancement to the second round a virtual foregone conclusion, especially compared to, say, the U.S., which had to grapple with a game, feisty Team Canada in its first game both times around.

Japanese players begin preparing for Nippon Professional Baseball season about two weeks earlier than major leaguers, so there's little doubt that they were in better game shape than the Americans they faced Sunday night.

But let's be realistic here and give credit where it's due.

Japan and South Korea seem to approach these tournaments with a different zeal certainly than Team USA, but also the other major international powers save Cuba. Look no further than the rabid fans who have cheered both teams from the Tokyo Dome to Petco Park to Dodger Stadium this weekend for proof. If that's not enough, witness Japanese manager Tatsunori Hara bringing in phenom Yu Darvish to close out the U.S. in the ninth inning Sunday -- a move right out of the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks' playbook.

Here in America, baseball is the national pastime, a part of the fabric of our modern history. Even though it is woven deep within our culture and ingrained in us from a young age, glory on the international stage has never been a part of that. Now, the game is part -- a very big part, but still a part -- of a vast sports landscape, and its place in that landscape may not be at the top (hello, NFL).

In the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Cuba, there is no question that baseball is top dog. Those nations are rightly seen as keepers of game's flame, and international competition has always been a big deal because of things like the Caribbean Series. The WBC has served as a clear indication that Japan and South Korea should be spoken of in the same breath. (Given that Korean players fall largely off the major-league radar, they are especially deserving of appreciation here in the states.)

If that passion for international baseball isn't enough to get you to tune in for Monday night's final, then maybe a bitter rivalry will be.

Japan ousted South Korea from the 2006 Classic in the semifinals, and the South Koreans returned the favor in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, knocking the Japanese off twice on their way to the Olympic gold medal. There are political implications -- Japan invaded South Korea in World War II -- and even a bit of flair/disrespect. The Koreans have twice planted their flag on the mound after beating the Japanese in the Classic. It might as well be a one-fingered salute.

Will Japan get to return the favor? I can't wait to find out, and I can't think of a better way for the WBC to bid adieu for the next four years.

Daily Jolt: Asian Domination at WBC originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Team USA Stumbles From Top to Bottom

Lisa Olson — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 04:15:00 EST

Filed under: World Baseball Classic, FanHouse Exclusive

LOS ANGELES -- Davey Johnson spent the past week eloquently explaining how desperately he wanted Team USA to win the World Baseball Classic, figuring a title would sooth America's sense of entitlement over the sport and silence some of the tournament's grumbling naysayers.

So how to explain Johnson's head-scratching managerial moves Sunday night, decisions that led to Japan beating the U.S., 9-4, in an elimination semifinal game? Why did Johnson keep starter Roy Oswalt in for a brutal pounding even after it became clear the Japanese had his number? Has the bumbling Adam Dunn mastered the vagaries of Dodger Stadium's right field yet? And any regrets over starting Captain America at shortstop, leaving Jimmy Rollins to DH?

Yikes. This wasn't a very important international contest against the defending WBC champions, with America's presumed dominance of baseball at stake; this was a bad imitation of someone tinkering with strategy and lineups in a Cactus League game.

"Some of our pitchers aren't as far along as some of the Japanese pitchers," said Johnson, as Team USA packed its bags and headed back to spring training camps, while the Japanese advanced to Monday's title game against fierce rival Korea. "When I was in Japan, spring training started January 1. It's a lot of practice. It does give them a head start when you play them in March, but I thought our guys played well."

An all-Asia final is perfectly acceptable for the powers who push the WBC. Millions of viewers from Tokyo to Seoul are expected to tune into a game that will highlight two teams that place collective goals over individual pursuits. Many viewers will purchase baseball paraphernalia, many more will fall in love with the sport. That's the WBC's long-range goal, and if it inconveniences MLB teams on these shores, if it irritates American fans and media, too bad. Bud Selig has made it clear the WBC, with few revisions, plans to expand in 2013, to model itself after soccer's lucrative and entrancing World Cup.

That's all good and fine, but wouldn't it behoove the U.S. to jump fully on board? Johnson was handcuffed from the beginning, first by American players disinterested in playing and MLB teams wary of cooperating, and later by unwritten rules that backed him into dilemmas and decisions that consistently backfired.

Japan's five-run fourth inning off Oswalt offered a blunt example, with recent history gathering like warning clouds around the pitching mound. Major league pitchers who played in the WBC in 2006 either got injured or saw their ERAs balloon once the MLB season began. It's a statistic Johnson kept in his frontal lobe, one that dictated how carefully he had to maneuver arms and egos.

Japan faced the same issue Sunday, but on a much smaller level. Starter Daisuke Matsuzaka's full-time gig might be with Boston, but the Red Sox should have no quarrel with how he was handled across 4 2/3 effective innings. Dice-K made one costly mistake, a fastball down the pipe on just the second pitch of the game that Brian Roberts crushed for a home run, inspiring shouts of "USA! USA!" from the crowd of 43,630.

