WBC Fan or not

[RU Rah Rah]

If you're watch the PR-Netherlands game, you'll be instantly hooked into the WBC.

Unreal. These guys are awesome.

 

I've been pleasantly surprised by these games. I thought that they would be much less competitive.

[kalle8]

italy defeated canada 6-2.

 

brewers related news: vince perkins had a rough start for team canada, lucroy didn't play. rottino and di felice (the battery in the first game) watched the game so did lucroy.

 

other news: morneau awesome but so was chris denorfia and alex liddi (20 y and italian, i mean..real italian!)

 

we'll play venezuela again this afternoon.

[Mass Haas]

Our overseas friend kalle8 meant to saw "Lawrie", not "Lucroy", above.

[Bikeage77]

I wish I had cable to watch more of these games. I got to watch the Saturday games. US/Canada was a good time. My friend was texting me throughout the Dominican Republic game tonight. It sounds like a great game. Good to see some early upsets, that attracts peoples attentions, and might help spark more interest.

[pogokat]

DR vs. Netherlands was an all-time classic tonight...especially with Carlos marmol blowing it against a bunch of nobodies and randall simon

[LS Brewer]

The Netherlands / Dominican Republic game this evening was truly terrific. It had all the makings of a classic game. Most of the Netherlands' pitchers were guys from the Holland Professional baseball league that no one has ever heard of and only two position players on the team had had any major league experience; and that includes Randall Simon. The score was tied at zero until the top of the 11th when the D.R. got a run after Holland's Right Fielder completely misplayed a ball that went for a triple. Then, in the bottom of the 11th, the Netherlands tied it up when the same Right Fielder that blew it in the top of the inning lined a single to right. He ended up scoring to win the game. Great stuff.

[danzig6767]

This year is the first time i've watched any of the WBC games and i'm surprised by how much i've enjoyed watching the games, even the non-USA games.

[Patrick425]

That game last night was a lot of fun to watch. I also watched a little bit of the Cuba/Australia game afterwards. It looks like that was an unexpectedly close game too. The first pitcher for Cuba (Chapman) was nasty - and only 21 yrs old.

[RU Rah Rah]

DR vs. Netherlands was an all-time classic tonight...especially with Carlos marmol blowing it against a bunch of nobodies and randall simon

I am not sure if this is the right comparison (because the stakes are smaller in the WBC), but this is a little bit like the Miracle on Ice -- twice in one week.

 

(I like that "NL" hat, too. I might have to get me one of those.)

[3Putt]

I'm in Scottsdale today and caught the Giants - Japan game. It really was an excellent brand of baseball. About 6000 fans.

[Blindcheck]

I don't like it....I can't root for USA, because I can't stand any of the players on the team...except for Braun....

[RU Rah Rah]

I don't like it....I can't root for USA, because I can't stand any of the players on the team...except for Braun....

It doesn't seem like such a bad group to me, overall.

[BrewCrewForever]

I like a lot of players on the USA team: Braun, Wright, Dunn, Rollins, Youkilis, Peavy, Broxton, Bell just to name a few.

[Patrick425]

I'm not sure what to make of Japan and Korea playing exhibition games between pool play series. Can you imagine a World Seires team playing an exhibition game while they wait for another League Championship series to end? I guess it doesn't hurt anything. It' just seems odd.

[TooLiveBrew]

This year's tournament has been a lot of fun to watch. To me it's the grownup version of the LLWS... seems to have that kind of atmosphere imo.

[raven2479]

I agree that it's been really fun to watch this year. I am really getting into seeing these other teams besides the ones full of MLB players and seeing what they can do. It appears that the game globally is getting closer and closer to the same level. Can't wait for maybe 8 years from now when the game will be even closer and these games should all be really competitive. Great stuff!

[joepepsi]

I think it's a waste of time. I'd rather MLB network carried winter ball games in the future. WBC is silly and gets in the way of MLB season.

OK, I have seen the light! I've watched parts of several games and really enjoy what I've seen. (Thank God for MLB Network!) There is a playoff atmosphere about it and the crowds are really into the games. In the end it makes me excited for MLB, and that's always a good thing.

 

Let me add that I don't really care who wins. In fact, I kinda hope USA loses again; it's much more exciting watching some of these "underdog" teams play so well.

[3Putt]

I'm not sure what to make of Japan and Korea playing exhibition games between pool play series. Can you imagine a World Seires team playing an exhibition game while they wait for another League Championship series to end? I guess it doesn't hurt anything. It' just seems odd.

It surprised me also but being at the game I could see the terrific turnout by Asian fans from both the Giants & Japan. It certainly was a nice PR move for both teams. I thought Japan would save their pitching and get hammered but they won 6-4. Perhaps they just have more depth since they're more of a true national team than most. Very solid defensively also.

[patrickgpe]

great win tonight for team usa but i was very disappointed by the crowd. When the USA played Canada last Saturday, Rogers Centre was filled and the crowd in Miami was pitiful. Further shows that Miami is just not a baseball town. I have little doubt that the crowds would be big in most major league stadiums across the country (assuming the game was played in warm weather stadiums and domes).

[BrewCrewForever]

I bet you would get much better crowds at Miller Park. We got a roof no need to worry about the weather outside, why not play them at Miller Park?

[JJHardy7]

What's wrong with guys like Adam Dunn, Peavey, Putz, McCann, Rollins, Wright, etc? I agree they have some guys I don't care for, but they do have some guys that I like...as long as they don't play the Brewers. I do give the USA guys credit for playing. There is a risk for them. I know we talk about the risk for the teams, but no player for any team wants a major injury that hurts their team and their career. I actually think the WBC should start a week or two earlier. I know this could lead to more injuries, but my hope would be these players simply 'get in shape' earlier. I know that could be more of an issue for pitchers so it's not a perfect idea.

[Ennder]

This Mexico vs Korea game is really good too. Been a lot of really good games in this thing.

[utdfan]

The whole thing seems forced. I am willing to bet that the percentage of the population in Italy who has watched more than an inning of baseball is less than 5%. And the whole thing with A-rod switching teams was a joke. The biggest problem for me is that the outcome means absolutely nothing. You only have a select group of players that were willing to participate all of which are basically in their second week of spring training. It was obvious after watching Peavy pitch against Puerto Rico the other night that pitchers can not be expected to pitch in a meaningful game at this point. Then you add that fact that the setup of the tournament goes against the fact that baseball is all about competing over a full season and not a few single games which any team could win. In the end all the winning team can claim is that they were the best team of players that may or may not have ever actually set foot in the country they represent who were willing to play at a time when nobody was at their best with rules that don't apply to regular baseball.

 

For me to be interested in this a lot would have to happen:

 

1. Move it to November

2. Actual rules regarding national representation similar to international soccer. This means no switching and citizenship or citizenship of parents must be required.

3. Change the format. The best format I can come up with would be bracket style with each round consisting of a three game series. For example, if there are 16 teams there would be four rounds and that would mean the final two teams would play a maximum of 12 games. Maybe you could extend each round as you get further so it would be a 3-3-5-7 format or something like that.

4. Eliminate maximum pitchcounts

5. And most importantly everyone would have to care. This means that all the best players doing their best to win the games. I am not convinced that is the case right now. The US team certainly does not have the best posible players right now and their is no way the Dominican Republic played with Maximum effort.