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***Official World Baseball Classic Thread (2 Viewers)

Eephus

Footballguy
Pool A: Japan, China, Cuba, BrazilPool B: South Korea, Netherlands, Australia, TaiwanPool C: Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, SpainPool D: USA, Mexico, Italy, CanadaGames start March 2ndFinal in San Francisco March 19th

 
Reigning NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey and former MVPs Ryan Braun, Jimmy Rollins and Joe Mauer headline the United States' provisional roster for this spring's World Baseball Classic.Dickey, the knuckleballer who won the Cy Young in 2012 with the New York Mets and was traded to Toronto last month, headlines an American starting pitching staff that also includes Ryan Vogelsong of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants, Atlanta's Kris Medlen and Derek Holland of Texas.Other pitchers on the staff will include closers Heath Bell of Arizona and Craig Kimbrel of Atlanta, as well as Cleveland's Chris Perez and Vinnie Pestano, Luke Gregerson of San Diego, Glen Perkins of the Twins, Miami's Steve Cishek, Tim Collins of Kansas City, Mitchell Boggs of St. Louis and Jeremy Affeldt of San Francisco.Braun, the 2011 NL MVP from Milwaukee, will be joined in the U.S. outfield by All-Stars Adam Jones of Baltimore, Giancarlo Stanton of Miami and Shane Victorino, now with Boston.Rollins, NL MVP with Philadelphia in 2007, is the top shortstop for the U.S. team and could headline a possible starting infield consisting of first baseman Mark Teixeira of the Yankees, Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips and third baseman David Wright of the Mets.Tampa Bay's Ben Zobrist and Arizona's Willie Bloomquist will allow American manager Joe Torre some flexibility as both can play in the outfield and infield.Mauer, the 2009 AL MVP from Minnesota, will head a catching trio that also features Milwaukee's Jonathan Lucroy and Toronto's J.P. Arencibia.
 
Cuba plays their opening round games in Tokyo and would stay in Japan if they advance to the second round. Presumably it's harder to defect there.

 
I'm pretty excited about this. Its like an extra month of somewhat meaningful baseball this year.

 
Pool A: Japan, China, Cuba, BrazilPool B: South Korea, Netherlands, Australia, TaiwanPool C: Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, SpainPool D: USA, Mexico, Italy, CanadaGames start March 2ndFinal in San Francisco March 19th
How good is Mexico going to be? Canada will be okay. Italy :lmao: Pool C is a murderers row. Good luck Spain.Who the hell is coming out of Pool B? South Korea? Is Psy singing the SK national anthem?
 
Canada submitted its 23-man provisional roster for the World Baseball Classic on Saturday, putting together a group that includes 15 current or former Major Leaguers, highlighted by Twins first baseman Justin Morneau.The four-time All-Star and 2006 American League Most Valuable Player also played for his home country in the 2006 and '09 Classics, when Canada did not make it out of pool play.This year's roster, which will be made official on Thursday, thus far includes several other established big leaguers, including Pirates catcher Russell Martin, Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie, Mariners outfielder Michael Saunders and right-handed relievers John Axford of the Brewers and Jesse Crain of the White Sox."I'm pleased to see that our roster consists of many players that have worn the Canadian colors before with our National Teams program," Canadian manager Ernie Whitt, himself a former Major Leaguer, told The Canadian Press. "The familiarity our players have with one another, and the coaching staff, will be beneficial in a short tournament like the World Baseball Classic."Eight players on the provisional roster played in the 2009 Classic and seven participated in '06.One player notably absent from the provisional roster is Reds first baseman and 2010 National League MVP Joey Votto. Sportsnet reported on Saturday that Votto, who was limited to 111 games by injury last season, needs to pass an insurance physical before he can be added to the roster."We have every reason to believe there will be no issue whatsoever," Canada coach Greg Hamilton told Sportsnet.Others with big league experience on the current roster are pitchers Phillippe Aumont, Jim Henderson, Shawn Hill, Chris Leroux, Trystan Magnuson and Scott Mathieson, second basemen Taylor Green and Pete Orr and outfielder Adam Loewen.
 
I bought tickets for Mexico/USA March 8. Should be fun I expect a raucous crowd. :popcorn: :boxing: USA USA USA USA

 
For those in the Phoenix area or those who want to come visit us the WBC teams will play exhibition games against the MLB spring training teams.Here is a list of games - all games at 1 PM local time unless noted otherwiseTuesday, March 5 - Mexico @ Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields 7 PMTuesday, March 5 - USA @ White Sox at Camelback Ranch StadiumTuesday, March 5 - Canada @ Brewers at Maryvale Baseball ParkTuesday, March 5 - Italy @ Athletics at Phoenix Municipal StadiumWednesday, March 6 - Canada @ Reds at Goodyear Stadium 7 PMWednesday, March 6 - USA @ Rockies at Salt River Fields 7 PMWednesday, March 6 - Italy @ Angels at Tempe Diablo StadiumWednesday, March 6 - Mexico @ Dodgers at Camelback Ranch StadiumPool D games start Thursday, March 7

 
Ok what is the point of having this tournament if no one can watch it. Oh unless you have MLB network, which i can't imagine many people having. STUPID STUPID STUPID, way to market the game MLB.