The euphoria was short lived on this chilly, windy night, at least amongst the Americans rocking Dodger Stadium. On a field damp from earlier rain, Roberts' critical error keyed Team USA's awful fourth inning, which began with Japan's Atsunori Inaba lead-off single slipping past the glove of the second baseman. Michihiro Ogasawara singled to center field, followed by Kosuke Fukudome hitting into what should have been a double-play ground ball that Roberts muffed, knotting the score, 2-2. Still not much signs of life in the American bullpen, but fear not, MLB managers: there's plenty of time for relievers to get their work in before Opening Day.

Johnson left Oswalt in as the Japanese batted around, teasing the right side of the American defense in particular. A sacrifice fly by Kenji Johjima, a triple from Akinori Iwamura that flummoxed Dunn in right field, an RBI single by Munenori Kawasaki and an RBI double by Hiroyuki Nakajima, on a 3-0 pitch -- finally, Oswalt was done, leaving with Japan up, 6-2.

"I thought he was throwing the ball alright," Johnson said of Oswalt, who lasted just 3 2/3 innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on six hits. "I tried to get (John) Grabow up. I didn't think it was going to take him so long. It took him longer in the cold weather to get loose. But I still thought he [Oswalt] was throwing good enough to stay in the ballgame."

Johnson was correct to hold back Jake Peavy for the possible championship game and instead start Oswalt, a big-game pitcher who cherishes the buzz from international competition. He was part of the 2000 Olympic gold-medal winning team in Sydney, and 1-0 in two WBC starts before Sunday's battering, when his manager kept him out there three batters too many.

Johnson also can't be faulted for a risky, emergency move that forced Mark DeRosa, a middle infielder, to man first base. Wearing a glove that had been sent via FedEx from the Cleveland Indians, DeRosa twisted into a few awkward contortions at first, but he also proved to be an offensive catalyst. He turned on Takahiro Mahara's fastball in the eighth inning, ripping it down the left-field line and scoring two runs, and once again Dodger Stadium shook with chants of "USA!"

Japanese fans dressed in Samurai costume hung their heads and lowered their red-and-white flags. Legendary Japanese hitter Sadaharu Oh, sitting in a field box, bowed, as if in prayer. Then Johnson decided to give Evan Longoria, just up from the Grapefruit League, a turn at-bat. The pinch hitter struck out, Roberts grounded feebly back to the mound and Oh never stopped grinning.

Johnson bristled before and after the game when reporters questioned why Derek Jeter, aka Captain America, got the start at shortstop. Jeter's two-out throwing error that flew past a stretching DeRosa enabled Japan to tack on three runs in the bottom of the eighth. While the inning wasn't as maddening as the fourth, it did have its share of what-was-that moments. Dunn lost a run-scoring double in the right field lights, Johnson went with reliever Joel Hanrahan before Scot Shields ... but most of the debate revolved around Jeter.

"Derek is the captain. I want him out there," Johnson said before the game. "Jimmy is going to DH. They're both going to get, hopefully, four or five at-bats. So that wasn't really a big decision."

Jeter went 1-for-5, Jimmy Rollins was 4-for-4 with a walk. There was a brief glimpse into the force Team USA could be during the third inning, when Rollins drove a two-out slider off Dice-K to right field, stole second, and scored on David Wright's two-strike double to deep right center.

"A three-week truce," Wright had called his pairing with arch-rival Rollins, a peculiar match of Met and Phillie teaming up for a greater good. That's the purest definition of the WBC, one the Asian teams can fully embrace because the tournament falls when they're out of season. Team USA plays under different restraints, different rules, different expectations.

If all things were equal, there would be plenty of teeth-grinding amongst the Japanese after Yu Darvish, the lanky pitcher being held back for an anticipated start Monday, was summoned to close out the Americans Sunday. Catastrophe was avoided, the Samurai honored, as Darvish breezed through the inning and got Dunn looking at a fastball down the gut for the final out.

The Japanese were subdued in their celebration, reserving emotion and energy for super rivals Korea. On the other side,Team USA's disappointment was muted, for their real seasons haven't even begun.

"We made it to the Final Four at least," Rollins said as he left Dodger Stadium. "But that's probably not good enough, considering what could have been."

Team USA Stumbles From Top to Bottom originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 04:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No Miracle This Time for Team USA

FanHouse Newswire — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:05:00 EST

Filed under: World Baseball Classic

LOS ANGELES -- The U.S.' rollercoaster ride at the World Baseball Classic is finally over -- halted by relentless reigning champion Japan and perhaps also some questionable managing by Davey Johnson.

The Americans jumped out to an early lead in the second semifinal, but starter Roy Oswalt was battered for six runs as Johnson watched from the U.S. dugout, only pulling Oswalt with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning after he had surrendered five runs in the frame.

