WBC- 2nd Round

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Puerto Rico handing it to the DR through 6. Then again, so were the Americanos.

Is Beltran rocking a white beard, or a bleached one? Either way... it is NOT Tonsorial HoF-worthy.

[Frayed Knot]

The entire PR team (or most of them anyway) have gone blond for the series, a trend which includes not only Mr. Beltran's head but his nascent (5-day?) beard as well.


Cuba's team is showing the effects of the slow but steady emigration, they're winless in the 2nd round after getting thumped 14-1 (in 7 innings) by the Netherlands. Imagine typing that sentence a decade or two ago?
Oddly, the solution to their problem might be to open the borders entirely which would allow them to bring back and use the ex-pats in international competitions. It's a move that would likely kill, or at least severely maim, any domestic leagues they've got there now, but maybe they should have thought of that before putting their island on lock-down for the last sixty years.

[G-Fafif]

Good night, Tel Aviv, where they won't lose sleep over Israel bowing out.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/team-israel-is-a-hit-but-barely-registers-in-tel-aviv-1489503673

Japan and the Netherlands are, per Jared Diamond's uncle Neil, comin' to America.

(I have no idea if Jared and Neil are related, actually. )

[Edgy MD]

Puerto Rico looks motivated.

Will be nice to get our Israelites back in camp.

[Guest themetfairy]

The Dominicans have been rallying around Plantain Power, which has been amusing.

[Fman99]

Is Drew fucking Smyly really the best starter the US can scrounge up here? Embarrassing. 4.88 ERA last year.

[Frayed Knot]

Well there's that, but then half of us were the ones cheering when Syndergaard backed out of participating.


(also Smyly K'd the final six guys he faced)

[Frayed Knot]

Maybe the odder part of the US roster is why Muffy has been in just one game and with a total of 4 ABs
Only a couple position players have fewer, but most of them are in tonight's game while Murph is sitting out again.

[Edgy MD]

Clayton Kershaw would've didn't want to miss his niece's ballet recital.

Max Scherzer was going to participate but he was sprayed by a skunk.

Corey Kluber couldn't find his shoes.

Jon Lester thought the tryouts were at the other field.

Madison Bumgarner refused to represent any country but the Confederate States of America.

Justin Verlander's car was in the shop.

Jake Arrieta was expecting to get a ride from Verlander.

Chris Sale was participating in Soupcan's Countdown Kwiz and didn't want to miss a post.

David Price thought "the WBC sounded like a boxing thing."

Don't imply for a second that these guys didn't WANT to compete for their country. I like to think Syndergaard didn't want to do anything that might for one second reflect well on President Trump.

[Fman99]

Smyly pitched well, to his credit, and he is considered a "bounce back" candidate for 2017 pitching in a more forgiving park (moving from Tampa to Seattle).

Just saying, compared to the Latino teams, the US is missing all of their most talented guys.

[Frayed Knot]

Yes, the timing of the Smyly outing was symply a nice coincidence.

But -- like those folks who consistently vote to re-elect their own Congressman while encouraging that everyone else 'thrown the bums out' by not voting for theirs, or the sports fan who wants owners to cap
salaries but then demands that his team 'give a blank check' to sign that year's hot new FA -- it's tough to complain that the US squad doesn't have all the best players when fans of each team tend to like it
when their best players either choose not to participate or are refused permission to do so by their teams.
Plus I think it's a case where the Latin countries see this tourney in much the same way that the south views college football, it's just more important to them than it is to other folks.

[Frayed Knot]

I hadn't realized that Angel Pagan's deal with SFG had run out and he is, at the moment anyway, unattached with any ML team.
Turns 36 at mid-season but certainly didn't have a bad season in 2016: .277/.331/.418 // 750 w/39 XBH in 500 ABs
Seems to me that a switch-hitter with his speed and glove (although I don't think he's the fielder he used to be) would be at least semi-valuable somewhere.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, he's on the Kelly Johnson team right now. It seems teams are a lot more frugal with spare parts this offseason.

[Frayed Knot]

It's a bit odd in that it's been the one-dimensional sluggers who seem to be the guys taking deals on a short-term basis right now (Encarnacion, Trumbo, etc.)
Meanwhile Kevin Keirmeier just got a long-term $50+ million dollar deal from TBR, well short of his FA years, on the basis of his outstanding CF defense despite sporting just a low-700s OPS for his career.
Not that I expect that Pagan would get a L-T deal at his age, but it does surprise me that a versatile player like him is out in the cold two weeks before the season opens.

