[pete_b]

This is the biggest thing that baseball has seen in years. I mean finally a pure way to promote baseball. Rather than fixing baseballs to make them fly, why not incorporate the world to make things more interesting. I wonder how it feels to be beat by players that make 1/100th of what you are making. If WORLD baseball gets bigger you can kiss 23 million a year goodbye.

[Who Dey]

Amen to that... I did not watch a single baseball game last year. I had no intention of watching one this year (disgruntled Reds Fan). However, I stayed up last night to watch the finals of the WBC.
I think the fact that Cuba was playing is what interested me the most. These are players that are good enough to play MLB, even though we really don't know how old any of them are, but we never get to see them.
Honestly, they had one pitcher, Palma I think his name was, they said he was 35.... Yeah right.... That guy had to be at least 53 years old.
Anyway, do any of you guys know how much those guys get paid in the Cuban Pro Leagues? Whatever it is, it can't be what MLB players get here. So what keeps those guys from just beatin' it while there in San Diego and pop up pitching for the Yankees?

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by Who Dey

Anyway, do any of you guys know how much those guys get paid in the Cuban Pro Leagues? Whatever it is, it can't be what MLB players get here. So what keeps those guys from just beatin' it while there in San Diego and pop up pitching for the Yankees?

Who Dey...They would be better off working at McDonald's for what they get paid. Though they have perks like housing etc.

[Who Dey]

Originally Posted by Gotham Dark Knight

Who Dey...They would be better off working at McDonald's for what they get paid. Though they have perks like housing etc.

So you can get a Big Mac in Cuba? I guess it really isn't that much different from the States.

[Wizard of Os]

Yeah, but what do they call a Big Mac in Havana?

For as we all know, in Paris, a Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac. In Havana is it "Il Big Mac," the plural being "Los Big Macs"?

In any event, congratulations to Team Japan. As they say there when they lift glasses in toast, "Kampai!"

(Long live the World Baseball Classic!)

[cjg11582]

The MLB is an illegitimate proffesional sports league in so many ways. First off, The Kansas City Royals and The New York Yankees (or even The Angels for that matter) are playing entirely different games. Obviously there are successful owners of small market teams, but you cannot convince me that Billy Beane would not switch places with Cashman on the drop of a dime if given the opportunity.
We have no idea who is juicing and who is not. Virtually everyone is a suspect. People always feel compelled to liken steroids investigations to "witch hunts". Yeah, okay, the only difference being that there was never any witches and when someone was found guilty of being a witch they were hung on the spot. Other than that it is a totally valid analogy. This is particularly detrimental to the league because baseball thrives so much on individual records.
In addition to performance enhancing drugs being rampant, the game has been entirely too hitter-friendly for about a decade now. Between the smaller strike zone and stadiums (How many home runs has Bonds hit out of Coors field alone?), and juiced up ball Have Barry Bonds' and Hank Aarons at bats really been on equal footing?
Unfortunately, I can comprise a list of more reasons to not watch than to watch The MLB. So as for the future of the league? It seems pretty grim.

[Who Dey]

Originally Posted by cjg11582

The MLB is an illegitimate proffesional sports league in so many ways. First off, The Kansas City Royals and The New York Yankees (or even The Angels for that matter) are playing entirely different games. Obviously there are successful owners of small market teams, but you cannot convince me that Billy Beane would not switch places with Cashman on the drop of a dime if given the opportunity.
We have no idea who is juicing and who is not. Virtually everyone is a suspect. People always feel compelled to liken steroids investigations to "witch hunts". Yeah, okay, the only difference being that there was never any witches and when someone was found guilty of being a witch they were hung on the spot. Other than that it is a totally valid analogy. This is particularly detrimental to the league because baseball thrives so much on individual records.
In addition to performance enhancing drugs being rampant, the game has been entirely too hitter-friendly for about a decade now. Between the smaller strike zone and stadiums (How many home runs has Bonds hit out of Coors field alone?), and juiced up ball Have Barry Bonds' and Hank Aarons at bats really been on equal footing?
Unfortunately, I can comprise a list of more reasons to not watch than to watch The MLB. So as for the future of the league? It seems pretty grim.

what he said.