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Main Page » World Baseball Classic

Thursday, March 19

Wright On

by Lou Di Falco on Thu 19 Mar 2009 08:32 AM EDT

The scene just was just a bit odd. Derek Jeter and Chipper Jones hugging David Wright while Jimmy Rollins crossed the plate. Rod Serling must have been near by. Can world peace be far off?

That was what happened on Tuesday evening when Mets third baseman, David Wright, lined an opposite field single down the line to win the USA a berth in the WBC semi-finals.

It was amazing how many Mets dominated the elimination game between the USA and Puerto Rico. Carlos Delgado hit a home run. Carlos Beltran made a spectacular catch against the center field fence. And Nelson Figueroa did a nice job pitching for Puerto Rico.

But when all was said and done, it was David Wright, who has been unfairly characterized as a non clutch player, who made the difference. The USA trailed Puerto Rico heading into the bottom of the ninth by a score of 5-3. USA rallied and scored a run to make it a one run game. With the bases loaded, David Wright stepped up to the plate and ended the game with a single down the right field line. The clutch hit propelled the USA into the semi-finals, a place that eluded them in 2006.

You can say what's the big deal, who really cares? The players do. That was evident after the winning run crossed the plate and the team mobbed Wright. These players take this event very seriously. The only negative comments I have read are from players on teams that have been eliminated.

Please do not tell me that there was no pressure on Wright, that the WBC is meaningless. As mentioned, the players take this tournament very seriously, ask Derek Jeter. With the US about to be bounced out of the classic for the second time in as many tries, Wright came through.

And get the parallel in history. Davey Johnson is the manager. The USA was down by two runs (5-3) but rallied to win. Not on a ball through the first baseman's legs but a liner over the first baseman's head. Admittedly not as exciting as Game Six but it was pretty weird.

The win guarantees an entry to the semi-finals for the USA even though they lost the seeding game last night to Venezuela.

There are problems with the classic however. If you hadn't noticed, these games are being played in mostly empty stadiums. It remains to be seen if that will be the case this weekend when the semi-finals commence at Dodger Stadium. In comparison, first round games held outside of the US were far better attended. The Tokyo Dome was packed when Japan played and had solid attendance in other games. Perhaps in the future, the Classic should be hosted entirely outside the US. The WBC is a big deal for these other countries. Unfortunately US fans, for the most part, do not feel that way. It will be interesting to see in twenty years how popular the World Baseball Classic will be.

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Wednesday, March 4

Move The Classic

by Lou Di Falco on Wed 04 Mar 2009 09:24 AM EST

The World Baseball Classic (WBC) begins this week. Like it or hate it, the first game, televised on ESPN, starts at 4:30AM Thursday EST with China vs. Japan.

Personally, I like the idea of the tournament. However, the timing of it is what I find disturbing. Some have suggested the tourney be played in November. In this way, if a player gets hurt, they have the winter to recuperate. But there are problems playing the Classic in the fall too. Most players will have shut it down at the beginning of October except for those teams who are in the playoffs. Getting back in game ready shape could be taxing. Plus after a long season, most players want to get away from the game. In other words, the union would fight it. With the NFL in full swing, the popularity of the classic could suffer too, at least in the United States.

Here's what I would do if I were exalted ruler of baseball. Every four years, suspend the regular season for two weeks in July then play the WBC instead of having a traditional All Star break. Heresy you say? Here me out.

Many will oppose this idea because it breaks up the flow of the regular season. On the other hand, that flow will only be broken up once every four years. The positive of a plan like this is that players will be in much better shape and pitch count rules would not be necessary. The fear of injury is reduced to some degree. While there might not be a perfect solution, this one eliminates most concerns and could ignite the popularity of the WBC. Major League Baseball, their players, and fans have to think bigger than what baseball means simply to America. After all, the idea of the WBC is to promote baseball on a global scale. Who does not want that?

Why would it be such a catastrophe to break up the season once every four years? The biggest argument against would be that holding the WBC in the middle of the season breaks up the flow and would likely effect pennant races. I would propose that during the years when the classic is played, the baseball season be split into a first and second half. In this way, the first half champions are determined before the Classic subsequently ending the "flow" that many would be concerned about. After the WBC, it's a whole new season as the second half begins with all teams at 0-0. The playoffs and World Series would take place as usual but during the WBC years, another round would be added to pit first half champions against second half champions. If you are old enough to recall, a first and second half season was improvised in 1981 due to a players strike that year. Plus, many of the minor leagues, both affiliated and independent, use such a format as well. Player awards would be based on the entire season, not each half. Each half would probably not be 81 games because the season would be too long. So obviously some details would have to be worked out.

If leagues of other countries would agree to this format, the two week layoff in July would be a great solution for the WBC. The tournament would be played with players in tip-top shape with no concerns over their current pennant races. A two week baseball tournament in the middle of the summer could become as huge as the World Cup in soccer. As radical an idea as this might seem, no idea should be dismissed without consideration. For the purist who would oppose such a change, promoting baseball through such an event will grow the talent pool. Players from all corners of the world could someday be making a difference for your team. And more importantly, this solution solves the problem of breaking up spring training when players are not in regular season shape or playing in the fall when everyone has basically taken their bats and balls and gone home.

