The USA team was embarrassed today by Puerto Rico, 11-1, in a Round 2 game of the World Baseball Classic. Who cares? Yea I know, not many people do. While the WBC might be a great idea, the timing is just horrible for every team, especially the Americans. The tournament comes weeks before the start of the Major League Baseball season. Most teams are riddled with Major Leaguers, and these players have to debate with themselves on how much effort they really should put into this. The decision is really quite easy. Should they bust their hump to win a little known or cared about event that will result in 0 monetary gain, or should they use this tournament as a glorified spring training and continue to prepare for the team they are contractually obliged to. Don't give me that patriotic, they play for their country bullshit either. The WBC has absolutely nothing to do with patriotism, and if the US were to actually win this tournament, in a country where baseball is it's pastime, 98% of American citizens could careless. Even I, a huge baseball fan, wouldn't really be moved by an American win. The Dominican team, a squad representing a country that is rife with baseball talent and fever, bowed out in the opening round against the freaking Dutch. "I play for my country" does not factor into this equation.
Today's loss for the US is the perfect example of the negligent and minimal care the players have for the rules and outcome. The game was cut short by the Mercy Rule, as Puerto Rico led by 10 runs after the 7th inning. This blurb from the ESPN recap displays the lack of knowledge both teams had for the rules of the tournament.
Several players on both teams said they didn't realize the game was over, including Puerto Rico's hot-hitting Ivan Rodriguez.
"I was putting on my catching equipment," he said. "When I walked out, I saw everyone on the field. I thought maybe somebody got hurt."
US players had similar quotes, which brought back memories of Donovan McNabb and his unawareness that NFL games could end in ties. The players just don't have that much of a vested interest in it. Their minds are focused on the team that they have to play for for the next 6 months. Not only were they not focused on the rules, but it could be argued they weren't focused on the game. For starters, Manager Davey Johnson missed the beginning of the game for a wedding. He's really leading by example here. Then once he made it to the game, he pulled a Grady Little and decided to leave Jake Peavy in the game after letting up six runs in the first two innings. Yea he was starting to look sharp out there. Johnson explained his decision with this:
"Just basically let him get a little more work. Unfortunately, it wasn't really great work, but he still needed the work. Like I said, it's double elimination. It wasn't a thing where it was ... hook him in the second inning. Just let him get his work in."
So what Davey is essentially saying here is that he is not managing to win these games, but rather managing these players for their upcoming Major League Baseball season. I realize Davey and his players are put into a precarious situation. They have conflicting obligations. If and once they lose the players will all walk off the field with their heads down, a few players will remain in the dugout staring into nothingness, possibly a couple bats or water cooler may be thrown, but they really don't care. In one day they will be back with their real teams, and will actually care about the games they play. It's unfortunate the WBC isn't really a big deal. The timing just seems off, but I haven't really researched the time of other country's main baseball season. Maybe this is the only time of year when every country is not in the midst of a professional baseball season. It's just a shame because this event is certainly a great idea.
WBC- Shitty
No comments:
Post a Comment