World Baseball Classic Thread

[seawolf17]

Sounds like the players are already fully bored. So is everyone else.

[metirish]

hahaha...so true wolf.

[Frayed Knot]

Poor Alex, a man without two countries.

[metirish]

He's an Island onto himself, time to pitch a tent Alex.

[metirish]

News on the WBC..

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060112&content_id=1294742&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[Willets Point]

That's more like news that news is coming.

[metirish]

Our National nightmare is over.......

] Alex Rodriguez to play in World Baseball Classic By JON HEYMAN STAFF WRITER January 17, 2006, 10:23 PM EST After much deliberation and some arm twisting, Alex Rodriguez has decided to play in the World Baseball Classic. "Alex will play for the United States," Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras, told Newsday Tuesday night. Rodriguez met last Tuesday with baseball commissioner Bud Selig and top union lawyer Gene Orza, and both Selig and Orza made personal pleas to Rodriguez to play. "In the end, Alex thought it was important that he honor his citizenship,'' Boras said. "He also felt playing wouldn't interfere too greatly with his goal of being a world champion.''

[metirish]

]"He also felt playing wouldn't interfere too greatly with his goal of being a world champion.''

Huh?

[Guest OlerudOwned]

I'd be great if he didnt make the final cuts, just for being so annoying.

[Guest Edgy DC]

The World Baseball Classic: finally the competition to find out which is the greatest baseball nation in the world, to be decided by the greatest players in the world... competing under duress.

[Frayed Knot]

I'm not sure that Hamlet was this wracked by indecision.

[metirish]

This article from Klapisch is comical,more for how he explains the thinking that seems to go into every Gay-Rod decision........is he that insecure that he wants everyone to like him?..you can read the full statement on ..www.arod.com