The WBC is a work in progress and has already made a modification to its format. During the first WBC in '06, a round robin format was used in the first and second round. The problem with this format is too often multiple teams end with the same record forcing winners to be determined through tie breaking formulas. This year, a double elimination format is being used in the first two rounds providing two sure winners from each pool.

Regardless of what baseball does or what fans think, the WBC is not going away. The United States has a lot to say as far as how the Classic will be run. But make no mistake, there will be a WBC every four years. Instead of criticising and wishing it would go away, the best approach would be to figure out how to make it better. Moving the tournament to the middle of the summer would be a great start. After all, baseball is the summer game.

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Thursday, January 22

Baseball Italian Style

by Lou Di Falco on Thu 22 Jan 2009 11:00 PM EST

I know many are concerned about players getting hurt during the upcoming World Baseball Classic (WBC). The only thing I can say is sit back, relax, and enjoy the games. Nothing is going to stop them. Major League Baseball has invested a lot in this tournament in a huge attempt to grow the game globally.

With that in mind the question remains how much are you into it? Some fans I have talked to despise it, some love it, and some are just okay with it. Years ago I would have been disinterested. As much as I loved baseball, my focus was solely on the Mets. As I have aged I still am a die-hard Mets fan but I enjoy the game of baseball more than ever, even if the Mets are not involved. I follow the College tournament which is growing in popularity. I am even looking forward to the Caribbean World Series that starts in a couple of weeks. Why not, it's baseball in February. What baseball fan would not like that? And by the way, those Caribbean games will be televised on the MLB Network.

The WBC will feature 16 teams made up into four pools. Each of the four pools will use a double elimination format to produce a pool winner and a runner up. The four pools in the first round, A through D, will reduce to two second round pools, 1 and 2. Again, a double elimination round will produce two teams each that will end up in the semi finals. The semi finals and finals will be a single elimination format played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. In all, a total of 39 games will be played.

What I find intriguing about the tournament is some of the countries that will participate. Most particularly is Italy. Being of Italian heritage, I find the idea of baseball in Italy, specifically professional baseball, rather interesting. I certainly would not mind being around for the pre-game buffet. If you have ever been to Italy, you know that is a culture that takes it's food seriously-very seriously.

Professional Baseball in Italy has been around for a long time. The game was introduced to Italians by American GIs during World War II. The story goes that a group of GIs recruited young Italian boys to work in a cemetery to help bury those lost in combat. During their breaks, the soldiers taught the boys how to play baseball. The first baseball tournament was held in Italy in 1948. Over the years, as a professional league developed, some American players went there to play. I recall back in the early 80's, former Met Lenny Randle became a star in Italy. I think it had more to do with his personality than his on field skills. My curiosity getting the best of me, I decided to do a bit of research. A quick search on the Internet revealed that pro ball in Italy is alive and well.

The highest professional league in Italy is made up of eight teams and is known as the A1 league. After the season concludes, the two worst teams move down to the A2 league while the two best from A2 move up to A1. This is a concept widely used in European Soccer. There are a number of A2 teams spread throughout Italy. There is a lower level league known as the B league and Italy also boasts a winter league. The four top teams from the A1 league play in a best of seven semi-final. A best of seven final follows.

The Italian baseball season is relatively short compared to ours, just 42 games. They start the season in early April but it concludes at the end of July and they only play about three times a week on the weekend. The playoffs follow and by mid August the seaosn is over.

The 2008 champion of the A1 league was Fortitudo Bologna with a record of 34-8. The worst club was Potocco Rangers Redipuglia with a record of 2-40 (Yikes!, Italy's version of the '62 Mets).

The Italian league includes American ballplayers. The Bologna club featured Cody Cillo, a pitcher who tied two others for the league lead in wins with eight in 2008. Cillo, who led the league with a 1.30 ERA, is on the Italian club that will compete in the WBC. Second baseman Joe Mazzuca and center fielder Richard Austin are two other imports that helped Bologna to the title. These players and others combined with Major League players of Italian decent will make up the Italian roster for the WBC. Mike Piazza, who played for Italy in the 2006 WBC, has signed on to be the hitting coach.

The ballparks in Italy are small as you might expect. A video I found on the Internet of an Italian playoff game surprisingly showed a packed house. It's amazing that baseball appears to be as popular as it is over there but of course it can not compete with futbol. The uniforms look pretty much like ours, not the softball, full colored ones, I remember seeing when Randle played there.

Italy is not the only European country playing baseball. There are many others. The Netherlands will also be sending a team to the WBC. Both the Netherlands and Italy did not fair well in 2006. But the fact that teams from Italy, The Netherlands, Australia and South Africa are competing means that baseball is getting more popular around the globe. Although the talent level does not yet match that of the American continents and the Far East, there have been a handful of players signed from these countries, most notably Australia.

Because of interest in baseball in these foreign countries, the WBC will grow to be one of the most anticipated sporting tournaments of the 21st century.

For a good place to start for information on European Baseball, visit http://www.mister-baseball.com/.

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