Japan never looked back from there, beating the U.S. 9-4 and advancing to Monday night's title game against South Korea, a 10-2 winner over Venezuela in Saturday's semifinal. Japan won the inaugural tournament in 2006, defeating Cuba in the final.

Akinori Iwamura's RBI triple was the key hit in the five-run fourth inning, and the U.S. was handed its first loss to Japan since the 2005 World Cup. The Americans had won four in a row, including an 8-4 victory in the bronze medal game at the Beijing Olympics.

The WBC has hardly been a showcase for the United States, despite having a roster loaded with major league stars.

Three years ago, the Americans were eliminated 2-1 by Mexico in the second round of the tournament after beating Japan 4-3 during pool play in Anaheim.

This time, the Americans came into their first final four appearance hobbled by injuries.

During the second round in Miami, they lost second baseman Dustin Pedroia (left side), first baseman Kevin Youkilis (sprained left ankle, left Achilles' tendinitis) and reliever Matt Lindstrom (strained right rotator cuff). Chipper Jones (right side) was replaced for the semifinal by Evan Longoria.

The Americans were the visiting team on a cold, blustery night in Los Angeles, having earned the designation by finishing second in Group 2. Japan won Group 1, with South Korea coming in second.

Matsuzaka allowed two runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings. The Boston Red Sox ace struck out four and walked three before being pulled when he reached 98 pitches, two shy of the 100-limit for the tournament's final two rounds.

Matsuzaka, who pitched six shutout innings against Cuba last Sunday, is 3-0 in this year's WBC, having allowed 14 hits and four runs in 14 2/3 innings. He went 3-0 and was selected tournament MVP three years ago.

Latest World Baseball Classic Images

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: Fans of Japan celebrate after Japan defeated the United States in the semifinal game of the 2009 World Baseball Classic on March 22, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Japan defeated the United States 9-4. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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LOS ANGELES - MARCH 22: Pitcher Yu Darvish #11 of Japan celebrates after striking out Adam Dunn #17 of the United States to win the semifinal game of the 2009 World Baseball Classic on March 22, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Japan defeated the United States 9-4. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Yu Darvish

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LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: Ichiro Suzuki #51 of Japan points to teammates after defeating the United States in the semifinal game of the 2009 World Baseball Classic on March 22, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Japan defeated the United States 9-4. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ichiro Suzuki

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LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: Ichiro Suzuki #51and Norichika Aoki #23 of Japan celebrate after defeating the United States in the semifinal game of the 2009 World Baseball Classic on March 22, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Japan defeated the United States 9-4. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ichiro Suzuki;Norichika Aoki

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Ichiro Suzuki of Team Japan celebrates with team-mates Akinori Iwamura (L) as team-mates Norichika Aoki (2nd R) and Yoshiyuki Kamei (R) follow after beating Team USA 9-4 during their semifinal game at the World Baseball Classic in Los Angeles, California March 22, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

Reuters

Team Japan's closing pitcher Yu Darvish (11) celebrates with teammates after they beat Team USA during the semifinal game of the World Baseball Classic in Los Angeles, California March 22, 2009. REUTERS/Fred Greaves (UNITED STATES)

Reuters

Team Japan's Daisuke Matsuzaka (L) celebrates with team-mate Yoshiyuki Kamei after Japan defeated Team USA during the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic in Los Angeles, California March 22, 2009. Team Japan will face Team Korea in the final. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

Reuters

Team Japan's Ichiro Suzuki hits an RBI single in the eighth inning during the semifinal game against Team USA at the World Baseball Classic in Los Angeles, California March 22, 2009. REUTERS/Fred Greaves (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

Reuters

Japan's Ichiro Suzuki crosses home with Japan's ninth run in a 9-4 victory over United States in a semifinal at the World Baseball Classic on Sunday, March 22, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Japan's Ichiro Suzuki drives an ankle-high pitch for an RBI hit against the United States in the ninth inning of Japan's 9-4 victory in a semifinal at the World Baseball Classic Sunday, March 22, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

The United States took a 2-1 lead after three innings on Brian Roberts' leadoff homer in the first and David Wright's RBI double in the third.

Japan broke loose in the fourth, with the help of an error by Roberts at second base that made two of the runs unearned. Roberts was added to the U.S. roster before the second round, replacing Pedroia.

Atsunori Inaba and Michihiro Ogasawara opened the inning with singles and the error by Roberts allowed Japan to tie the game 2-all. Kenji Johjima followed with his second sacrifice fly before Iwamura tripled into the right-field corner.

Munenori Kawasaki then singled home Iwamura. One out later, Hiroyuki Nakajima hit an RBI double on a 3-0 pitch, chasing Oswalt and giving Japan a 6-2 lead.

