World Baseball Classic

[RunawaySlave]

Anybody paying attention??? It's pretty competitive
I Know people thought the U.S.A. was just gonna roll
on everybody, lol

Was checking the rosters and the Dominican Republic's
roster is just sick. It's almost a MLB all star squad...
Check out the infielders:


Pitchers
Miguel Batista, RHP, Arizona Diamondbacks
Eude Brito
Daniel Cabrera, RHP, Baltimore Orioles
Bartolo Colon, RHP, Los Angeles Angels
Francisco Liriano, LHP, Minnesota Twins
Damaso Marte, LHP, Pittsburgh Pirates
Odalis Perez, LHP, Los Angles Dodgers
Fernando Rodney, RHP, Detroit Tigers
Duaner Sanchez, RHP, New York Mets
Jorge Sosa, RHP, Atlanta Braves
Julian Tavarez, RHP, Boston Red Sox
Robinson Tejeda
Salomon Torres, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates



Catchers

Juan Brito, Arizona Diamondbacks
Alberto Castillo, Washington Nationals
Ronny Paulino


Infielders

Ronnie Belliard
Adrian Beltre, 3B, Seattle Mariners
Pedro Feliz, 3B, San Francisco Giants
David Ortiz, 1B, Boston Red Sox
Placido Polanco, Detroit Tigers
Albert Pujols, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals
Jose Reyes, SS, New York Mets
Alfonso Soriano, 2B, Washington Nationals
Miguel Tejada, SS, Baltimore Orioles



Outfielders

Moises Alou, San Francisco Giants
Juan Encarnacion, St. Louis Cardinals
Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels
Wily Mo Pena, Cincinnati Reds
Luis Polonia
Willy Taveras, Houston Astros

 

[RunawaySlave]

And you KNOW I'm feeling Venezuela's squad
Especially that pitching staff battery:


Pitchers
Tony Armas, RHP, Washington Nationals
Rafael Betancourt, RHP, Cleveland Indians
Francisco Butto, RHP, New York Yankees
Giovanni Carrara, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates
Gustavo Chacin, LHP, Toronto Blue Jays
Kelvim Escobar, RHP, Los Angeles Angels
Freddy Garcia, RHP, Chicago White Sox
Carlos Hernandez, LHP, Houston Astros
Jorge Julio, RHP, Baltimore Orioles
Francisco Rodriguez, RHP, Los Angeles Angels
Johan Santana, LHP, Minnesota Twins
Carlos Silva, RHP, Minnesota Twins
Carlos Zambrano, RHP, Chicago Cubs
Victor Zambrano, RHP, New York Mets


Catchers

Henry Blanco, Cleveland Indians
Ramon Hernandez, Baltimore Orioles
Victor Martinez, Cleveland Indians


Infielders

Edgardo Alfonzo, 3B, Los Angeles Angels
Miguel Cabrera, Florida Marlins
Carlos Guillen, SS, Detroit Tigers
Victor Moreno
Tomas Perez, 2B, Philadelphia Phillies
Marco Scutaro, 2B, Oakland Athletics
Omar Vizquel, SS, San Francisco Giants


Outfielders

Bobby Abreu, Philadelphia Phillies
Tony Alvarez
Endy Chavez, Philadelphia Phillies
Magglio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers
Robert Perez
Juan Rivera, Los Angeles Angels

 

[RunawaySlave]

United States ELIMINATED. Maybe you'll get em in 2009


Updated: March 16, 2006




The end comes sooner than expected


By Eric Neel
ESPN.com




ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Roger Clemens was on the hill and he pitched well, but he wasn't the man Thursday night.



Bob Davidson made another dubious call (this time turning a no-brainer home run off the right-field foul pole into a stand-up double for Mexico's Mario Valenzuela), but that wasn't the story.



The crowds at Angel Stadium had been insane all week, but this one, though they generated the occasional nationalistic chant, never really reached a fever pitch.

Team USA's offense had shown serious pop all tournament long (a WBC-best .533 slugging percentage coming in), but only managed three base hits.



For Team Mexico, it was a 2-1 victory and a party in the parking lot. But for Team USA, it was the game that wasn't.

"Tonight, we just couldn't connect for that extra hit to extend an inning or to go ahead or tie," said a somber Alex Rodriguez afterward.

