Come anticipate the World Baseball Classic with me

I read an article about Gagne gearing up to reutrn to play for Team Canada, much to the chagrin of the Dodgers.

Assuming that you're not a MLB pitcher, that's smart thinking.

Less than 12 hours after getting a message from Cuba that the Cubans would decline the invitation to play in the World Cup, the Cubans announced that they would participate. The announcement was accompanied by Fidel Castro launching a stinging criticism of Cuban players who have defected in pursuit of money. Fidel added that the defections had not diminished the quality of baseball on the island and asserted that for every player who left, ten more take their places.

We will await word on who the Cubans send to the World Cup. It is not
certain that he will send the best players in the 16-team Cuban league. According to my Cuban friends, the National Series will not be interrupted by the World Cup. In fact, the tournament takes place over the final days of the regular season in Cuba, which is slated to end on March 12th.

it's not really a true competition w/o cuba. btw...the netherlands? is it safe to presume that there are pretty much no dudes from the continent on the team and it's all guys from the antilles and surinam?

i can only hope that win remmerswaal re-surfaces. he was a reliever with the bosox in the early 80's who had a lot of success at pawtucket then one year he never showed up for spring training. sox couldn't find him, his agent couldn't find him, everyone assumed he just went back to the netherlands. he had this scrunched up face with a fruity little mustache that made him look like clayton from the robert guillome vehicle Benson.

i thought aruba WAS part of the netherlands antilles? if not, i meant dutch holdings in the carribean.

oh, well. all bet that italian team is SWEET! can i get a lou merloni, please?

As for the Nederlanders: don't forget Rikkert Faneyte!

hensley "bam bam" meulens!

COCKPUNCH

http://www.nypost.com/sports/yankees/58869.htm

http://shop.mlb.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=2164444

I'm assuming that since these are all BP jerseys, the official ones will be a little more tasteful, but the caps mostly look like they ripped off the team logos from Baseball Stars or something.

--former Boston GM Theo Epstein, on the prospect of seeing one of his pitchers compete in the WBC in March (Boston Herald)

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_ylt=AlGEe33IJPRH9NqpcSgRtNMRvLYF?slug=ap-classic-cuba&prov=ap&type=lgns

thanks, ofac.

With injuries a primary concern for many players and major league teams, the WBC has implemented strict pitch counts for each round of the event, which will run from March 3-20.

Pitchers can not pitch more than 65 pitches in the opening round, 80 in the second round and 95 in the semifinals and finals. Both managers and the umpire will be informed if the pitcher is within 20 of the limit at the start of the inning, although he will be allowed to surpass the limit to complete an at-bat.

There are also limits to how often a pitcher can pitch. If a pitcher throws at least 50 pitches, he must take the next four days off and one day off if he has thrown at least 30 pitches or thrown on consecutive days.

There are no restrictions on position players. However, no more than 14 players from one major league organization - or 10 on an active roster - will be allowed to participate.

The WBC also finalized the parameters for a mercy rule, which figures to be invoked in the earlier rounds, when powerhouses like the United States and the Dominican Republic face lesser countries like South Africa and Italy. Games will be called if one team is ahead by 10 runs after seven innings or by 15 after five.

The designated hitter rule will be used and winning and losing pitchers will be determined much like the All-Star Game, when the number of innings pitched will not be a factor. All players will be tested under the Olympic drug policy although a positive test for the WBC will not count under MLB's new steroid policy.

The teams in the World Baseball Classic will be divided into four pools and feature round-robin play in each of the first two rounds.

The top two teams from each pool advance to the second-round, where the same format will be used to determine who advances to the single-elimination semifinals and finals, which will be held at Petco Park in San Diego from March 18-20. Ties will be decided by head-to-head record in each round.

Japan will host the opening round in Pool A, which also includes Korea, China and Chinese Taipei, from March 3-6.

The top two finishers will travel to the United States for the second round to face the qualifiers from Pool B, which includes Team USA, beginning March 13.

Pool B also consists of Canada, Mexico and South Africa and will play in Arizona.

Puerto Rico will host Pool C, which also includes teams from the Netherlands, Panama and Cuba.

Pool D will be occupied by Australia, the Dominican Republic, Italy and Venezuela and play in Florida.

The WBC will be held again in 2009 and every four years thereafter.

WHAT AN END

heartbreaker

God damn this has been great, sorry it has to end

That was one of the best games I've ever watched.

lfg Team Japan

so uhhh why isn't regular MLB like this??

I was pulling for Mexico last night but I can't deny this has the makings of a classic final, go USA!

my gf is leaving town for a while late tonight, and we are scrambling trying to find a restaurant or bar that might be showing the final that's near the train station (this seems to be impossible)

what about Real Sports?

Leafs (barf)

Doc Ellis is. But nowhere near the station

hey i didn’t say it’d be pleasant to be in there lol

I haven't watched any of these games and was getting excited about tuning in tonight until I realized it's on Fox Sports

John Smoltz, you were my hero when you pitched for the Barves, but god DAMN man could you PLEASE shut the fuck UP

Update: watching at hoops

Sitting in the “Japan” section - so this will be fun

Schwarbomb

So - Ohtani innthe 9th?!

ohtani vs trout should be fun

Another amazing ending

was hoping they'd meet in the middle and hug like on that hockey episode of the Simpsons

That was a good game but imho the Mexico game had a bit of everything any real baseball fan could ask for.

Also, not looking forward to the incoming hazing for the next couple weeks haha. Already getting taunted 3.5 days before arrival.

Ohtani and Trout going back to lose 92 games with the Angels after the most exciting game of their lives pic.twitter.com/MmHwXxh2pI

— Richard Staff (@RichardStaff) March 22, 2023

what a ninth!!!

also just want to say i love schwarbs so much.

but man ohtani. fuckin a. the dream.

While Sandy Koufax was striking out Willie Mays last night in the AB of the century, I was sitting with my brother-in-law at a G League basketball game--I'd gotten us tickets for his birthday--watching the Raptors 905 try to secure a 15-15 record in their last game of the season. They did. It was thrilling.

lol are you really shitting on that at-bat

i mean i'm happy that you had a good time at a basketball game but read the room dog

Look at this legend.

The country has also fallen in love with Nootbaar’s pepper-grinder celebration, a move nearly every Japan player now does after big plays. Pepper-grinder sales in the nation have actually increased by 15% over the past few days. Fans bring them to the ballpark or shake them at sports bars while tuned into the WBC.

The MLB Japan store has Ohtani & Nootbaar Pepper Mill t-shirts https://t.co/28b1w8DxVU#STLCards #WorldBaseballClassic #GrindThePepper pic.twitter.com/JPcMRQJObU

— Dan Chibnall (@bookowl) March 19, 2023

Tracer: I thought the self-deprecation was obvious there. I'll include emojis and arrows next time, promise.

no need! the sarcasm on “AB of the century” came across loud and clear!

That was not meant sarcastically at all. Surprised I have to explain this, not surprised you'd feel the need to make an issue of it.

well i'm surprised and delighted you consider that the AB of the century. it was pretty great.

in other news how good was Yoshida?? most ribbies in the tournament. looking forward to watching him out in from of the Monster with his flashy throws back to the infield.

The Red Sox Instagram has been posting highlights of him all tournament along with all their other guys on teams! Incidentally, I thought of you when I saw that someone in one of the games had no hits but an orr bee eye on account of having hit a sac fly.