That put the Americans in a big hole against a team that came into the semifinals having outscored its opponents 36-9 in seven games.

But the U.S. got back in the game in the eighth on a two-run double down the left-field line by Mark DeRosa off Takahiro Mahara, cutting the deficit to 6-4. Mahara avoided further damage by striking out pinch-hitter Evan Longoria and getting Roberts to ground back to the mound.

Japan tacked on three insurance runs in the bottom half off Joel Hanrahan and Scot Shields. The first scored on shortstop Derek Jeter's two-out throwing error. Ichiro Suzuki added an RBI single, and Nakajima had a run-scoring double that right fielder Adam Dunn appeared to lose in the lights.

Japan's fans chanted, waved red-and-white flags and pounded orange Thunder Stix during their country's big fourth inning.

Chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!," which had quieted down for a while, fired back up in the eighth only to be silenced again. The Americans, who celebrated so vigorously after rallying to beat Puerto Rico for a semifinal berth, had no reason to party this time.

The announced crowd of 43,630 - second-largest in WBC history and the most on U.S. soil - was bundled in jackets and blankets as temperatures hovered in the 50s and wind whipped the palm trees in the outfield. There were large pockets of empty seats throughout the stadium.

The Americans blew a scoring chance in the fifth. Jeter hit a one-out single and Jimmy Rollins walked. Matsuzaka then threw a called third strike past cleanup hitter David Wright before reliever Toshiya Sugiuchi struck out Dunn to end the threat.

Rollins went 4-for-4 with a walk and a two-out triple in the seventh. Masahiro Tanaka struck out Wright to end the inning.

Information from the Associated Press used in this report.

No Miracle This Time for Team USA originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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USA vs. Japan: WBC Semifinal Live Blog

Pat Lackey — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: MLB Live Blogging, World Baseball Classic

When the powers that be in baseball imagined the World Baseball Classic, this is what they had in mind. Sunday night, Team Japan and Team USA are face off in Dodger Stadium at 8 PM ET in a one-off semifinal with the winner moving on to face Korea in the finals.

Roy Oswalt and Daisuke Matsuzaka will take the mound tonight as the countries that house the top two baseball leagues in the world face off in what might be the most epic baseball game ever played in March. Follow along after the jump where I'll be live blogging the action with some fellow FanHouse luminaries.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=&amp;amp;quot;http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=618aa4960c&amp;amp;quot; &amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Japan/US WBC Semifinal Liveblog&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

USA vs. Japan: WBC Semifinal Live Blog originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Surprised? This Classic Has October Feel

Lisa Olson — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 03:20:00 EST

Filed under: MLB Fans, World Baseball Classic, FanHouse Exclusive

LOS ANGELES -- It's easy to mock the World Baseball Classic, to deride it as nothing but a money-making machine for MLB, a global monstrosity that has little to do with forwarding the game and everything to do with padding a few select wallets.

And then you plop down in section 106 Saturday night in Dodger Stadium and in one tremendous burst of an inning, all the negativity dissipates. Korea's Yong-Kyu Lee opens the WBC semifinal game with a walk off Venezuela pitcher Carlos Silva, a pitcher described in the Korean media as "a mighty, ferocious giant," and just like that, tremors start rocking the ballpark on the hill.

The people who aren't banging ThunderStix together are either tossing confetti in the air, or singing "Daehan Minguk," Korean for Republic of Korea. Keun-Woo Jeong, the next batter, hits a fly ball to right, a fly ball Bobby Abreu usually catches in his sleep (especially when that pesky Yankee Stadium wall doesn't get in the way), but this time the ball inextricably dribbles from Abreu's glove, and from then on, across 20 mind-boggling minutes, all the preconceived pessimism takes a hiatus.

It's not just that Korea, with only one major leaguer on the roster, soundly spanks Venezuela and its All-Stars, though Korea's 10-2 win is as remarkable as the first inning, which features 10 batters, five runs, bloop singles dropping like teardrops and errors the Venezuelans won't soon live down. Dodger Stadium never quite fills up -- attendance grew to 43,378 and should increase Sunday night, when the United States plays Japan in the other semifinal -- but on a sheer atmosphere level, the game feels like baseball in October.

Shocking, I know, considering the mass hysteria circling the WBC, at least in this dot on the planet. MLB teams mostly hate the tournament for daring to impose on Spring Training, and American fans have been widely ambivalent. Sometimes we Yanks need a gentle reminder that not everything is about us, and it was delivered quite nicely on this brisk evening in Chavez Ravine.

WBC officials keep pushing the truth that TV ratings for the event beyond our coasts have been off the charts, reaching Super Bowl levels in some Asian spots, but we can't see past the injuries and awful March timing. Unfortunately for those of us who enjoy the tournament and want to see it succeed, those will be the story lines rehashed Sunday night, when the WBC will finally draw eyeballs away from the NCAAs.