] Wednesday, January 18, 2006 By BOB KLAPISCH SPORTS COLUMNIST The hours were tick-tick-ticking away, the deadline fast approaching for the World Baseball Classic's teams to finalize their rosters. Yet, as midnight approached, an entire industry still was waiting out Alex Rodriguez's decision. Or, to be more precise, his indecision. Was A-Rod playing for the Americans or Dominicans? Was he in or out of the tournament? The drama didn't end until 10:07 p.m., when Rodriguez's agent announced his client will be joining the U.S. team. No doubt A-Rod's decision was popular with the union, which had been pressuring him all day to end his holdout. But the Dominicans, whose president called A-Rod as part of a recruiting effort, felt jilted. So were the Yankees, who been assured by the third baseman that he'd spend spring training in Tampa. According to one Yankee insider, Rodriguez went as far to relay a personal message to George Steinbrenner last month. "Tell him I'm [sitting out] for him," A-Rod said. But that promise melted under the heat generated by the union and to a lesser degree the commissioner's office, each of whom had a stake in Rodriguez's participation. Play, they whispered to him. Just play. Pick a roster, any roster. It doesn't matter if it's the Americans or the Dominicans. Baseball's version of the Olympics needs the presence of the game's star athlete, is how the sales pitch went. One member of the American team further appealed to A-Rod by text messaging his cellphone. "Why are you doing this?" the player wrote, referring to Rodriguez's holdout. "You're just [cementing] the very perception that people criticize you for, that you try to please everyone." Such piercing logic finally broke A-Rod. A few minutes after 11 p.m., his Web site, A-Rod.com, carried the official wording of his flip-flop. "Following discussion with my family and agent, the Commissioner, and the Major League Baseball Players Association, I have decided to participate in the World Baseball Classic. "In recent weeks, following dialogue with caring friends and players, both Dominican and American, I reached the conclusion that if I played in the Classic, I would play for the United States and honor my American citizenship. "I appreciate the support and understanding of my fellow Dominican players and friends who aided me in making this decision. "The World Baseball Classic offers baseball and its fans an exciting new forum and I look forward, if selected, to representing the United States in what will be baseball's greatest international competition." That represented a stunning turnaround to those closest to A-Rod, especially those who'd been expecting a 6 p.m. announcement on the Web site. But when the hour came and went without any word, Yankee officials nervously began calling around, asking if anyone knew the reason for the delay. Rodriguez's handlers were questioned, including agent Scott Boras. In or out? Everyone wanted to know. Finally, the third baseman was reached and his answer only further muddied the waters. A-Rod told an intermediary that he "wasn't ready yet" to say he was blowing off the WBC -- only that he was "still working" on the wording of his statement. While Rodriguez insisted he was "99.9 percent sure" he was not going to play, that he'd yet to commit to a Yankees-only spring training was as maddening as it was comical. Or as one Yankee insider said, "Now I know how Alex drives everyone crazy." Why was it so hard for Rodriguez to reach a verdict? Because of the same demon that's haunted him throughout his career: the insatiable need to be universally liked. The longer Rodriguez vowed neutrality, the more restless the mob became. The union and commissioner wanted Rodriguez on board because he would instantly legitimize the tournament, as well as reverse a series of public-relations setbacks. Cuba is banned for now from participating, but is lobbying the U.S. government for permission to play in the tournament. In the meantime, the International Baseball Federation has vowed to withhold any sanctioning of the tournament and Puerto Rico has refused to host any of the first-round games unless the Cubans are allowed back in. On the American side, several key players -- John Smoltz and Barry Zito among them -- have changed their minds about playing. None of the Americans from the world champion White Sox lent his name to this cause. And no one was really sure if Roger Clemens would be healthy enough by March. Though the U.S. team promises to be a strong one, it's no means a blow-away favorite, which is why A-Rod's decision means so much. As well, the Dominicans were leaning on Rodriguez to acknowledge his Latin roots. Despite being American-born and a U.S. citizen, Rodriguez had been pressured by elected Dominican officials, not to mention his Dominican-born mother. So Rodriguez announced last month that he wasn't playing. The controversy was over, it seemed, even after The New York Times hinted two weeks ago that Rodriguez was dipping his toes in the water again -- this time for the Americans. Turns out, it was officials from the players' union who were suggesting that, even though none had directly consulted with Rod. As recently as last weekend, there was no sign that Rodriguez was facing a public-relations crisis. He attended Derek Jeter's charity golf tournament in Tampa, mingling with the likes of Reggie Jackson and Michael Jordan, without telling anyone he still was torn by the WBC. By Monday morning, all that was left was A-Rod's announcement. By then, MLB was busy finalizing its rosters: Each team had to submit a pool of 60 players, which then would be pared down to 30 by March 3. Anyone left off the initial 60 would not be permitted to play, not even sought-after stars such as Rodriguez. The U.S. squad had 42 names ready Monday night; the other 18 would be identified by Tuesday's midnight deadline. No wonder the Rodriguez saga was so all-consuming. This was the last chance, not just for him, but for all those waging a peer-pressure campaign. By 8 p.m., there still was no word. Nothing at 9 p.m., nothing at 10 p.m., either. Calls to Rodriguez's cellphone went directly to voice mail. Seven minutes later the world had its answer. Rodriguez had made up his mind. Again. E-mail: klapisch@northjersey.com

[MFS62]

]Marco Scutaro (currently unaffiliated, but expected to be designated as Italian, after MLB DNA testing)

Edgy, your posts are like Forrest Gump's box of chocolate. You never know what you're going to get.

Well done.

EDIT: What are the odds that Pedro knocks A-Rod right on his can for playing for "the other side"?

What are the odds that Pedro knocks A-Rod down just for being A-Rod?


Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

If the IBF doesn't sanction this, I'm not participating. That's final. -ish.

[metirish]

This was probably posted but Nomar will play for Mexico, both parents are from there.

[Frayed Knot]

Typical ARod.

By trying so hard to make a decision that will piss off as few people as possible and put himself in the best light, he resorts to torturing himself for weeks on end and winds up pissing off a whole lot more people than he would have initially and comes off like a sniveling wimp in the process.

There's always a guy in every niche who -- despite the best of intentions, and despite the advantages of being reasonably smart, good-looking, popular, and accomplished -- manages to look and sound like a complete dork with almost frightening frequency.
A-Rod is offically the Al Gore of baseball.

[Elster88]

It's amazing that it happens to one of the most talented players in, dare I say it, history.

Skill, money, and looks, and he's still a weenie. It must take an absolutely terrible loser-personality to pull that off.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Sports Illustrated is reporting that Cuba is back in after securing visas for the team by proimising to donate any money gained to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

[seawolf17]

Eh, too little too late. I think MLB really screwed the pooch on this one, top to bottom.

[Frayed Knot]

I'm trying to confirm rumors that ARod has changed course yet again as is now offerring to play for Cuba in the upcoming WBC.
After all, he did have an uncle who visited there once and those memories mean a lot to him.

