Come anticipate the World Baseball Classic with me

@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

It was nice to see Cespedes again!

it warms my heart to see that lars nootbaar has quickly became a national sensation in japan

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/11lz47w/lars_tatsuji_nootbaars_signature_pepper_grinder/

LARS NOOTBAAR AND HIS GRIND THE PEPPER CELLY HAVE GONE INTERNATIONAL 🐐🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/pIJuRCA9Cy

— The Game Day MLB (@TheGameDayMLB) March 8, 2023