You can't ask for a finer pitching matchup, with Roy Oswalt, the Houston right-hander, facing Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka. Team America expects to feel like visitors in Dodger Stadium, with a Japanese crowd that will equal the Korean's enthusiasm and arrive toting drums and horns and a great thirst for the game. The first time Japan bunts and tests Mark DeRosa at first base, expect a swoosh of "oohs" to lift the stadium. Knowing the Japanese, there could very well be a 10th time.

It wouldn't seem right if Team USA manager Davey Johnson had a smooth lead into a game, and the selection of DeRosa to start at first is only Johnson's latest headache. DeRosa is a fine utility player, but he has manned just 13 of his 785 games at first base over the course of 11 MLB seasons, and the Cleveland Indians, the team that pays his salary, would rather he not play there. Johnson hadn't much choice: Adam Dunn was at the position in the Americans' last game, moving without much grace and throwing widely off mark. Johnson and Dunn agree, he's better off in the outfield where the Japanese can't torture him with bunts and dribblers.

After working out at first base during Team USA's training session Saturday, DeRosa admitted, "I'm probably the least comfortable at that position because of time served over there," but he also noted that Dodger Stadium "has the best infield in the game," and figured his teammates "can hit me in the chest from across
the diamond.

"So we should be fine," said DeRosa, who is subbing for the injured Kevin Youkilis. That's the story of Johnson's March: everyone's hurt, and their big-league managers are not happy. David Wright's toe is the color of death, but he'll start at third base despite Mets manager Jerry Manuel's wishes that Wright be resting in Port St. Lucie. Ryan Braun and his strained right oblique muscle will be in left, Derek Jeter starts at shortstop and Johnson plans to use Jimmy Rollins as the designated hitter.

Latest World Baseball Classic Images

Team Korea's pitcher Chong Tae-hyon throws against Team Venezuela during the semifinal game at the World Baseball Classic in Los Angeles, California March 21, 2009. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

Reuters

After hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning, Venezuela's Carlos Guillen (2), is congratulated by Magglio Ordonez (30) and the bat boy during a semifinal World Baseball Classic game against Venezuela in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

South Korea's Lee Jin Young is tagged out by Venezuela's Victor Moreno on a passed ball during the sixth inning of a semifinal World Baseball Classic game in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 21: Jeong Choi #2 of Korea hits a sacrifice fly to score Tae Kyun Kim #52 in the sixth inning of the semifinal game of the 2009 World Baseball Classic against Venezuela on March 21, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jeong Choi

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A South Korean baseball fan holds a national flag as she watches the television live broadcasting the semifinal World Baseball Classic game between South Korea and Venezuela in Los Angeles, at Chamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 22, 2009. South Korea defeated Venezuela 10-2. (AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man)

South Korean baseball fans cheer their team as they watch the television live broadcasting the semifinal World Baseball Classic game between South Korea and Venezuela in Los Angeles, United States, at Chamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 22, 2009. South Korea defeated Venezuela 10-2. (AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man)

Venezuela's Victor Zambrano looks out to the field after being removed from the game in which Venezuela lost 10-2 to South Korea in their semifinal game at the World Baseball Classic on Saturday, March 21, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

South Korean baseball fans cheer their team as they watch the television live broadcasting the semifinal World Baseball Classic game between South Korea and Venezuela in Los Angeles, at Chamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 22, 2009. South Korea defeated Venezuela 10-2. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 21: Fans of Korea cheer for the team during the semifinal game of the 2009 World Baseball Classic against Venezuela on March 21, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Getty Images

There isn't much reason for the American major leaguers to want to risk their bodies before Opening Day, except for this: They are having as much fun as the Korean and Japanese fans, and even though it might sound corny and trite, playing for their country inspires goosebumps. People who have been around Jeter for the last few days swear the look in his eyes is the same one he gets when the Yankees play the Red Sox, or when the Yankees reach October. Some poor Japanese reporter got a sampling of Jeter's steely side the other day, when he tried to prompt Jeter into revealing his emotions heading into a rematch with Japan, a team that, as Jeter surely recalled, lost to the US in the inaugural WBC three years ago.

Reporter: "For us Japanese people, we got stolen the win. Do you remember that? What was going through your mind at the time? Would you tell us your expectation this time around?"

Jeter, glib as ever: "I don't remember."

But of course he does, because Jeter has a microchip of baseball installed somewhere in his brain, a log of every single pitch no matter if he saw it as a Yankee or while wearing the Team USA logo. Starting Jeter at short in the semifinals against old friend Dice-K is another risky move for Johnson, a decision the manager might have made for sentimental reasons. Or maybe he figures the team will feed off Jeter's genuine love of playing for his country, a passion that cannot be questioned.