[Guest abogdan]

Bonds is out b/c of injury risk. Who does that move into LF for the US? Berkman? Chipper? Luis Gonzalez?

[metirish]

] Classic sets pitch limits THE ASSOCIATED PRESS January 26, 2006, 6:57 PM EST The World Baseball Classic set its pitch limits and mercy rules Thursday, designed to protect pitchers in the early stages of spring training and cut short one-sided games. Pitchers in the first round of games, scheduled from March 3-10, will be limited to 65 pitches. The amount rises to 80 pitches for the second round, set for March 12-16, and 95 for the semifinals on March 18 and the championship March 20. A 30-pitch outing must be followed by one day off, and a 50-pitch outing must be followed by four days off. No one will be allowed to pitch on three consecutive days. Pitchers who reach the limit will be allowed to complete the current plate appearance. The usual rule that a starting pitcher must throw at least five innings to get credit for a win will be waived. All games will use designated hitters. Games will be stopped after five innings when a team is ahead by 15 or more runs and after seven innings when a team is ahead by at least 10 runs. A game can be stopped in the middle of an inning if a team reaches the threshold. Limits also were set on players in the tournament from any major league team: 14 from an organization and 10 from its active 25-man roster or disabled list last Aug. 31. A major league team is allowed to waive the limit for its players. The tournament organizers -- the commissioner's office and the players' association -- also may block "players whose participation would otherwise impose an undue hardship" on their major league team. The rules gave the examples of "too many starting pitchers, too many catchers." The 16 teams in the WBC must submit final 30-man rosters five days before their openers. Teams can replace disabled players from names on their preliminary 60-man rosters, but only for following rounds. The tiebreakers in the standings used for advancement will be head-to-head record, followed by fewest runs allowed per inning, fewest earned runs allowed per inning, highest batting average in head-to-head games and a drawing of lots. The tiebreakers are based on International Baseball Federation rules. The WBC also stated its previously discussed rules on eligibility. A player can represent a country if he is a citizen, qualifies for citizenship, holds a passport or is qualified to hold a passport, is a legal resident, was born in the country, has a parent who is or was a citizen and has a parent who was born there.

[nymr83]

Edgy DC wrote: The World Baseball Classic: finally the competition to find out which is the greatest baseball nation in the world, to be decided by the greatest players in the world... competing under duress.

the way some of these guys are running away it makes playing for Castro seem like fun...

]Pitchers in the first round of games, scheduled from March 3-10, will be limited to 65 pitches. The amount rises to 80 pitches for the second round, set for March 12-16, and 95 for the semifinals on March 18 and the championship March 20. A 30-pitch outing must be followed by one day off, and a 50-pitch outing must be followed by four days off. No one will be allowed to pitch on three consecutive days.

this should be called the "Sorry DR, you're going to have to pitch guys other than Pedro, rule."

]The WBC also stated its previously discussed rules on eligibility. A player can represent a country if he ... qualifies for citizenship...

thats pretty broad... so theoretically if Israel fielded a team (not likely considering the israelis i know...they'd try to headbutt or kick the ball) Shawn Green would be eligible to play for them despite having never entered the country (Israeli law allows any jew to become a citizen)
I'm sure that the laws of other countries could also create strange things like this, I'd prefer they narrowed it down to people who ARE citizens.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yeah, it's the way the Olympics does it for some sport. But if the player's actual country doesn't mind, I guess I shouldn't.

I guess the only real victim of Piazza playing for Italy is whoever the catcher he knocked off the Italian roster is. But it's theoretically the Piazza factor that allowed Italy their automatic qualification. If there was a qualifying tournament, they'd have been unlikely to advance to the Classic without the slumming Americans (or perhaps Argentinians).

But the fun of seeing international competition is often the joy of seeing the struggle of anonymous and seemingly overmatched Davids facing down the Goliaths of the best nations.

[seawolf17]

http://www.irisharts.org/Images/Seaver.jpgMercy rules? So glad our major league athletes have finally graduated to Little League. Baseball really screwed up this whole thing, didn't they?

edit:AAAAAAAAAAAA! He's enormous!!!!!!!

[metirish]

A ll hail to Seaver..

[Elster88]

HAIL

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Hail!

[Guest Edgy DC]

Best Super-Seaver post ever.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Back to business, David Wright has said he expects that A-Rod has knocked him off the US roster.