2013 World Baseball Classic

[G-Fafif]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Ian O'Connor is dying to write: "Wright turns in Jeter-like performance...."

Although Derek Jeter never eviscerated international pitching in a tournament setting like David Wright is doing through the current World Baseball Classic, Jeter is Wright's implied role model for his sizzling WBC star turn. With America only now coming to grips with Jeter's absence from Team USA, the nation can at least breathe easy that Wright plays in the same city as Jeter and has probably met him on several occasions. Wright and the Mets should thank their lucky stars for Interleague play and the chance to mix and mingle with what's left of the Core Four. Just being in the presence of Derek Jeter makes a good guy a better man -- and, perhaps, a more dangerous hitter. But of course everybody in every country has a long way to go before living up to the sterling reputation of the original Captain, a role once personified by Lou Gehrig yet perfected by Derek Jeter, whose persona this WBC sorely misses. Wright, alas, will have to do for a nation craving its Jeter fix.

[MFS62]

The message is the same, but you wrote that better than O'Connor ever could have.
Later

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

G-Fafif wrote: Ian O'Connor is dying to write: "Wright turns in Jeter-like performance...." Although Derek Jeter never eviscerated international pitching in a tournament setting like David Wright is doing through the current World Baseball Classic, Jeter is Wright's implied role model for his sizzling WBC star turn. With America only now coming to grips with Jeter's absence from Team USA, the nation can at least breathe easy that Wright plays in the same city as Jeter and has probably met him on several occasions. Wright and the Mets should thank their lucky stars for Interleague play and the chance to mix and mingle with what's left of the Core Four. Just being in the presence of Derek Jeter makes a good guy a better man -- and, perhaps, a more dangerous hitter. But of course everybody in every country has a long way to go before living up to the sterling reputation of the original Captain, a role once personified by Lou Gehrig yet perfected by Derek Jeter, whose persona this WBC sorely misses. Wright, alas, will have to do for a nation craving its Jeter fix.

Bad ass!

[Edgy MD]

The WBC should be renamed the Jeter Invitational, where all men, no matter what their background, struggle to live up to an ideal they can only approach but never reach.

[seawolf17]

Holy Jeebus, that was so real I threw up a little.

[Frayed Knot]

G-Fafif wrote: Just being in the presence of Derek Jeter makes a good guy a better man -- and, perhaps, a more dangerous hitter.

And now that he's out with an injury, it's obvious that even the presence of Jeter's absence has made Wright a better hitter.

[Edgy MD]

seawolf17 wrote: Holy Jeebus, that was so real I threw up a little.

Jeter makes my vomit taste like custard.

[Ceetar]

@IntentionalTalk: Who is the real Captain America: Derek Jeter or David Wright? @IntentionalTalk is LIVE today at 3pE. #WBC

this is not a joke. And I DID block->report spam.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Is no one going to mention how the guidance of former Yankees manager Joe Torre, who once worked with Derek Jeter, is bringing out the best in David Wright?

[metirish]

Jon Heyman has this, of course he has to color Wright's brilliance against the awfulness of the damn team to plays for, don't worry, you'll get your Jeter fix too.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/jon-heyman/21867547/away-from-mets-doldrums-wright-flourishing-for-us-on-wbc-stage


golly gosh but Wright is so awesome and nice...

[Edgy MD]

There's a lot of inaccuracies in that, not least of which is to refer to Jeff Wilpon as the Mets' owner.

Not yet, he's not. I think any number of banks own more than... HOLY CRAP! WHITE SMOKE!!

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Heymen is incredible! There were SIX Jeter references in that story! SIX!!!

[metirish]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Heymen is incredible! There were SIX Jeter references in that story! SIX!!!

That's Heyman being restrained.

[batmagadanleadoff]

See? He's not negative all of the time.

