Watched most of the USA-Canada WBC game today. It was a pretty tense game. The Canadian team is pretty strong and I wouldn't rule out another confrontation before the series is over. High drama in the bottom of the 9th as ex-Mariner J.J. Putz has a way of making things nail biting. J.J. is one interesting character, very likeable, great sense of humor. "Used" to be a lights out reliever but last year with the M's, more like shaking up 5 dice in a cup and whatever came out was what you got. Glad to see that familiar celebratory hug with the catcher on the mound as J.J. got the job done and a USA victory. It's a treat to see some meaningful baseball on the tube versus spring training games.
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I watched some of those games yesterday. First time I watched baseball in while. I saw the Repulica Dominicana loss to the Netherlands, I thought they were suppose to be the Brasil of baseball.
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DJ will never be the Republicunt nominee. Permalynx this. Snippy 2/2/2016
WBC teams from The Netherlands, South Africa, Italy and maybe Australia don't seem like they belong but the whole point of the WBC is to promote baseball around the world. The 4 year spacing between WBC get togethers is to measure interest worldwide in baseball. I was sort of suprised to see some of the roster of players for some of these teams. Damn near an all-star team from each country. The Australian team handed the Mariner's an exhibition loss a week or so ago scoring 11 runs and shocked team Mexico 17-7. This WBC thing is going to get real interesting in the next week or two.
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If you are in a horror movie, you make bad decisions, its what you do.
I've watched more baseball in the last week than I have watched in years. I remember in the first game the announcer said the Netherlands team also included Aruba and the Antilles, so I don't think they are in the same boat as other none western hemisphere teams.
I also didn't realize so many big names in MLB were from Venezuela.
-- Edited by Pipes FC at 04:48, 2009-03-11
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DJ will never be the Republicunt nominee. Permalynx this. Snippy 2/2/2016
Ichiro leads Japan to clinch the WBC. Classic Ichiro goes 4 for 4 and drives in 2 runs in the top of the 10th to beat Korea. Glad the man plays for the M's.
World Baseball Classicİ 2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.Print
Ichiro lifts Japan to Classic glory After Korea ties it, country successfully defends its title in extras
LOS ANGELES -- The Japanese are the champions once again of the World Baseball Classic, successfully defending their 2006 title on Monday night at Dodger Stadium against their Korean rivals. And they can thank old standby Ichiro Suzuki for the thrilling 5-3, 10-inning victory. The 35-year-old Mariners right fielder, snapped a 3-3 tie with a two-run single on an eight-pitch at-bat against right-handed reliever Chang Yong Lim with runners on second and third and two outs in the 10th.
Daisuke Matsuzaka was named MVP for the second straight Classic. He was 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA in this year's tournament, and he's 6-0 with a 1.95 ERA overall.
The Japanese thought that the victory was secured in the eighth inning, when Akinori Iwamura drove in their third run with a sacrifice fly, coming after Seiichi Uchikawa was moved to third on Atsunori Inaba's double.
But the Koreans tied the score, 3-3, in the bottom of the ninth inning against 22-year-old Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish, who was brought in at the start of the inning to try and preserve Japan's one-run lead and the victory.
Japan manager Tatsunori Hara actually let left-hander Toshiya Sugiuchi go out for warmups before striding to the mound to call for Darvish -- all part of the usual Asian gamesmanship.
Darvish was erratic, striking out the leadoff hitter, Keun-Woo Jeong, and then walking Hyun-Soo Kim and Tae Kyun Kim to put runners on first and second with one out. Darvish then struck out Shin-Soo Choo, who earlier in the game had homered. But Bum Ho Lee singled to left, driving in the tying run.
Young Min Ko then whiffed to end the inning with the winning run on second.
Japan's starter, right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma, the Sawamura Award winner last year in the Japan leagues when he won 21 games, pitched 7 2/3 innings of four-hit ball to hold off the pesky Koreans.
The game was played in front of a raucous crowd of 54,846, which set an all-time single-game Classic attendance record in the 78th game over the course of the first two tournaments. For the three games at Dodger Stadium, the crowds totaled 141,834 and the overall attendance for the tournament for 39 games was 801,408. Both were also new Classic records.
The fans, banging dueling orange and blue Thunderstix all night long, reacted to every twist and turn of the game with incredible noise and enthusiasm, with the 48-year-old facility literally shaking up and down as Korea scored that ninth-inning run.
Like the Yankees and Red Sox in the U.S., the Koreans vs. the Japanese has turned into the preeminent baseball rivalry on the international scene.
It was the fifth time in this Classic that the Asian nations had met, with the two teams splitting the first four games -- two in each of the first two rounds.
Dating back to the '06 Classic, the Japanese and Koreans have met eight times. Three years ago, Korea won the first two games, but then was eliminated by the Japanese, 6-0, in the semifinal.
Japan went on to defeat Cuba in the final game three years ago to win the inaugural Classic.
Japan had an inordinate amount of chances against left-handed starter Jung Keun Bong and right-handed reliever Hyun Wook Jong, putting multiple runners on base in six of the first eight innings. They scored only once early, taking a 1-0 lead in the third on Michihiro Ogasawara's RBI single.
Korea tied the score at 1, when Choo, the Indians outfielder, led off the fifth with a home run into the pavilion to left-center off Iwakuma. It was Choo's second of the tournament. The Koreans scored the second run in the eighth when Lee opened with a double, moved to third on a grounder and scored on Dae Ho Lee's sacrifice fly.
Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Spring training just drags out the season... Wish they'd get going and play the regulat season games. They can start both the AL and NL openers where the weather's warm, or play in dome stadiums. And let's drop the 'interleague' play... Shorten the all-star break, and play the series in the summer... Instead of late October.
Remembner when baseball was a summer game? Now the season goes winter ta winter. And overlaps basketball-football-soccer. Not ta mention the NCAA 'finals!
Then there's NASCAR! Gotta get me cable...or satellite
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Hmm. That address doesnt look right. It looks like the link pointing here was faulty.
Spring training in the warmer locales doesn't include training for playing in the snow and cold of those April home openers. Haven't seen any indication that winter will ever end...yet.
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If you are in a horror movie, you make bad decisions, its what you do.
