[CursedtoFirst]

About guys, especially pitchers, getting hurt playing competitively this early.

[Lefty Noob]

Hi, CursedtoFirst, and welcome to the forums! I think that's a shared concern of all of us, especially if its a player the calibre of a Mariano Rivera or an Alex Rodriguez. Depending how it plays out, the WBC could win up having a HUGE impact on the upcoming MLB season.

[CityofBrotherlyShove]

Judging by CursedToFirst's location, I'm fairly certain an injury to Rivera or A-Rod wouldn't be all that devastating.

[Lefty Noob]

Well, they were just examples, but... I definitely see your point!

[xdavidwattsx]

Mark me down as someone not remotely sold on the WBC. I agree the timing stinks. They should have done it in November.

In the end, I think it's a someone fake event to try and be more like the World Cup or the Olympics and it's just not the same.

[jengal]

I'm kind of looking forward to it, but agree that the timing is less than ideal. Although since I am going to Phoenix next week, I at least get to take advantage of going to an evening baseball game in March, which is always a nice thing.

[Wizard of Os]

As though World Cup 2006 weren't enough to distract me with an intensely high level of international competition, now comes the World Baseball Classic. The American team looks swell with old favorites like Jeter and Junior and Pedro and Chipper and Clemens.

While there seems to be a bit of swagger on the part of some Team USA fans, there's no way i'm counting my chickens...think of the poor -- and stronger words could easily be applied here -- performance of the red, white and blue in the Olympics. (And i believe that in eight years, the sport is out of the games altogether…does anyone know for certain?)

As for the timing, i think hosting the Classic during spring training is the best possible solution. The obvious alternatives are none too appealing. In theory, the games could be held between October and March, but this limits the possibilities to warmer areas of the globe; eliminations would include much of the U.S. and Asia. Many hosts would still be available, e.g. anywhere south of the U.S. border, Australia, southern Italy. The question here is whether American baseball interests would allow the list of local hosts to be reduced to southern California, Houston and such. Phoenix and Orlando host this time out. Of course, they could just play it in a dome…yeah, right.

Another alternative would be to have an extended midpoint break in America, but two problems immediately arise. How long should the break be? Two and a half weeks? Secondly, why should the American schedule dictate that of every other baseball-loving nation (or even -barely liking nation, in the cases of South Africa and Holland)?

What concerns me about this thing is the potential lack of practice as a team the Americans may get. Here’s to hoping that Buck Martinez, Bob Watson, et al have the magic to get this group to gel, or else Team USA could achieve results tantamount to those of another embarrassing Olympic finish, that of Allen “We don’t need no practice” Iverson’s basketball squad. What’s in common here? Baseball and basketball are our games, fellow Americans. A sleeping giant attitude will no longer work…

[davetex]

I really only have one question about this quest for world dominance: Why hold the contest less than a month before Opening Day?

For this reason alone, I blame no player for skipping the whole schbang. I mean, I atleast applaud Selig for not holding the WBC during the season, but 86ing
Spring Training for all those that intend to play is a bit.....moronic.

I have a feeling that this will fail miserably.

[Lefty Noob]

Boy, I was looking looking forward to this, but with all the guys dropping out -- a side effect of the timing -- this thing looks to be a shell of its former self. Manny and Pedro both bowed out yesterday, as did Vlad Guerrero, C.C. Sabathia and Billy Wagner. And replacing those last two on the U.S. roster? Powerhouses Gary Majewski and Al Leiter. Al Leiter?

[Lefty Noob]

Sorry for the double post, but I just saw this and though it was interesting...

Baltimore is among the teams losing many players to the tournament -- 11, including four-fifths of its starting rotation -- Rodrigo Lopez (Mexico), Erik Bedard (Canada), Bruce Chen (Panama) and Daniel Cabrera (Dominican Republic).