 
Ok what is the point of having this tournament if no one can watch it. Oh unless you have MLB network, which i can't imagine many people having. STUPID STUPID STUPID, way to market the game MLB.
:confused: Who doesn't have the MLB Network these days? They are in the near basic package for most major carriers.
 
Ok what is the point of having this tournament if no one can watch it. Oh unless you have MLB network, which i can't imagine many people having. STUPID STUPID STUPID, way to market the game MLB.
:confused: Who doesn't have the MLB Network these days? They are in the near basic package for most major carriers.
Must be nice where you live, most carriers i know of charge for any of the major sports channels...nfl, mlb, nhl.
 
Ok what is the point of having this tournament if no one can watch it. Oh unless you have MLB network, which i can't imagine many people having. STUPID STUPID STUPID, way to market the game MLB.
:confused: Who doesn't have the MLB Network these days? They are in the near basic package for most major carriers.
My Comcast has it in a premium package.
Most of the games aren't ratings powerhouses. If the organizers wanted the games on a more prominent network, they'd probably have to subsidize the air time. MLB is already there and in need of programming. The people who will tune in are the target audience for selling premium packages for the regular season, so MLB gets two weeks to hammer them. Whatever other ad packages they can sell is pure gravy.
 
Ok what is the point of having this tournament if no one can watch it. Oh unless you have MLB network, which i can't imagine many people having. STUPID STUPID STUPID, way to market the game MLB.
:confused: Who doesn't have the MLB Network these days? They are in the near basic package for most major carriers.
Must be nice where you live, most carriers i know of charge for any of the major sports channels...nfl, mlb, nhl.
Get DirecTv. Problem solved. :shrug:
 
Tampa has this giant WBC glass statue near the airport. It's the multi colored thing. Any other MLB cities have this? There are no games here, thought it was odd.

 
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Taiwan 4 Australia 1 in the openerChien-Ming Wang gets the win giving up only 4 hits in 6 IP. Cheng-Ming Peng homered.

 
Team usa has a great lineup. They have two stup pitchers and a stud closer so i think they got enough to win this thing

 
Team usa has a great lineup. They have two stup pitchers and a stud closer so i think they got enough to win this thing
They've had enough to win it the past two times as well. We'll see if they can put it all together this time.
 
Nice performance from Holland to advance out of their group. It's an interesting group with a fading superstar in Andruw Jones and a hot prospect in Xander Bogaerts. They have some other MLB-level talents among their position players but there are also starters like catcher Dashenko Ricardo who never got past the Sally League.

Their pitching has been the big surprise. 38 year old Robbie Cordemans looked solid. Shairon Martis has the most MLB experience with 19 starts for the Nationals in 2008-9. The Dutch closer is 7 foot freak Loek van Mil who's currently in the Reds' organization.

 
Italy beat Mexico today, Pool D can be anyone's now. Expectation was everyone beats Italy, USA beats everyone, winner of Canada/Mexico is 2nd team to advance.

Now if Italy can beat Canada, or Mexico beats US or both, it's total chaos.

 
O's prospect Jonathan Schoop crushed a 3 run HR to put Holland up 5-1 over Cuba in the 6th

 
Gallardo v. Dickey tonight in the United States' opener. Mexico will be desperate for a W.

 
The WBC umps really blew the call on the foul popup to 1B in the NED-CUB game. The Dutch first-baseman wasn't close to catching it but he picked the ball up after falling into the photographer's well and sold the play to the umps.

 
I will be in right field tonight for Mexico @ USA. I expect a really good atmosphere. I got home from work and my son has the gloves by the door. He is ready to go now. I am going to drive up early and try to catch batting practice and just soak it up. :banned:

 
The WBC umps really blew the call on the foul popup to 1B in the NED-CUB game. The Dutch first-baseman wasn't close to catching it but he picked the ball up after falling into the photographer's well and sold the play to the umps.
Justin Morneau was just awarded first after being "hit" by a pitch that missed him by a foot. It loaded the bases for Canada with 2 out, Michael Saunders just came up and hit a 2-run single, Canada was trailing 6-2, now down 2 in the 7th with 2 on, still 2 out.
 
Canada mercy'd by Italy :lmao:

Looking forward to watching Canada fight through the relegation just to qualify for the next tournament. (Canada ranked #6 in world by IBAF)...

 

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