Johnson clearly wants to win Sunday and advance to Monday night's title game against Korea. He pushed back Jake Peavy in favor of Oswalt, who pitched four scoreless innings when the US avoided elimination by beating the Netherlands last week. Pitch counts get tossed aside in this Final Four. Oswalt could throw 95-100 pitches against a Japanese team that began practicing for this moment since the day after winning the WBC championship in 2006.

The Asian teams take the WBC oh-so-seriously, holding two-a-days and military-designed drill camps. Melvin Mora, a veteran of Pacific Rim baseball and third baseman for Venezuela, couldn't remind his Venezuelan teammates enough about Korea's unreal practice and prep sessions. They are serious contenders, Mora kept telling them, players who take "in excess of 1,500 swings on a daily basis," but after Saturday night you wonder if any of Mora's teammates bothered to listen.

"When I talk about this to my friends and my team, they said, 'Stop it, because I'm getting tired already!,' " Mora said before the Koreans abused the Venezuelans every which way.

Silva's horrific start was only the beginning, as Korea had far superior offensive power, pitching, situational hitting, defense and general all-around hunger. Painfully, the mercy rule is not in effect for the final round, though it was obvious after the first inning that Korean righty Suk-Min Yoon wasn't intimidated by a Venezuelan offense powered by major leaguers. Shin-Soo Choo and Tae-Kyun Kim both homered for Korea, Kim's coming on Silva's 40th pitch in the second inning to stretch the score to 7-0.

That was it for Silva, pulled after just 1 1/3 innings. He gave up seven runs (six earned) on six hits, then angrily threw his glove against the dugout wall and stomped into the clubhouse. The deluge that began with Abreu's error ended with the Venezuelans admitting to equal parts embarrassment at their own failure and admiration for the Koreans, and the carnival atmosphere they inspired.

"For a moment it felt like we were in Korea," said Venezuela manager Luis Sojo. "They are all over every moment and it was great for them." Someone wondered why there aren't more major league rosters stocked with Koreans and Sojo, who looks as old as the game itself, offered a wise prediction.

"There will be. To see the way this kid (Yoon) threw the ball opened a lot of eyes," Sojo said. "The bullpen was outstanding. Surprises me that there aren't that many Koreans in the major leagues, but I think from now on there will be."

A championship run here atop the gold medal won in the 2008 Olympics solidifies Korea's place as a true player in the sport. The rest of the baseball world understands this. America ought to be catching on.

Lisa Olson is a national columnist for FanHouse.com. She served as a columnist at the New York Daily News before coming to FanHouse. Olson currently resides in New York.

Surprised? This Classic Has October Feel originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Sun, 22 Mar 2009 03:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WBC Offers Fine Escape From Madness

Lisa Olson — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:40:00 EST

Filed under: World Baseball Classic, FanHouse Exclusive

LOS ANGELES -- Weary of the genius one cubicle over who thinks it perfectly acceptable to fill out his bracket in pencil, with liberal use of the eraser? Tired of the friend who swears she follows college basketball but still can't pronounce Gonzaga? Think it's about time someone gagged Dick Vitale with a rosin bag?

Then take a step away from the madness, hit the refresh button and veg out in the dulcet sounds of ball hitting bat. This isn't a slight on the NCAA tournament, always the best three-week stretch in sports. And it isn't a referendum on the sensibility of Bud Selig's moneymaker, because it's abundantly clear the World Baseball Classic doesn't make much sense in many ways.

But considering the semifinals and final are upon us this weekend at Dodger Stadium, and considering a few brain cells might be preserved with well-timed clicks between the sports, here is a reminder of all that is good and right and so very odd with the WBC:

o. The Classic never penetrated the Oval Office, but it did cause quite the international fuss amongst politicians from Japan and Korea. The two sides still haven't any love for each other, much like Duke and North Carolina. A reporter staying at one of the team hotels Friday witnessed officials from the two countries nearly get in a slap-fight as they all tried to board the same elevator.

o. Team Japan is known as The Samurai, possibly the coolest nickname ever. The Samurai won the WBC title in 2006, the event's maiden voyage, and they'll play the United States in Sunday's semifinal. To hear the Japanese players talk solemnly about not just defending their title but their honor (which is everything) is to realize how much this thing matters outside America's borders.

o. Korea, which takes on Venezuela in the other semifinal, features a second baseman who wears a glove the size of a Toyota.

o. Already, 36 games have been played, some of them in front of stands mostly empty (Miami), a sight (and a site) Selig would rather pretend never happened. What lingers, at least in the minds of baseball folks who'd rather bang the drums about the Classic's goal being the development and growth of baseball internationally, is the breathtaking view of some 40,000 folks showing up at what used to be known as The Big Egg (only foreigners call it that now) in Tokyo to watch batting practice. There is no greater national pastime in Japan than Yakyu.

