EVIL~! alkeiper

Fair warning that this thread may contain spoilers. Puerto Rico and Cuba are tied 1-1 in the fourth.

What are the odds that Bernie sits on the bench with Crosby in center?

The Phils lost IF Matt Kata on waivers to the Cincinnati Reds.

No. No. No. No.

Dominicans advance with a 2-1 victory over Venezuela. Tomorrow is PR/Cuba and Korea/Japan. Both games will be televised somewhere besides English language television. PR/Cuba is another straight up elimination game. The United States almost entirely need a Korean victory in order to have a shot at advancing. However, the U.S. could also have a chance to advance if Japan truly clobbers Korea to the tune of eight runs allowed.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B06030HOU1989.htm

Memo to Gary Thorne, the Dominicans being a man short of a 30 man roster will probably not effect the outcome of the game. I'm sure they can finish a game with a measley 29 players.

Check local listings for Mexico/Japan. UPN 9 is airing it.

Dominicans/Venezuela tonight at 7pm ET, live on ESPN2. This is a strict elimination game.

Young is awful, ranked at or near the bottom of shortstops in almost every defensive metric. One poster at BTF says his range best resembles a traffic cone. That the Rangers' pitching is always bad would seem to support this. Griffey has declined considerably in the field since his injuries. He used to be very good, but not any more.

I think so. Jeter's seen by some as below average. Chipper Jones is awful, as is Michael Young. Those guys along with Griffey play prime defensive positions. The 1B slot is excellent however, as is catcher defense with Brian Schneider.

I don't think so. Games are won and lost on both ends. All I think is that Griffey should be moved out of center in favor of one of the better CFs already on the team. Since he's a productive hitter, DH him.

Griffey. Baseball Prospectus rated him 18 runs below average last year.

Quick plug. My fantasy league has one opening, and the draft is tonight at 8:30pm ET. First come, first served. Non keeper. League ID: 81112 Pass: legends http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/

Also to answer naiwf, I'm sure any hitter looks bad when you remove his best performances. If you instead remove A-Rod's two WORST performances, he's a .371 hitter (26 for 70).

Al, where did you find those stats? I'm curious about his average with RISP or if he stacked those stats in blowouts compared to games that necessitated clutch play. I don't mean to sound like an ARod hater, but I feel like he's often produced big games when they weren't really as needed. I couldn't compile the stats with RISP, because 118 at bats is a small enough sample as it is without dividing that up. I can look at individual series though. In the 2004 ALDS, the Yankees defeated the Twins in four games. A-Rod went 4-6 in game two, doubling in the tying run in the 11th and placing the eventual winning run at third. In game four, again in extra innings and the score tied, Rodriguez doubled and stole third, scoring the go-ahead run. Two games where A-Rod's hitting directly effected the outcome. I think the big problem is that A-Rod's been used as a table setter in New York. He gets on base and others drive him in. He's pitched around and walked often, and when he does contribute it's at the front. No one remembers the leadoff hitter unless he steals 50 bases. That's why people don't have highlight memories, I would think. Almost every superstar has bad postseason performances. Reggie Jackson hit .227 lifetime in ALCS play. Going into the 2003 ALCS against the Yankees, David Ortiz was a .200 postseason hitter. Albert Pujols went 2 for 18 in his first postseason. I think it is unfair to A-Rod to castigate him for his postseason play, especially when it has been relatively good. And FYI, the statistics are available via Baseball-Reference.com, on each player's page. Clicking on the links will bring you to the linescores, and additional links from there access box scores and play-by-play.

What's the harm? You give Torre about two or three weeks to indulge his veteran fantasies, and before long Wright will be on the DL again. Natural selection.

Alex Rodriguez is a career .305 hitter in the postseason, with a .393 OBP, six home runs. It's amazing what selective memory will do to some people. Look, this is not a game where the United States is incredibly, earth-shakingly dominant. Baseball doesn't work like that. The '98 Yankees lost 50 games, and that's perhaps the greatest team ever assembled. The U.S. team is facing a collection of pitchers they've never seen before, many with funky deliveries. And when your national team is obsessed with playing the worst fielding CF in the majors, they're going to allow some runs. Upsets happen. This is exactly the problem with running a three game round robin. I have to say though, Korea has really raised their profile in this tournament. They didn't just beat the U.S. They stunned Japan as well.

Watch out for the huge jump Fernandez should have in innings pitched from last year. He pitched 84 innings last year. The number is going to jump up big time. 172 innings actually. He did pitch in AAA Tacoma as well. I think Hernandez is going to step back somewhat this season as his walk rate was low compared to his minor league numbers. I'd look for an ERA closer to four, which is NOT bad for a 20 year old starter. He could surprise us though. He's very stingy in regards to surrendering the longball.

In fairness though, Cuba did beat Venezuela today. That makes the Cuba/Puerto Rico rematch key. It also would seemingly clear the path for the Dominicans to reach the semifinals, barring any screwups. I think Venezuela has easily been the disappointment of the tournament thus far.

Not on the surface, but it's not like Puerto Rico was throwing their best pitchers either. Cuba was shut down by Dicky F'n Gonzalez.

It's a three game round robin, same format as last round. The top two teams from both groups advance.

Cuba vs. Venezuela (1pm) Cuba was demolished by Puerto Rico on Friday. One has to wonder if they held back their best players in a nothing game, or if the team was exposed. Part of the problem Cuban baseball has is that they have never faced the best players in the world. In last year's World Cup, the best hitter on the American team was Josh Phelps. Johan Santana will start the game for the Venezuelans. Japan vs. United States (4pm) Jake Peavy battles Koji Uehara. The Japanese players are certainly good enough to upset the Americans, especially with Ichiro in the lineup. Puerto Rico vs. Dominican Republic (8pm) Javier Vazquez vs. Bartolo Colon. This is the best chance for an upset. The Puerto Ricans have the hitting, and Vazquez should keep them in the game. Mexico vs. Korea (11pm) No starters have been announced. This game will likely see little attention, but it is important. Pool 1 is essentially a dogfight between three teams to see who advances versus the U.S., at least on paper.

Pool 1: Japan, Korea, United States, Mexico Pool 2: Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Cuba Cuba are definately underdogs after what we've seen in the first round. Pool 1 should be a battle for the second spot, and any of the other three could upset the United States. The Japan/Korea rematch should be a good one. DR and Venezuela are favorites in pool 2. Next games are Sunday. ESPN2 will air games live at 8pm and 11pm.

Good lord this Cuban manager has a quick hook. Almost two hours in and we're in the top of the fourth.