Captain America is a Met

By Howard Megdal
10:30 am Mar. 13, 2013

It has been a difficult spring for the New York Mets. Their announced Opening Day pitcher, Johan Santana, has suffered setbacks in his preparation for the season, is widely expected to begin the year on the disabled list, and is reportedly livid with team officials who pulled the patented Mets move of blaming the injured player. The club's decision to open up an Amway storefront at Citi Field, which seemed so much like parody of their own Madoff-stricken track record that I hesitated to write about it till I'd seen evidence of its existence with my own eyes, was roundly mocked. But while the Mets scramble in Port St. Lucie to cobble together a starting outfield, one of the team's few positives is elsewhere, reminding everyone that there is a world-class player who will be playing home games in Queens this year. David Wright is not just a member of the United States World Baseball Classic team; he has been their best player by far, and the reason the U.S. is still even in the tournament. It isn't simply that Wright has managed the critical hits to advance the U.S. cause, although he has. Opposing pitchers simply cannot get him out. The U.S. lost its opener to Mexico last Friday, 5-2. This wasn't due to Wright, who had two singles in four at-bats, one of them driving in a run. His teammates didn't follow suit, however, and the U.S. faced a game against Italy that could have all but eliminated them. The game was knotted, 2-2, in the bottom of the fifth inning, with the bases loaded and two outs. Wright stepped to the plate and launched a grand slam just three innings after he'd sent Italy's right fielder to the fence on what turned into a rare out he's made in the tournament. This time, Wright pulled an outside pitch into the left-center field stands. He even added a single in the ninth, but was stranded. Appropriately, Canada was determined not to let Wright beat them. Instead, Wright walked three times and doubled, reaching base more times than anyone else in a 9-4 U.S. win. Lest you think Canadian pitchers were wild, no one else on the U.S. team walked once. By Tuesday night's second round game against Puerto Rico, announcer Matt Vasgersian had taken to calling Wright "Captain America." No one had ever called him that before, as far as I know, but the name seemed apt. Wright may just be the face of U.S. baseball, and is clearly up to the task. Facing the same Puerto Rico team he'd beaten in 2009 with a walkoff hit, Wright had five R.B.I., one on a groundout in the second, another on a single in the fifth, and then his bases-clearing double to right-center field broke open the game in the eighth. Wright, who is almost comically team-first in his words and deeds, described his domination this way: "The individual stuff is nice. But ultimately, it's about winning that first WBC championship for the United States." What Wright is doing here is putting to rest the ludicrous notion that at best, he's some kind of complementary player and not a star. He's already put up numbers that have him on track to equal or surpass all but the very best to every play his position, third base, in major league history. His lack of a championship has nothing to do with him, and everything to do with the team around him. A man who was expected to join Wright on an eventual champion with the Mets, Jose Reyes, is having a fine W.B.C. of his own. Reyes will face Wright Thursday night, when the Dominican Republic takes on the United States. For Mets fans, who aren't likely to see their team come anywhere close to a championship this year, the meeting will be bittersweet. But there is one thing to celebrate in unmitigated fashion: one of the best players to ever wear the Mets' uniform was retained for the long haul this past winter, and whatever else happens to the New York Mets, they're employing the justifiable face of American baseball to play every day.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/sports/2013/03/8312471/captain-america-met

[Ceetar]

I didn't get past the first paragraph.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Ceetar wrote: I didn't get past the first paragraph.

And he couldn't resist a Madoff reference in the second paragraph -- and that's Howard's version of restraint.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Megdal's on the pulse of the Mets zeitgeist. His ratio of positive to negative thoughts is apropos of the status quo.

[A Boy Named Seo]

metirish wrote: metsguyinmichigan wrote: Heymen is incredible! There were SIX Jeter references in that story! SIX!!! That's Heyman being restrained.

When I control+F on "Jeter", I get 9 hits. And he didn't even tag Jetes at the end of the story. The damn thing's practically about him.

[MFS62]

I started to discuss my amazement at all the Jeter references in an article about Wright with a virulent Yankee fan co-worker.
He said that Jeter IS Captain America, and has been for 15 years.
That I didn't Valdespin him is a tribute to both my self control and my merciful pity for lower phyla.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

This is really taking on a life of its own. There was a photo in the Daily News today of Jay Horowitz dressed as Cap's sidekick Bucky Barnes.

[MFS62]

Is it possible to un-see something?
That vision could stay with me for a long time.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Italy climbs out ahead of both the Dominican Republic and Enchanted Isle of Puerto Rico but ends up spitting the bit and giving the lead back both times and exiting.

I don't know how those players are going to be able to show their faces back in Italy, if they ever decide to visit ever.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: Italy climbs out ahead of both the Dominican Republic and Enchanted Isle of Puerto Rico but ends up spitting the bit and giving the lead back both times and exiting. I don't know how those players are going to be able to show their faces back in Italy, if they ever decide to visit ever.

considering I don't think Italy even scored in the last Classic, I think they'll be just fine.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Piazza sounds like Grand Torino Eastwood after the Italy/DR game, complaining about the DR's penchant for celebrating ('enhanced theatrics'), and this Nick Punto slide on Cano.

I agree on the slide (don't think it was dirty), but lighten up, ya grumpy shit. It's baseball. It's a game. It's supposed to be fun.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

MFS62 wrote: That I didn't Valdespin him is a tribute to both my self control and my merciful pity for lower phyla. Later

Perfect! My co-workers are giving me funny - well, funnier -- looks today because I've been laughing out loud reading the Pool.

[Farmer Ted]

Jay, like ValdesJunk, doesn't appear to be wearing a cup under his uniform. Or is he?

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Farmer Ted wrote: Jay, like ValdesJunk, doesn't appear to be wearing a cup under his uniform. Or is he?

That photo makes it clear that his parents were observant Jewish people.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Ceetar wrote: I didn't get past the first paragraph.

That's because you're only interested in the negative stuff.

[Edgy MD]

MFS62 wrote: He said that Jeter IS Captain America, and has been for 15 years.

Well, maybe Captain America could explain our dusty national fireplace mantle is lacking any WBC trophies. Did Thor pull a hammie?

(Perhaps a superhero who is unabashedly a product of PEDs isn't the best metaphor anywutz.)

[Fman99]

This is the first WBC that I remember actively paying attention to, enjoying, or looking forward to the games. The US squad and some of these Latin American teams are filled with respectable mixes of starts and still-active big leaguers. It's nice to watch a March game where the fans and players actually care who wins, also.

It helps that Capt. USA is out there knocking balls around (no offense, Jordy).