o. Dave Winfield would come out of retirement if only he could figure how to sneak onto Davey Johnson's roster without stealing the spotlight. "Absolutely, I'd have loved to play in a tournament like this if they had it back in the day," Winfield said. Team USA could use an extra body, any body: the Yanks are banged up, with reserves tough to find, and carrying just a two-man bench.

o. And because of the above, America might actually be a legitimate underdog.

o. Nobody wears Armani suits or hair gel. Nobody gets compared to Magic or Bird, either.

o. You don't have to know how to pronounce or spell Mike Krzyzewski, or listen to Mike Krzyzewski expound on what the president of the United States should or should not be doing.

o. It is a joy to type "Bum-Ho Lee hit a homer" again and again.

o. Only in America could David Wright's clutch single in March be celebrated on the New York back pages as if he had just won the World Series. (Mets fans can dream.)

o. Only in New York could David Wright's bruised toe be treated on the city's back pages as if he had just broken his leg in Game 7 of the World Series. (Mets fans can cringe.)

o. There's never a bad time to tease Mets fans, and so it is that we point out that The Samurai are stocked with five members of the Chiba Lotte Marines, Japan's reigning champions who happen to be managed by none other than Bobby Valentine. The best of Valentine's products might just be pitcher Shunsuke Watanabe, aka the SubMarine. He will never be confused with, say, Armando Benitez.

o. Japan's Ichiro Suzuki says things like, "My heart is burning," when he is asked what it would be like to win the WBC title again, and journalists swoon, because it is so refreshing to break free from the one-day-at-a-time drones.

o. What better stage for someone like Pedro Martinez, a guaranteed Hall of Famer still looking for work? He pushed 92 mph on the radar guns while pitching for the Dominican Republic, and then said it would be an insult to play for only $1 million this season plus incentives, though Tommy Glavine doesn't seem to mind. Only in America, folks.

o. K-Rod is looking pretty darn filthy, and then you remember Opening Day is still a few weeks off, and Mets fans, already one step away from the edge of the bridge, don't deserve to be baited like this.

o. China won a game and the Dutch won two. That's an extraordinary sentence in baseball circles, one that deserves to be typed again, right after we write, "Bum-Ho Lee hit a homer" one more time.

o. If you are one of the brilliant geniuses like me who has two separate brackets in two separate pools and are currently trailing in last place in both, the most refreshing escape of all can be found in the thud that follows a ball hitting the sweetest part of a mitt.

WBC Offers Fine Escape From Madness originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Torii Hunter Thinks His Mouth Kept Him Out of the WBC

Tom Fornelli — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:35:00 EST

Filed under: Angels, AL West, MLB Rumors, World Baseball Classic

When you see the amount of players on the American team that are leaving the WBC due to an injury everyday, it goes a long way in justifying all those players who chose not to participate in the event this season. It also means that even more players are going to be skipping the next WBC, but that doesn't mean there aren't players who are still willing to participate.

Torii Hunter has been following the event this spring and he said that while watching David Wright's walk-off hit to beat Venezuela on Tuesday night and the ensuing dog pile he thought to himself that he wished he could be there. After all, he never turned down a chance to play because nobody ever asked him to in the first place. Hunter thinks some remarks he made in 2006 about the first WBC kept him off the roster this time around.

Back in 2006 Hunter made some public comments about how he thought playing in the WBC could hurt a team's chemistry going into the season due to all the players who weren't with their MLB teams during Spring Training. Now he's sure that's why Curtis Granderson and Shane Victorino were chosen over him.

"Oh yeah, they remember stuff like that -- it's probably why I never got asked," Hunter said. "I wasn't saying it's a bad event. I think it's good for countries to showcase their talents.

"I was just saying, if guys leave their teams and something happens, owners and managers would be upset. But it's no big deal. I'm excited to see those guys represent."

Personally I don't think Hunter's mouth is what kept him off the team this time around. After all, he wasn't asked in 2006 either, and he hadn't said anything at that point. No, I think his omission had a lot more to do with the fact that the team was looking for a center fielder with more speed and an ability to lead off if need be. Hunter has some speed and is a great defensive player, but he's more valuable as a middle-of-the-order type of guy, and the United States has plenty of those guys on the roster already.

Or at least they did before everybody started getting injured.

Torii Hunter Thinks His Mouth Kept Him Out of the WBC originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily Jolt: Baseball Without Borders

Andrew Johnson — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:00:00 EST

Filed under: World Baseball Classic

The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday.

"Radical" is the word author Tim Wendel uses to describe baseball.

He is talking, of course, about the game outside the U.S. No one in America considers this sport radical. That word is supposed to come out of Bart Simpson's mouth or describe the crazies on the fringe of society. It is not supposed to describe a game that has been ingrained in American society for more than a century.

Somewhere, Ken Burns is blushing.

"We still tend to look upon baseball as this old, grand game," Wendel continues. "Outside our borders, this sport is perceived as being radical ... as radical as the X-Games."

