Come anticipate the World Baseball Classic with me

congrats Japanese overlords

Two outs, first base open, game on the line... why not walk Ichiro? (I had the volume down and could not hear the analysts.)

They were asking the same thing.

Asked about allowing Suzuki to hit with two runners in scoring position instead of walking him intentionally, Kim replied: "I don't know why the pitcher tried to pitch directly to Ichiro. I did not understand. In the end, it did not work out for us. The pitcher and the catcher did not communicate well in terms of their signs. And in the end, that led to the hit by (Suzuki). Of course I have a regret as to what happened."

Suzuki said he wasn't surprised he wasn't walked.

"There was (Hiroyuki) Nakajima (on deck), and he is a batter you wanted to avoid," Suzuki said. "So there was a possibility for the bases to be loaded, and I knew they would want to fight against that, so I wasn't at all surprised."

Perhaps the translation is not perfect here, but maybe Kim should have told his pitcher to either walk Ichiro or give him nothing but pitches out of the zone (preferably high and tight).

I've never, ever, been a fan of walking the bases loaded. Well done Korea!

Fidel's column:

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2009/march/vier20/13reflex1-i.html

That is one awesome John Hancock.

mark yr calendars, NYC

@AdamRubinESPN
The Sept. 22-25, 2016 World Baseball Classic qualifier at MCU Park in Brooklyn will include Brazil, Great Britain, Israel and Pakistan.

Mets farmhands Champ Stuart and Blake Taylor will represent Great Britain and Ty Kelly, Tyler Herron and Josh Zeid will represent Israel in a World Baseball Classic qualifying tournament at Brooklyn's MCU Park Sept. 22-25. Ex-Mets Ike Davis and Josh Satin also will play for Israel. Brazil and Pakistan also are involved in the four-team tournament.

pakistani team is . . . interesting

the entire bichette family is playing for brazil, which is managed by barry 'barinho' larkin and pitching coached by latroy hawkins

one of our number is actually at this game!

what's the Fri night or Sat matinee action?

https://twitter.com/richardgin/status/779010620406530048

looks like there are plenty o' seats for Britain vs whoever tomw night

pakistani outfielders are taking suboptimal routes

Brazil 10, Pakistan 0

GB v Israel up next

aw man

i thought about staying for two but it was so f-ing hot

but yeah PAK had some wretched baserunning mistakes, including wasting a first inning single by getting doubled off K-2U, 2-3 and getting thrown the fuck out at 3rd. PAK 2B and SS had p decent gloves but no one had any defensive arm to speak of. 3B at least one-hopped every throw. C had like a 3 second pop time the game could have been over after 5 if BRA had just run at every opportunity

i was wondering if pakistan/non-traditional baseball teams could be very inventive or aggressive w/ defensive positioning because of a) skill level (no power...) and b) no entrenched culture of 'right way-ness'. I thought they could have gone w/ a 5 man IF for the 7th inning when things were falling apart. none of the IF were really rangy enough to make a drawn in infield work so u cld hedge by bringing ur LF in to cover over 2B

are there tix on the door for the 7pm game tomorrow?

seems likely

on the televised feed today there was an extended shot of a (white american) pitching coach in the pakistan bullpen demonstrating to the relievers in great detail how, with runners on base, to come set and not balk. it's cool that they got to participate but it does make one wonder why they were chosen rather than the mongolians or carpathians or whomever

as with the current world cup of hockey (team europe! but not the czechs, russians or scandanavians), it's a ham-handed way of pretending that one's niche sport is globally relevant

Tigers coach Omar Vizquel in limbo as Venezuela manager for WBC

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2016/12/02/detroit-tigers-omar-vizquel-venezuela-world-baseball-classic/94832596/

Omar Vizquel is waiting for a phone call.

He is waiting to hear from former Detroit Tiger Carlos Guillen, general manager of the Venezuelan World Baseball Classic team, whom reportedly removed Vizquel from his managerial post earlier in the week.

Vizquel, the Tigers’ first base coach, has been in limbo since Tuesday night’s reports, which were only the first of a number of twists and turns. On Wednesday, the Venezuelan Baseball Federation said Vizquel remained manager. That same day, ESPN Deportes reported Braves coach Eddie Perez would replace Vizquel.

According to multiple Venezuelan media reports, the confusion has stemmed from a conflict between Vizquel and Guillen, who played eight seasons in Detroit. In the days since, a number of Venezuelan players have come to Vizquel’s defense, including Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez.

On the Los Crosnistas radio show, Martinez went as far as to say he would not participate in the WBC if Vizquel did not manage the team. Many other players have followed suit, including Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez, Cubs reliever Hector Rondon and Rockies outfielder Gerardo Parra. Other Tigers slated to play for Venezuela in the WBC: First baseman Miguel Cabrera, starter Anibal Sanchez and relievers Francisco Rodriguez and Bruce Rondon.

Vizquel, 49, is entering his fourth season as the Tigers’ first base coach. He is considered one of the best fielding shortstops of all-time, winning 11 Gold Glove Awards. He is a native of Caracas, Venezuela.

Of note: The Tigers weren’t expected to non-tender any of their six arbitration-eligible players: Third baseman Nick Castellanos, shortstop Jose Iglesias, utilityman Andrew Romine, right-handed relievers Bruce Rondon and Alex Wilson, and lefty Justin Wilson. The deadline to non-tender such players is 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 2.

@beckjason
Omar Vizquel and Carlos Guillen together at WBC media session. They said they’ve ironed out differences.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cy8arfTVQAATriL.jpg

rumor

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/this-world-baseball-classic-could-reportedly-be-the-last-one/

2021 semifinals and final will be in miami, march 21-23

earlier rounds in taiwan, tokyo and phoenix

Canada threw a no hitter vs Columbia last night in the opener!

One month away!!

some of these are pretty dire

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FojN4YqX0AAlK5R.jpg

I'd like them more without the huge flags on each one

was thinking the same. looks really junky like that

netherlands and israel both pretty sick

also brazil and new zealand. would wear all of those

i am ready, let's do this

https://i.imgur.com/4M1V4fU.png

I'll go with

A: Cuba, Netherlands
B: Japan (best pitching), Korea
C: USA (best position players), Mexico
D: Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico

Japan over USA in the finals

really odd, the difference in days of play for pools A/B vs C/D

wow, didn't realize how strong the Netherlands infield is.

i mentioned it on another thread, but i'm really looking forward to watching japan play because of Munetaka Murakami and Roki Sasaki

Baseball’s Best Young Hitter and Pitcher Play in Japan

more on japan's roster here

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/samurai-japans-wbc-squad-brings-the-best-of-npb-and-mlb/

that trip from japan & taiwan to miami is gonna be rough

i am unsure about what the appropriate level of excitement is for this, but john axford is coming back to pitch for Canada

also, is this going to be mike trout's biggest audience for his games, ever, i guess?

the Venezuela team looks pretty good. surprised Puerto Rico is the favourite for the second seed over them

Might watch the cuba/Netherlands game tonight

i'm here for it

Dude with the horn is getting on my nerves already

he's grooving a bunch of slow-ass offspeed stuff down the middle - Cuba is going to go to town eventually

*airhorn*

netherlands

jurickson profar, jonathan schoop, bogaerts, andrelton simmons, didi gregorious! i don't see them taking out japan or south korea in the elimination round but they might be ok!

Dude was lucky to get out of that inning

yeah, i predict the final score of this game is going to add up to at least 15