I think the first day I watched was when the US was getting creamed by Canada, and the Dominicans were playing Cuba early on.
I caught a few more games after that. Unfortunately, last night I went to bed at 11:00 after Japan went up 6-1 and looked unbeatable.
I guess what I liked was that it just felt like baseball again. . .there was no talk of Roids (very little anyway), no talk about “big market, small market”, no moneyball stuff about inefficiencies in the market, just regular old baseball played by fat guys and skinny guys.
The Japanese were slap hitting. The Cubans were bunting like crazy. There were some interesting pitchers (Japanese starter had a wicked splitter working last night).
You could tell Joe Morgan was loving it in his broadcasts. He was breaking down the different pitching styles, and hitting styles. He was really on his game every time I heard him. He seemed to enjoy seeing new players, pitching motions, batting stances.
Last night had a really cool moment: ESPN cut into the ESPN Deportes broadcast for about a minute. Joe was trying to piece together what Juan Marichal was saying until their translator came on. I loved the shots of the people in Cuba watching the game in the public square.
Overall, it just had that nostalgic feel to it.
You won’t hear me say this too often but, “Nice job, Selig.”
I bought the internet package so I could watch the early-round games on my computer at work. Then I was able to go see the U.S./Japan game down in Anaheim, which was a great game despite the lousy controversial call. It really felt like baseball season was in full swing when the croud got going in that one.
Overall, I think the tournament was fantastic, and I really, really hope they’re able to pull it off again in '09. If so, I will be there, wherever it is.
Japan & Korea will have several more major leaguers. Also, after the positive coverage it received this year, I don’t think you’ll see as many guys pull out.
I heard someone say the US players would like to change it so that the final rounds take place in November. I can’t think of a worse idea.
I’m still a little disoriented. You’d have been hard put to pick the finalists here from the early rounds. Remember Cuba losing to Puerto Rico when the mercy rule was invoked? Or Japan losing twice to Korea? It did seem in the end like there was something of an inverse ratio between number of major leaguers on the team and overall success.
I feel sorry for Korea. They had the best record of any team but did not make it to the final round. It would be nice if the last round was best 2 of 3. Japan sure brought it when it mattered. Oh did a great job managing. I wonder how he would have done playing in the MLB.
I remember Joe saying “I habla enough espanol to understand what they were saying.” as they listened in on the Cuban commentary. That had to be the funniest commentary of the tournament.
I highly enjoyed watching this series. There was a ton of energy and excitement. The Japanese team is terrific and I was amazed at how technical their style of play was. They were also constantly reserved and confident. It was rather intimidating.
I’m glad the WBC went so well, because when I first heard of it I thought it was the most exciting thing happening in baseball and was surprised that so few people seemed to agree. However, I was surprised at the quality of play I saw from other countries, especially Korea. But really, even Japan and Cuba, traditional baseball powerhouses, surprised me. With 2 major leaguers between them (both with Japan, of course) they showed the world that there is some real quality baseball being played outside the United States, maybe even on par with the American majors.
I think baseball doesn’t get the respect it deserves as an international sport; mostly, I imagine, because it’s largely unknown in Europe (though I was impressed by Dutch pitcher Rob Cordemans in the one Netherlands game I watched). It’s not up there with soccer of course, but I’d think it at least stands up among cricket and rugby, just with different countries. One thing I really hope is that the WBC helps baseball develop around the world, especially in China, which, with its proximity to Japan and Korea, is near some really good baseball and so looks like a plausible place for the game to expand. I don’t hold out much hope for Europe, but let’s wait and see. Hey, we (the US) are starting to get into soccer, what with the MLS. How about returning the favor, Europeans?
I was surprised that the USA didn’t make it to round three, but I wasn’t shocked. It was Spring Training and, let’s face it: there are some damn good non-major leaguers out there. Korea, Japan, and Cuba proved that in spades.
Congrats to Japan. I was rooting for them, because I like the way they play.
I don’t buy the “it’s only Spring Training” argument for Team USA. It’s still spring training in Japan, too, but they seemed to be on the ball.
I think the real problem is that Team USA figured they could just waltz in and win. Some of their guys didn’t even show up until the day of the first game. Derrek Lee and Michael Barrett played a game for the Cubs the day before the first game against Mexico.
Not that we know of. There was a rumor that a player had defected following the semifinal game, but nothing came of it.
There were only a couple of players who would have made a lot of money from defecting, and Lazo and Gourriel are both loyal citizens of Cuba. Lazo’s not as young as they were reporting (I’ve heard he’s more likely 35 instead of 32.)
I think a lot of the Cuban players were just in awe of getting to play in a ballpark like Petco, a lot like minor league players who get the call. They were hitting white balls in batting practice when I’ve read reports that they’ve had to cancel international games for lack of sufficient quality baseballs.
