Come anticipate the World Baseball Classic with me

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

Cuban starter who is a pitcher in Japan - looks *really* good

I do like those Netherlands caps

i do too.

cuba's blues, okay, but i dislike pretty much any uniform with a gradient on it. really hard to pull off unless it's a videogame

the pitching coach for the netherlands?

BERT BLYLEVEN

I guess it sounds Dutch?

That was my first thought when you posted about how good the Netherlands' infield was--Honus Wagner's playing for them? I had no idea all those guys were from there.

I think the rules are a little more loosey goosey than just where you were born.

Truthfully, I didn't even know they played baseball in the Netherlands.

Ya there’s a whole euro league. I’m sure they’re about as popular as pro ultimate frisbee leagues are over here… but they exist!

xp
the team has players from not just the netherlands, but also west indian caribbean islands they colonized, like aruba and curacao

Just came up with a potential, very obscure, fantasy team name: Newcombes on de Blok

Oohh I thought that ball was gone

lol, that xander bogaerts hbp was at least 6 inches away from his body

Ya. That’s not gonna survive the challenge.

was able to stay awake long enough to see Netherlands take the lead and then i was out. glad they were able to hang on

https://i.imgur.com/abRAN0G.png

https://www.mlb.com/news/cuba-fan-with-horn-at-world-baseball-classic

He jokes that he’s not only one of the most famous people in Cuba, but the entire world. The crowd at Intercontinental -- mostly baseball fans from Taiwan -- immediately took a liking to Avila. They cheered with him and, in between almost every inning, groups of people went down to take selfies with him.

The players, of course, know him well (again, he’s always there) and he feels like this is a great squad that he could follow all the way to end.

“They’re very good,” Avila said. “One of the best teams ever. Like the 1990s teams.”

those in the US, how are you watching this?

the fox sports website, using an ancient login from the brother of a friend of a friend

the usual free shady streaming options (sp0rtsurg3 etc) didn't have the first game, but maybe they'll catch on as the tournament progresses

adam wainwright is starting game 1 for the US and it could get pretty ugly. however, i was completely wrong about my "15+ total runs in NED vs CUBA" prediction so who knows