[Frayed Knot]

So the final game of the 2nd round comes down to the US v DR in a winner-advances/loser-goes-home game, just what those running this tourney must have been hoping for ... and it's being staged at 10:00 at night for those on the east coast.

I guess they're doing the separate admissions thing and figure that they need time to empty, then clean, then re-fill the stadium. The PR/Venz game goes off at 3:30 EDT which they couldn't make much earlier seeing as how that's 12:30 local time.

[Edgy MD]

US hanging onto a 4-2 lead through six. Danny Duffy started and gave up two runs, one earned, in four innings, but our relief corps looks deeper than the rotation, and lets hope they can get us home.

Yeah, the Dominican is even better in the pen, but the US has the lead now. Ol' buddy Tyler Clippard just threw a scoreless sixth.

Daniel Murphy still riding pine for the Minutemen, but José Reyes is doing his part by going 0-4 out of the leadoff spot for the El Matatan.

[Edgy MD]

Manny Machado just launched one into the centerfield stands that Adam Jones outstandingly pulled out before it landed. IT'S ALL ORIOLES ALL THE TIME!

[Edgy MD]

And then Canó hits one that Yellich had a better chance at but COULDN'T snag, getting caught flatfooted.

TYLER CLIPPARD IS A RUSSIAN PLANT!!

[Edgy MD]

A two-run McCutcheon double puts the US up 6-3 and I'm hitting the sack.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: A two-run McCutcheon double puts the US up 6-3 and I'm hitting the sack.

I didn't last even that long, but that's what tends to happen when a late-starting game is past the 3-hour mark by the time you hit the 7th inning.
Did watch the replay of the late innings this morning. US hangs on to the 6-3 win, will face Japan on Tuesday while Puerto Rico faces them Dutch folks on Monday.
Championship on Wednesday. All remaining games in Dodger Stadium, all at 9 PM EDT



That HR Jones stole was headed for about 'Row E' in RCF
Stanton's HR earlier in the game might still be going if it hadn't run into that brick building behind the LF wall.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Great game. I wish I'd been able to stay up for the back half of it.

[G-Fafif]

Can't believe I slept through the celebratory fifes and drums that surely raised a patriotic ruckus from coast to coast through the wee hours of the morning.

The USA wins at its national pastime. Do you believe in eventualities?

[Edgy MD]

They switch from pool play to knockout play in the semis. More drama, if a less accurate outcome.

There's almost no place in the organization of this thing that they don't make the wrong choice, but they sure got a broadly representative final four: One team from North America, one from Latin America and the Caribbean, one from East Asia, and one from Europe.

A warm "Welcome back to camp!" to Hansel Robles, Jeurys Familia, and José Reyes.

[Guest Mets Willets Point]

Frayed Knot wrote: So the final game of the 2nd round comes down to the US v DR in a winner-advances/loser-goes-home game, just what those running this tourney must have been hoping for ... and it's being staged at 10:00 at night for those on the east coast. I guess they're doing the separate admissions thing and figure that they need time to empty, then clean, then re-fill the stadium. The PR/Venz game goes off at 3:30 EDT which they couldn't make much earlier seeing as how that's 12:30 local time.

As noted before, having a 9 y.o. who is really into this tournament, the scheduling of these west coast games are irritating me to no end. Earlier start times would not only be better for viewers in the Eastern United States but also in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Curacao, Aruba, and Venezuela. I suppose viewers in Asia and Europe are going to be inconvenienced no matter what, but I don't suspect that there would be much outcry on the West Coast if games start at 4 or 5 pm local time, especially on a weekend.

[Guest Mets Willets Point]

Edgy MD wrote: Manny Machado just launched one into the centerfield stands that Adam Jones outstandingly pulled out before it landed. IT'S ALL ORIOLES ALL THE TIME!

Did anyone notice the YLDB grabbing right at the same place as Jone's glove?

[Edgy MD]

It's been generations of MLB scheduling their most important games too late for children to enjoy, and then dragging them out beyond the attention span of most sentient adults. I have no idea why they haven't sorted it out yet.

I was 10 when Reggie Jackson hit three homers in a World Series Game. It was the Yankees, but I lived and breathed baseball, and wouldn't have missed a World Series game if I could help it. But I don't think I even got to see the first homer. I woke up the next morning and asked my dad what happened, and he said, "History."

[metirish]

Starting way too late for east coasters( me anyway) , I can't be arsed to watch