That's from a story by AP writer Ronald Blum. Now, Baltimore probably wouldn't have been a contended regardless of the circumstances, but this is still a major blow to them entering the season. Almost seems like some kind of safeguard should have been put into place to make sure that no one team lost too many players...

[Wizard of Os]

Cheers everyone!

Now come on...forget the injuries (injuries happen during spring training). Forget the team makeup and last-minute dropouts (although i'm trying hard to myself and barely succeding. Forget about the marketing involved (you're a sports fan in the 21st century and you're concerned about international marketing ploys?). The World Baseball Classic is certain to be a great event, tomorrow if not today.

I'm looking forward to seeing some great Japanese and Korean players we never see. I'm looking forward to seeing a real honest-to-Doubleday confrontation between the Japanese/Asian team concept of wa (check out the amazing book on Americans in Japanese ball by former SI scribe Robert Whiting.

Comparable events were organized by the British. Aside from the World Cup (which is a whole other beast unto itself), there are 'Cups for both cricket and rugby. These tournaments bring out the best in the players and make for an amazing spectacle for fans. And i seriously doubt the All-Blacks sell a hell of a lot more rugby jerseys in South Africa because of Rugby World Cup marketing.

And check it the compelling subplots. Who will come out of the Asia bracket? Saduhara Oh is managing Japan. What can Jim Lefebvre do with China? (His guys lost in the opener to Korea in a close one.) How good can Cuba and the Dominican Republic. And most of all for this forum, how far will the Americans go?

Predictions:

For the final eight, i'll take Japan and Korea; the US (duh; what a Mickey Mouse bracket this one is) and let's say Canada; Cuba and Puerto Rico; and Dominican Republic and Australia (remember they played in the gold medal game in the Olympics).

In the quarters, Japan takes out an American team that never quite gels as a team (thereby extending the curse of American Olympic basketball and often, let's say, individual play of the American athlete). Dominican Republic and Cuba play in the real championship and Dominican Republic emerges in an upset and take out Japan in the World World Series.

Let's enjoy this one, eh? I think it will stay a fixture for decades to come.

[Wizard of Os]

Actually, you know what? I'm going to go back on something i said. I'll say that the absence of top-level dropouts proves the be the Dominican Republic's doom. The Cubans advance to beat the Japanese in the finals to take the...

Hey, what does the prize for the World Baseball Classic look like? A belt? A golden bat? Rings? A Stanley (Protective) Cup?

[Lefty Noob]

First games are in the books, with Japan crushing China 18-2 and South Korean beating Taiwan 2-0. Saw the very end of the Japan-China game, but for some stupid reason, ESPN2 decided to air these games OVERNIGHT, so I caught the final inning over morning coffee. Gee, thanks ESPN.

[Wizard of Os]

Cheers, everyone!

Team USA defeats the San Francisco Giants, 12-7. Can we call it a success? The Rocket looked decent with 3 Ks in two innings. The uniforms, however, are brutal. Who came up with the USA logo? Wait, don't tell me: Bud Selig, right?

Congrats to Korea for upsetting Japan in Pool A, eh? The quote from Seung Yeop Lee, who hit the two-run homer that won the game for his team in the top of the eighth, was hilarious: "In that situation [with a 3-and-1 count], Japanese pitchers will throw a breaking ball."

Lucky for him he's playing for Team Japan's manager Sadahura Oh and his Yorimuri Giants in the upcoming season.

Another cool thing about the WBC is the exhibition schedule in between games. Korea plays the Royals and Padres before the next round...

It's just beginning to get fun.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Man I was reading through this and conspiracy theories abound ...cool!...I like conspiracy theories...

okay, how do we play this?...Yes well...Its really the fault of the "Topps Baseball Card Company"...since they are now publicly traded, they wanted to expand thier world market, so they cut a deal with Selig and with the Players Association...In return they get exclusive rights to run a Set of all World Team Players in thier World Team League uniforms and sell them to different world markets...

Did I play right?...Is there a prize or something?...Can't we just enjoy the dumb thing?