True enough. The Americans stranded runners in the first, second, fourth, fifth, and ninth innings. They were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. With runners on second and third in the fifth inning, Derek Jeter gutted out a tough eight-pitch at-bat, fouling off balls at his face and his feet, only to ground out to second base and end the inning. In the ninth, down one, with runners on first and second and one out, Vernon Wells tattooed a ball toward short, but his bat exploded and the ball died, going from potential game-tying single to game-ending double-play in the blink of an eye. And so it went.

"They just pitched well, top to bottom," Jeter said of Mexico's eight different pitchers. "We didn't see any of them more than once tonight, and they all pitched well against us."

That's baseball, of course. Sometimes, odds and expectations be damned, you go out, all whimper and no bang.

The night began with everyone in the park expecting to see balls jumping off bats and over walls. The erratic Oliver Perez was starting for Mexico, and the American hitters were motivated, focused, and, unlike in their games against Korea and Japan, familiar with the arms they were about to face.

"We really came into this game with a lot of confidence," Rodriguez said. "It felt like we could play well and dominate this game."

It wasn't until the failed opportunity in the bottom of the fifth, coming on the heels of Mexico's second run (on two singles and a sacrifice) in the top half of the inning, that it started to feel as though maybe the U.S. squad was closer to heading back to its various spring training homes than on to the tournament finals.

"Our goal was to get there [to San Diego]," said right fielder Vernon Wells. "We just came up short."

In a tournament where the tiebreaking contingencies were enough to make Ivy League mathematicians cry uncle, this game came down to simple numbers. One run. One chance. One inaugural WBC championship weekend. And, it turned out, one seat on the sidelines.

"We have no excuses," Jeter said. "We got all the breaks to get to this point. We had our chance."

<!---------------------PULL-QUOTE TABLE (BEGIN)---------------------><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD width=4><SPACER height="1" width="3" type="block"></TD><TD>[font=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]“[/font]</TD><TD width=225>[font=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]We're disappointed, but we can't really hang our head too much. This tournament shows you how good baseball is around the world. It's been fun to be a part of. It's fun to see the different countries and how they play the game, and the different flair they bring to it, and all the fun they have. Unfortunately, they had a little too much fun tonight.[/font][font=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] ”[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD width=4><SPACER height="1" width="3" type="block"></TD><TD></TD><TD width=225>[font=Times,serif]— [/font][font=Times,serif]Vernon Wells[/font]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!---------------------PULL-QUOTE TABLE (END)--------------------->

While the Mexican faithful danced and sang their way through the corridors of Angel Stadium, celebrating a morale-boosting win over their heavily-favored neighbors, Jeter and company barely managed a whisper before crowds of microphones in the hallway outside the U.S. locker room.

"We're just very disappointed," said young reliever Huston Street. "I love this team. I was looking forward to playing with these guys [in San Diego]. I'm just not ready for it to be over."

Their postgame mood, the flat, deflated-balloon feel that hung over the U.S. side from the fifth inning on, was in stark contrast to the team's enthusiasm for the tournament coming in to the game.

"This has been such a special experience," manager Buck Martinez said during batting practice. "We've all returned to the level of playing the game for joy in this thing. It's been a rebirth."

Three hours later, he told the press room about how the guys were hurting down in the locker room.

Which feeling will he and the club carry away with them now that it's over?

"In the end, it was fun. I would recommend it to anyone that has the opportunity next time it comes around. It was a fun experience, right up until tonight," said Jeter, finally managing a smile.

Vernon Wells, who's been rah-rah about this thing from the beginning, agreed. "We're disappointed, but we can't really hang our head too much," he said. "This tournament shows you how good baseball is around the world. It's been fun to be a part of. It's fun to see the different countries and how they play the game, and the different flair they bring to it, and all the fun they have. Unfortunately, they had a little too much fun tonight."


Eric Neel is a columnist for Page 2.

 

[RunawaySlave]

And the Final Four are


Cuba
Korea
Dominican Republic
Japan


so who will take the world title??

 

[Sango]

Like I've been saying a bunch of overpaid, steroid using, whinning, crybabies. Maybe now they'll get back to the good quality baseball and rename the MLB "World series Championship"... Pretty pathetic display. I don't think the USA really cared about the Tournament well b/c they're RICH. It seems like the other countries showed a bit more passion. Go Dominicans lol, roster's looking sick... You see how young the cuban team is and winning. Wow.