The World Baseball Classic

[Outlander]

I don't think they are appealing to the casual sports fan though once they decided to give their network the the exclusive rights to the games. The marketing of the WBC in the USA is real bad.

[James Zumstein]

I also don't mind the celebrating in this Tournament. All sports fans, to some degree, understand that the players on their team ultimately are trying to win for themselves and their teammates, not for the fans. But this is different. This is pride in your country, especially for these tiny nations in the Caribbean where baseball is life. This means everything to the players, and all of their fellow countrymen. Some passion is exciting in this venue, not so much in MLB.

[endaround]

I don't think they are appealing to the casual sports fan though once they decided to give their network the the exclusive rights to the games. The marketing of the WBC in the USA is real bad.

 

Who else was going to air it? ESPN wouldn't cut off March College BB tournaments to show it. NBC Sports is even more obscure and likely locked to hockey anyway.

[wOOgiE22]

DFA Joe Torre. Stupid move taking Vogelsong out.

[PrinceFielderx1]

Jones just got screwed on that 3rd strike call to end the 7th. Talk about killing any hope they have. That's just wrong.

[James Zumstein]

Big RBI by Brauny keeps their chances alive.

[PrinceFielderx1]

Mauer with a really good AB that lead to a walk. Bases juiced for Stanton. 1 out.

[wOOgiE22]

Why didn't Torre bring a pinch hitter in for Hosmer?? It's not like he doesn't have anyone on the bench.

[wOOgiE22]

Well that's another early exit for the US. Pathetic!

[James Zumstein]

They sure missed Wright's bat in the lineup tonight.

[Invader3K]

At least they tried to mount a comeback. Kind of an embarrassment for the USA. I don't think you can completely blame Torre, though. Just didn't seem like the USA team was really firing on all cylinders at all, at least from the games I saw.

[Ennder]

I thought it was very telling when Moises Alou was interviewed after the game he said the most important thing to him when building the team was to take players who had been playing ball. Almost everyone on their roster had played in a winter league of some sort and weren't going in cold. That is the #1 biggest issue with the USA teams imo, too many hitters that just don't have their timing and pitchers who aren't as sharp as they should be.

[Patrick425]

I thought it was very telling when Moises Alou was interviewed after the game he said the most important thing to him when building the team was to take players who had been playing ball. Almost everyone on their roster had played in a winter league of some sort and weren't going in cold. That is the #1 biggest issue with the USA teams imo, too many hitters that just don't have their timing and pitchers who aren't as sharp as they should be.

 

That theory seems to have legs to it if you look at this year WBC. However, how do you explain Japan winning the previous 2 classics (and getting to the semi's in this one)? Their players don't generally play winter ball, do they?

[yoshii8]

I wasn't able to watch any of the WBC, but it's nice to see that Hiram Burgos pitched well. For those who watched him pitch, how did he look?

[Mass Haas]

I wasn't able to watch any of the WBC, but it's nice to see that Hiram Burgos pitched well. For those who watched him pitch, how did he look?

 

Watched all of his 11.2 innings (one run, and it was tainted by a poor defensive decision by his teammate last night).

 

Honestly, I think I'm in love.

 

Dude was polished, mixed in all his pitches, hit his spots, knew when he could sneak one up in the zone. It was such a different vibe than watching Thornburg, for instance (nothing against Tyler and his heat).

 

There was no gun for the broadcast, and it's clear Hiram won't light it up, but my favorite part was when Bob Costas was opining about how Puerto Rico should have started Burgos.

 

In my eyes, he is so the 6th starter right now, and I get the sense the Brewers wouldn't hesitate in the least to drop him as needed.

[Ennder]

 

That theory seems to have legs to it if you look at this year WBC. However, how do you explain Japan winning the previous 2 classics (and getting to the semi's in this one)? Their players don't generally play winter ball, do they?