The World Baseball Classic is new and strange and a little bit difficult to figure out for American fans raised on Major League Baseball -- accustomed to the April to October schedule, their fandom handed down over generations. It is foreign, you might say. And that's exactly the point.

The WBC is not about us, or the U.S., as it were. You don't have to pay special attention to commissioner Bud Selig to know that. Since the Classic became a reality in 2006, he has preached the importance of growing the game globally, a mission that has grown in magnitude now that baseball is out of the Olympics. American fans are trained to dismiss Selig, to look for an ulterior motive or try and sniff out deceit or dishonesty.

But if you journey outside U.S. borders -- if you listen to people who have seen the game in places you wouldn't believe it is even being played -- you begin to understand why international baseball is not just Selig's pet project, but a noble goal.

It's a goal that only began to become a reality in the baseball world nine days ago when the Netherlands eliminated the mighty Dominican Republic from the tournament by upsetting them for the second time in four days.

"[The upset] underscores how much of a big deal it is internationally ... how popular baseball is worldwide" says Wendel, who wrote The New Face of Baseball in 2003. "We only see glimmers [in the U.S.] and we tend to see it more as individuals." Daisuke Matsuzaka immediately pops to mind.

"It's epic proportions," he says.

Latest World Baseball Classic Images

Team Japan's Daisuke Matsuzaka (C) celebrates with team-mates after beating Team Cuba during Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego, California March 18, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

Reuters

Team Japan pitcher Toshiya Sugiuchi (L) and first baseman Shuichi Murata celebrate after the final out against team Cuba during Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego, California March 18, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

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Team Japan relief pitcher Toshiya Sugiuchi reacts after the final out against team Cuba during Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego, California March 18, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

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Team Cuba players stand in the dugout during their 5-0 loss to Team Japan during Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego, California March 18, 2009. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

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Ichiro Suzuki (L) of Team Japan is met at the homeplate by team-mate Atsunori Inaba after Suzuki scored a run in the ninth inning against Team Cuba during Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego, California March 18, 2009. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

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Ichiro Suzuki (51) of Team Japan celebrates with team-mates after scoring a run in the ninth inning against Team Cuba during Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego, California March 18, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

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Ichiro Suzuki of Team Japan scores a run in the ninth inning against Team Cuba during Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego, California March 18, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

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Ichiro Suzuki of Team Japan bats in the ninth inning against Team Cuba during Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego, California March 18, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

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Ichiro Suzuki of Team Japan heads to third base on a lead off triple against Team Cuba in the ninth inning during Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego, California March 18, 2009. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

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Cuban catcher Ariel Pestano, right, talks with pitcher Yulieski Gonzalez as their team trailed Japan in their elimination game during their World Baseball Classic game at PETCO Park in San Diego Wednesday, March 18, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Then he relays a story about a baseball insider who discovered or signed a few of the top major league talents of the last generation, a man he says is always "a little bit ahead" of the curve. And he talks about how this eye for talent traveled around the world in search of the next great players, only he didn't go to traditional baseball hotbeds. The countries are as foreign to American fans as the WBC itself.

Australia. China. The Netherlands. Italy. Even Croatia.

He came back from his journey with three new signees.

The WBC isn't even solely about blanketing the globe with baseball, though. It is also about keeping a rich tradition of international baseball -- particularly in the Caribbean -- alive.

"It's understandable why it matters less [in the U.S.]," says Rob Ruck, a history professor at the University of Pittsburgh and the author of The Tropic of Baseball. "We have no national pastime here. Our attention is fractured. In the Dominican Republic, in Puerto Rico, Venezuela, parts of Mexico and Nicaragua, it is the sport, and it has been for a long time.

"They've taken ownership of the sport."

At least internationally, the tradition in the Caribbean and Latin America dates back to the 1940s and has been egged on by the pride and passion for the sport, and also, at least initially, by the color line in the major leagues, which blocked most of the great players in the region from baseball's highest level. Of course, you can't forget the Cubans, who have a baseball tradition nearly as long and just as rich as the United States, and for whom international competitions have become their only stage on which to impress since 1959.

The rivalries are as real as Red Sox-Yankees, and they are just as fierce.

"These international tournaments have really meant something elsewhere," says Ruck. "They've always cared about beating Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela internationally."

"I have no doubt people went into a deep funk [when the Dominicans] lost."

"I think many kids use sports as a way to feel good about themselves," says Ruck. "In the same way, sport can also tell a country's story. You look at Brazilians in football (soccer) or the Kenyans with long-distance runners. It's no different in the Caribbean."

Whether it's the upstart Dutch or the powerful Dominicans, these are stories worth witnessing. Alas, the only place to see them on the grand stage is at the World Baseball Classic, and that comes at a cost to the major league teams Americans are acquainted with so personally.

So far it has been more than worth the price.

Daily Jolt: Baseball Without Borders originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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