Strong showing for the US vs. Canada today. Some big hits for the US...probably the biggest being Eric Hosmer's bases clearing double and Adam Jones' RBI double. Craig Kimbrel is FILTHY! Nice work by Holland and Cishek on the mound today, as well. Can't wait to see the US vs. the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico on Tuesday
man, the quarter finals in Japan was insane, it's ashame that the timezone made it unwatchable for most US viewers, but at least 2 matches there was mind blowing affairs. Game 1 : Taiwan shuts down Japan for 7 inning behind former Yankees ace CM Wang, and had a 2-0 lead going into the 7th, then Japan score 2 run behind former Dodger setup man Kuo behind a string of bloopers and squeakers, but Taiwan took back the lead in the top of the 9th ... then in the bottom of the 9th, with 2 outs and a man on first, Japan stole second on a bang bang play (replay showed that the tag and man reached basically reached at the same time.) and then Japan bloops another single out to tie it. Taiwan came within 1 freaking strike of beating Japan , but again lost in the 10th inning, the 10 inning game played nearly 5 hours as both team basically emptied their entire bench and bullpen in this match. Game 2: Cuba vs Neterhlands, another insane back and forth that saw Cuba still with a 2 run lead in the 8th, but the Dutch tied it on a 2 run blast and then walked off with a sac fly in the 9th. If you say before this round started that Japan would come within 1 strike of losing to Taiwan and the Netherland (who lost pretty convincingly to Taiwan in the first round and is down 3 starters) would advance , you'd get laughed out of town, but here we are. The US pool quarter would have a hard time matching that sort of drama.
I'm happy how the Dutch are playing. Great victory against Cuba. it is great to see they are a team people should notice. let's see if they can beat the USA.:grin:
Curacao is part of the Netherlands. I bet they develop better baseball players down there than Europe.
Team USA just stomped Puerto Rico 7-1. David Wright is crushing it at the plate. 5 more RBI tonight. The US bullpen is ridiculous. Just tonight with Affeldt, Hernandez, Cishek and then the best wiff-rate guy in the game today...Craig Kimbrel. Filthy.
^It's like Rudy coaching the 1998 WC team -- a bunch of CBA and college guys. In 1998, Tomjanovich volunteered to coach the U.S. men's senior basketball team at the FIBA World Championship in Greece. Despite the absence of NBA players due to labor negotiations, Tomjanovich guided the hastily assembled group of CBA players to the bronze medal. In light of his outstanding service in coaching at the 1998 Worlds and his stellar professional resume, Tomjanovich was tabbed to coach the U.S. men's senior team at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney, Australia. The U.S. Team won the gold medal with an 8–0 record. On February 15, 2006, Tomjanovich was named director of scouting for USA Men's Basketball. Source: wiki
uhh, not really. lots of MLB all stars on team USA. I would have liked to have seen Verlander, Jared Weaver, and Clayton Kershaw in the rotation, though. On offense I would have liked to have seen McCutchen, Fielder and Mike Trout in there, but our offense is crazy good as it is.
Most of their top players are from Curacao (Andrew Jones, Roger Bernadina Andrelton Simmons, Jonathan Schoop), but they also have some contributors that are from the Netherlands proper, including 7'1" reliever Loek van Mil, versatile utility player Michael Duursma and ageless starting pitcher Rob Cordemans.
Team USA faces Puerto Rico in an elimination game tonight at 6. Winner will play the Dominican Republic.
The US could use another young power hitter like Trout. They are stranding far too many runners. Also Verlander would be nice to have as an option in a do or die game.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Team USA now 10-10 all- time at <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23WBC">#WBC</a>. I believe the correct word is unacceptable</p>— John Manuel (@johnmanuelba) <a href="https://twitter.com/johnmanuelba/status/312754365343608832">March 16, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Is there any chance that Minute Maid Park can host the World Baseball Classic? Maybe get teams like USA, Mexico, Venezuela, and Taiwan. Those are the teams that will draw fans in Houston.
I meant the next one in 2017. I think we can host the 1st round only. Getting to host the 2nd round is also good. The semifinals and championship game will be great at MMP.
