"The United States is where baseball was born and I really respect American baseball. The fact that we won is something that, even for the Japanese baseball world, it is something that will remain in history."
- Japan manager Tatsunori Hara
The 2009 World Baseball Classic came to an end Monday night.
For the United States, it ended one day earlier.
The fact that the U.S. was eliminated 9-4 by Japan at Dodger Stadium in the WBC semifinals Sunday night got some people's attention.
On Monday morning, I watched a sports show where one analysis said the loss meant the game of baseball is no longer America's game, that it was Asia's game now.
Tommy Lasorda, Hall of Fame manager and WBC global ambassador, was distraught by the defeat.
"Can you believe this? Look at the score. I feel so bad about this," Lasorda lamented after Sunday's game. "We had high hopes. This is the second time we were supposed to win. We taught these people the game."
This came less than a week after Lasorda said, "It's our game. Baseball is America's game. It doesn't belong to the Italians or the Cubans or the Koreans or the Japanese. It's our game, and we're not going to let them beat us."
Easy, Tommy. This isn't like the World Series or the Super Bowl - or even the Rotary Bowl for that matter. While you, Hara and some countries seem to care deeply about this "Classic," I wager most of us here in American don't.
If you're like me, you're much more worried about your NCAA brackets than the WBC.
While baseball season is, indeed, on deck, to put the World Baseball Classic up against conference basketball tournaments and March Madness is, well, madness.
To me, the whole idea is a total mess. Like Little League games, World Baseball Classic contests have mercy rules, as evidenced by the U.S. team's 11-1 loss to Puerto Rico - that game ended in the seventh inning.
And what is up with the whole tournament setup? It starts off with a Group A, B, C and D, where teams play two to four games. I guess this is what they call pool play. The U.S. team was in Group C along with Venezuela, Italy and Canada and the games were played in Toronto. Group A included Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan and the games were played in Tokyo, Group B consisted of Cuba, Mexico, Australia and South Africa and Mexico City was the host site, and good ol' Group D included Puerto Rico, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic and Panama. I guess England was too busy playing soccer to field a team.
After the first round, Group A, B, C and D was pared down to eight teams and became two groups, Group 1 and Group 2. Teams played two to four more games, and four more teams were ousted.
This seems more like a soccer tournament setup to me.
In the semifinals, South Korea beat Venezuela 10-2 to gain a spot in the championship game, while Japan bounced the U.S.
Then late Monday night, Japan won its second straight WBC title by beating reigning Olympic champion South Korea 5-3 in 10 innings as Ichiro lined a two-out, two-run single in the top of the 10th. After the game, manager Hara said, "We became No. 1 in the world."
Former Reds pitcher Jung Bong, who started the game for South Korea and allowed six hits and one run in four-plus innings with three walks and one strikeout, was proud of Asia's success in the tournament.
"I believe that we were the two best teams in the world," he said. "Asia is best, world best, and Korea and Japan were able to fight until the end. It was a great glory for all of us."
Knowing my position on the WBC, Times-Gazette Sports Editor Stephen Forsha e-mailed me after the game and said I should have watched the championship, that, in my words, the game was "GOOD!"
Sorry, Steve-O, I still couldn't care less.
Personally, I'd much rather listen to Marty and the Cowboy call a Grapefruit League game than watch a World Baseball Classic game any day of the week. (How we lookin'?)
The fact of the matter is the majority of players on the U.S. roster and other rosters are Major League Baseball players. They get paid to play ball for the Reds, Indians, Mets, Yankees and the rest of the MLB teams, not to moonlight in a tournament that, in my opinion, is about as irrelevant as college basketball's NIT.
They should be totally focused on getting ready for Opening Day, not winning a tournament that most of us didn't even watch.
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Speaking of baseball and Mr. Forsha, Steve-O's been working on the annual task of putting together The Times-Gazette's annual spring sports spectacular the past couple of weeks. (Maybe that's why he picked Wake Forest to win it all in the NCAA basketball tournament.)
This year's extravaganza, which comes out in Saturday's edition, is titled "The 2009 Starting Lineup." The special section includes high school spring sports previews of your favorite Fairfield Lions, Hillsboro Indians, Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs, McClain Tigers and Whiteoak Wildcats baseball, softball, track and tennis teams.
You will read about who is back for another season, who is expected to dominate and who will be in the hunt for a league title.
And unlike the World Baseball Classic, "The 2009 Starting Lineup" is a "can't miss" for Highland County sports fans.
So don't forget to pick up your copy this Saturday.
I know I won't.
Steve Roush is managing editor of The Times-Gazette.
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Article comment by:
David Mayer
While the US did not win the Classic, and does not always win every Olympic event either, a key point is missed. An American born sport has now been embraced by the world. This cannot be overlooked simply because Mr. Roush feels it is not a classic. For years, Major League baseball has recruited players from the nations of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, etc. And they played in our back yard with the Cincinnati Reds. It seems now that the tone of this opinion is that only Americans should play baseball. I say celebrate the success of exporting a great American pastime. The same can be said for basketball another American born sport. Europe has many teams now. We recruit from these teams and NBA players play there to continue their skills and career. And the US which did not embrace soccer 40 years ago now has youth leagues and major league teams. Soccer is now an important sport in our society. We even coined the term “Soccer Moms” as a voting block. And were they not a conservative voice ? Let's not dismiss the value of international sports competition simply because the home team lost. Let’s embrace this competition and when we lose, accept it as part of the game and learn how we can do better next time. And speaking of Olympic sports, the US never does well in the sport of Cross Country Skiing and target shooting. Why can’t a nation which embraces guns and has cross country skiing field a gold medal team in this event ? The same nation which has dominated the Tour de France lately with Lance Armstrong should be able to strive to win other sporting events even if they are not as widely accepted as the three major ball sports. International competition is a good . Exporting American sports is even better
Posted: Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Article comment by:
KC
Steve, I,m quite certain if Team USA had won the championship, your article would have been totally different. It is almost heartbreaking to read this kind of article which if full of desperate excuse of why Team USA couldn't gain the championship again, did not even make it to the final, and how it does not matter because we don't care less about this tournament. When did people like you forget to simply celebrate the magnificent performance of sports players themselves even if they are not "Americans"? If you had watched the WBC games without the mind of 'haters', you should have absolutely seen the excellence of Asian teams that showed us the fundamental baseball is beautiful and even far more entertaining than big baseball with just caring to always bring balls out of the park. but of course, I am more than sure you didn't give the fare observation on the games because "you simply could care less".
