Bored 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 Venezuela is the first team into the semi-finals. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Czech please! 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 Is this true that Brian McCann was forced to play left field (where he has never played in organized baseball) because of an injury-shortened bench? That's a something. So Chipper Jones aggravated the strained oblique muscle that has put him on the disabled list before, Matt Lindstrom is shut down for at least 10 days, Ryan Braun and Dustin Pedroia are hurt as well, and Davey Johnson floated the idea of forfeiting the game. Lovely. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 And meanwhile Julio Lugo is out 3-4 weeks. Manny Ramirez is out a week. Cole Hamels just got examined by the Phillies' doctor. Alex Rodriguez is out 10 weeks with a bad hip. We should eliminate Spring Training too. Frankly, it wouldn't be a Davey Johnson managed team if they didn't have guys playing out of position. This is a guy who once rotated Jesse Orosco and Roger McDowell through the outfield to get through an extra inning game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Czech please! 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 And meanwhile Julio Lugo is out 3-4 weeks. Manny Ramirez is out a week. Cole Hamels just got examined by the Phillies' doctor. Alex Rodriguez is out 10 weeks with a bad hip. We should eliminate Spring Training too. Man, for a guy who carries himself as a baseball genius, you sure are choosing to die here on Retard Hill. Nobody has suggested that we eliminate spring training (though shortening it from this interminable seven-week odyssey would be great), because spring training is not the same environment. I think Ryan Braun himself acknowledged as much. It's controlled in order to prepare players for the highly compensated jobs they hold for six months. Players will get hurt in games, they'll get hurt in training, they'll get hurt ironing the shirts they're wearing as they iron them. That's reality. But playing at full intensity ahead of schedule seems to be more dangerous than spring training, and so risk should be minimized by holding players out of this. There is absolutely no reason to do this. We don't need to grow the game, we don't need to determine anything. We need to get players ready for the season. That's all that matters. The Commissioner's office isn't hiring, Al. You don't need to carry the water for Selig's Folly as more and more people start to realize that this has absolutely no point whatsoever. I like baseball too, and I love pointless endeavors, but I have no patience for pointless baseball endeavors. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 Attendance and Television Ratings Shine For Selig's Folly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 And for the record, I am a baseball fan. What that involves for the most part is that I love watching good baseball players playing good baseball games. The World Baseball Classic has gathered good players from around the world, and good games have resulted. Why should I not love something like this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Czech please! 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 I'm a baseball fan too, and I don't want to see the meaningful competition jeopardized by meaningless competition. I don't want Ted Lilly being asked to play in left because Ryan Braun got hurt (though as a Cubs fan I have to say that the possibility of injuries to Braun and Lindstrom certainly don't hurt us). American Idol has good ratings too. So? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brett Favre 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 Well, people obviously care to watch. If they care to watch why so pissed? That's what it's all about. You think the WBC will be the reason "good competition" will cease to exist this year? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geniusMoment 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 Oh come on, you guys act like WBC fever is sweeping this county. 11,000 people showed up in Miami to watch the US team play. It may be big in Japan and some of the other countries where they take actual national pride in this tournament, but the US doesn't care about stuff like this. Honestly, maybe it's because I'm a jaded american, but I really don't get the extreme national pride that many feel. An example is Ramon Ramirez for the Reds, he had a slight shot of making the Reds this year as a long reliever/last guy out of the bullpen player, but choose to play for his country (venz) in the WBC, this has cost him his chance at making the team. So he choose to play in the WBC for pride and make 50,000 a year in AAA instead of staying in camp and trying to get on the team and make 400,000. I'm sorry, I just don't get it. I really don't think most Americans do, to me that choice is easy. And it's not the choice he picked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brett Favre 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 Obviously it means something if he made that choice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geniusMoment 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 Obviously it means something if he made that choice. That's what I don't get, he may never get a another shot again. Who knows, but I'd rather try and make mid six figures then try to win the WBC for my country. Maybe it's something they put in the water here, but I wouldn't really feel any national pride if USA won. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Czech please! 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 Obviously it means something if he made that choice. That's what I don't get, he may never get a another shot again. Who knows, but I'd rather try and make mid six figures then try to win the WBC for my country. Maybe it's something they put in the water here, but I wouldn't really feel any national pride if USA won. Of course you wouldn't. Nobody would. We have nothing to prove, and this doesn't prove anything. Soccer is different, because all the respective leagues are at a close enough competitive level that there's no undisputed world champion: the best team in England might not be as good as the best one in Germany or the best in Brazil or whatever. The Fake Italians versus the Dominicans Who Couldn't Get Out Of It versus Americans That Aren't Injured Yet is silly. The world championship is determined by the National League vs. the American League, period-sentence-'graph. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 And all other baseball isn't interesting. Got it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Smues 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 Obviously it means something if he made that choice. That's what I don't get, he may never get a another shot again. Who knows, but I'd rather try and make mid six figures then try to win the WBC for my country. Maybe it's something they put in the water here, but I wouldn't really feel any national pride if USA won. Of course you wouldn't. Nobody would. I will if it happens. And I may be a nobody, but I'm not Nobody. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 All I know is that if Jimmy Rollins gets hurt, I'm not going to run back here crying like a little baby. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 17, 2009 For those interested, XM has the game on XM 140 for ESPN Radio. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 Are Buck Martinez and Jon Sciambi on MLB Network as well? This sounds like a Simulcast. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
treble 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 Yeah, they are. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 Great point Sciambi making on the sac bunt. And the bunt took the bat out of two hitters' hands, Beltran and Delgado. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hitler Cubano 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 Cuba stayed alive and knocked out Mexico, second time they've played this tournament. This is an impressive little statistic: The Cubans haven't missed the finals for 40 consecutive international tournaments, dating back to the baseball World Cup of 1951, and they don't aim to do it this time, either. The finals in this Classic are slated for Monday night at Dodger Stadium, following semifinal games on Saturday and Sunday. 1951?! A full eight years before Castro, good lord. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Smues 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 Not looking good for team USA. They really missed an opportunity to at least tie it in the 7th. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 Yeah, Team USA still down 4-3 heading into the ninth inning. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Smues 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 5-3 actually. And yet another leadoff runner. Let's see how they blow it this time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 Back to back singles! Now let's see what Captain Clutch does. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Precious Roy 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 Forget the people who claim the WBC doesn't matter, I think it's fucking embarrassing that we were eliminated early in the first one and if this score holds up and we're out early again it's a huge disappointment to me. Baseball is an American game, we should be winning this tournament every year or at least making it further than we have been, and I really don't know what to say to people who don't buy into the national pride aspect of it. The players and fans of all these other countries sure as hell care, I'm pretty sure Davey Johnson and his players care, so why shouldn't American baseball fans care? As far as the injury thing goes, these are grown ass men, professional athletes, frankly the whole idea that everyone involved in this thing is at a greater risk of injury is insulting to them as men and just kind of asinine in general. Any player worth his MLB contract should be keeping himself in top shape in the offseason, and none of them should be so far removed from baseball related drills that getting back into it causes an elevated risk of injury. This whole notion is retarded. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 5-4. Bases Loaded, one out. Of course, all the drama is killed by the fear of who's going to hurt themselves. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 Cabrera isn't faltering because he lacks the closer mentality. He's faltering because he's a pretty crummy pitcher. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Precious Roy 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 I'm pissed that I can't watch this game. Stupid mlbtv Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bored 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 DAVID WRIGHT IS CLUTCH, FUCK THE HATERS!!!! U.S. into the semis! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kahran Ramsus 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2009 Oh but this means nothing... Those players sure do look like they don't care. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