 

I don't know about this year but I know the first WBC their team trained as a team well before spring training USA time to get in shape for the games. I can't really evaluate the Japanese players because I don't know them but every WBC has seen a bunch of US players who just look like their timing is off. You see the same thing in spring training and even into April for a lot of players in the majors.

[Patrick425]

I wasn't able to watch any of the WBC, but it's nice to see that Hiram Burgos pitched well. For those who watched him pitch, how did he look?

 

Watched all of his 11.2 innings (one run, and it was tainted by a poor defensive decision by his teammate last night).

 

Honestly, I think I'm in love.

 

Dude was polished, mixed in all his pitches, hit his spots, knew when he could sneak one up in the zone. It was such a different vibe than watching Thornburg, for instance (nothing against Tyler and his heat).

 

There was no gun for the broadcast, and it's clear Hiram won't light it up, but my favorite part was when Bob Costas was opining about how Puerto Rico should have started Burgos.

 

In my eyes, he is so the 6th starter right now, and I get the sense the Brewers wouldn't hesitate in the least to drop him as needed.

 

 

There was no gun? I could swear that I was watching yesterday and after he gave up the run (which could have been avoided had the 2nd basemen made a better decision to get the lead runner on the previous play), the next batter he faced he threw a high fastball on the first pitch to the next batter (after the run scoring double) and I thought that it looked like a frustration pitch (just throwing as hard as he could), but then I saw the radar and it said 86. So, maybe I was wrong and it wasn't a fastball (sure looked like one), but I do think there was a gun in yesterday's game.

[Mass Haas]

There was no gun? I could swear that I was watching yesterday and after he gave up the run (which could have been avoided had the 2nd basemen made a better decision to get the lead runner on the previous play), the next batter he faced he threw a high fastball on the first pitch to the next batter (after the run scoring double) and I thought that it looked like a frustration pitch (just throwing as hard as he could), but then I saw the radar and it said 86. So, maybe I was wrong and it wasn't a fastball (sure looked like one), but I do think there was a gun in yesterday's game.

 

Darn, sorry about that, I must have been in an alternate universe. Here's a pitch (not Burgos, yes, with gun reading). My bad.

[JohnBriggs12]

Burgos is a perfect example of why guys shouldn't be judged entirely on gun readings. He commanded his stuff with confidence and poise. His breaking pitch fell of the table. Costas and Kaat (who knows a little about pitching) seemed very impressed. He should have started. They mentioned Ricky Bones had been glowing in his praise of Burgos.

 

Now I had been wondering why the Brewers just didn't give him a real shot this spring. After thinking about it, I'm hoping their reasoning was that pitching like he has been in pressure situations is a lot different than pitching in exhibition games and that they don't want to burden him too quickly on top of that with pressure that would come in making it to the big leagues the first time right out of such a spring.

 

I'm fairly certain Burgos has leapfrogged Thornburg in the rotation order. That's no knock on Tyler either. Burgos is ready for the major leagues and he proved it in the WBC.

 

Burgos doesn't have the measurables to crack prospect lists. He's short. He's not overpowering, etc. etc. But he's got a bright future because he can practice the art of pitching.

[Thurston Fluff]

I just read this little snippet at the end of an article on the Dominican win of the WBS that I thought worth sharing.

Japan's loss to Puerto Rico on Sunday was watched by 51 percent of potential viewers in Japan, MLB said. It was the largest share for any of Japan's WBC games this year. The game also was the most-watched sporting event in the past year in Puerto Rico, with the final moments getting a 74 share. ... MLB executive Tim Brosnan called the WBC an ''unqualified, over-the-top success.''

 

Looking at how many people in other countries paid attention to it really shows baseball is a world sport. Those are impressive numbers for any event let alone one that is really still in it's infancy.

[jerichoholicninja]

The US is never going to do well because the US players don't care as much as the other countries do. That's not to say that they don't care but it's pretty obvious that it is a huge deal to these other countries and most of the US players treat it as spring training.