How succesful was the WBC?

[sweetpeteman]

Very successful, or the most successful baseball tourney?

 

 

 

 

Honestly, Bud Selig can stick his toung out at Steinbrenner and all the critics. Sure, things weren't perfect, but it was great.

[Yeti]

ok, granted im a little drunk, but i just got back from the final game...it was HUGE(granted i was rootin for cuba)

WBC was BIG

MLB be damned WBC needs to continue...i'll agree that that there needs to be refinement of the timing and the structure of the tourney but this thing has done wonders for interest in baseball worldwide, more thn the olympics could ever do, get behind it! if you saw the games i think you'd agree

[CardsFanInChiTown]

I'll be the first to admit I was completely wrong about the WBC, it was a great time.

[NorthsideAvenger]

Very successful, or the most successful baseball tourney?

 

Honestly, Bud Selig can stick his toung out at Steinbrenner and all the critics. Sure, things weren't perfect, but it was great.

 

Overall, it was a success. BUT there are still major flaws with the tournament, such....how is it that the tournament's BEST team---Korea (who went 6-1, I believe) was left out of the championship game? Sorry, but neither Cuba nor Japan should have been in the championship game....Korea should had been given the automatic bid after their 6 win, and Cuba/Japan should have battle it out to see who face Korea in the championship game. Japan maybe the "Paper and hstory champs" but we all know who was the BEST team in the tournament, thus....IMO, because of the rules of the WBC, Korea got cheated. That is something baseball has to fixed before the next WBC.

 

The OTHER MAJOR FLAW...has to do with roster. American born player should not be allow to play for other countries, even the their family heritage is rooted through that certain country. If you are not from the country of your heritage (Mike Piazza :roll:) .you should not be allow to play for said country.

 

Otherwise it was a great tournament---although they were overshadow by March Madness.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Some big kinks to work out, but it was a fantastic experience overall. I am happy as hell to have spent $26 to sit in the stands for one of the games.

[SouthSideRyan]

Korea wasn't the best team in the tournament. The fact they had the best overall record is irrelevant. Were you complaining about Seattle not being handed the world series title in '01 for their 116 wins?

[BigbadB]

I definitely enjoyed it. I went to the Saturday day game and the Monday night game. The crowd was nothing like any crowd I've ever seen for a game before. Very fun watching fans from other countries support their teams.

 

It was also enjoyable watching teams play baseball the way it's supposed to be played. Hustle, backing each other up, etc...

[srbin84]

If we are talking about who was the best team and would win the most games in a major league season, I think it's Cuba.

[BigbadB]

If we are talking about who was the best team and would win the most games in a major league season, I think it's Cuba.

 

I would agree with that.

 

But, I think the US would win if they put together the right team. That would require leaving a lot of the million dollar babies at home, however.

[CubfaninCA]

Considering Korea was 6 and 0, and then gets knocked out by a team they beat twice and who was 3 and 3, the format needs a major change.

Make the final 4 double elimination or something.

[Garwilly]

Considering Korea was 6 and 0, and then gets knocked out by a team they beat twice and who was 3 and 3, the format needs a major change.

Make the final 4 double elimination or something.

 

I think I'd like 2 6 team pools of round robin.

[CubfaninCA]

Korea wasn't the best team in the tournament. The fact they had the best overall record is irrelevant. Were you complaining about Seattle not being handed the world series title in '01 for their 116 wins?

 

Poor example. Korea beat Japan 2 out of 3 in tournament played.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Korea wasn't the best team in the tournament. The fact they had the best overall record is irrelevant. Were you complaining about Seattle not being handed the world series title in '01 for their 116 wins?

 

Poor example. Korea beat Japan 2 out of 3 in tournament played.

 

What was Seattle's record against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs that year I wonder?

 

EDIT: Looks like Seattle went 6-3(.667, just like Korea/Japan, but with even more games) in the regular season against New York.

[rocket]

It's kind of impossible to tell what team was the best, since the most games any 1 team played was 8.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

It's kind of impossible to tell what team was the best, since the most games any 1 team played was 8.

 

How true. I think, on paper, the US and DR were the best teams and would probably prove that over a longer period of time.

[CubfaninCA]

Korea wasn't the best team in the tournament. The fact they had the best overall record is irrelevant. Were you complaining about Seattle not being handed the world series title in '01 for their 116 wins?

 

Poor example. Korea beat Japan 2 out of 3 in tournament played.

 

What was Seattle's record against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs that year I wonder?

 

EDIT: Looks like Seattle went 6-3(.667, just like Korea/Japan, but with even more games) in the regular season against New York.

 

Seattle got knocked out of the playoffs after their first loss???? The format's flawed.

[1908]

Korea wasn't the best team in the tournament. The fact they had the best overall record is irrelevant. Were you complaining about Seattle not being handed the world series title in '01 for their 116 wins?

 

Poor example. Korea beat Japan 2 out of 3 in tournament played.

And Japan outscored Korea 9 to 5 in those three games.

[goonys evil twin]

This tournament didn't come close to proving anything about who was best.

 

Korea's record in 7 games doesn't prove a thing, neither does their 2 for 3 record against Japan. Neither does Japan's win against Cuba. This tournament proved there is tremendous interest in baseball worldwide despite the euro-centric Olympic belief that it's soley an American sport. It proved that players can still get excited to play for their country, and their countrymen will get excited to support them, and that otherwise ambivalent Americans can pick somebody else to root for if their team falls out.

 

It proved there might be a future for international baseball competition on a larger scale than previously experienced.

 

But it didn't prove who the best team was, or which country was most baseball craved or had the most talent.

[soccer10k]

I said it before and I'll say it again. The problem with this format was that the same teams kept playing each other. We shouldn't have to argue about Korea going 2-1 against Japan when they should have played twice in the first place: once when there were 16 teams left and then maybe again in the elimination round. Same goes for all of the Latin American teams playing. Pool 1 should have contained something like A1, B1, C2, D2 and Pool 2 should have contained A2, B2, C1, D1 where the letters represent the 4 original pools. Then winner of Pool 1 plays the second place team in Pool 2 and vice versa. The actual WBC had the winner of Pool 1 playing the second place team in Pool 2. Under those rules they should have just skipped the semifinal round and just take the winners of Pools 1 and 2 and just have the championship game.

 

I think the WBC is a good idea but, like any new creation, needs some tweeking to become better. Hopefully Bud Selig will realize this and make the appropriate changes.

[Fro]

A very successful first outing, but it needs to be tweaked.

 

I'd like to see it played at a different time of year where it's not competiting against the NCAA tournament for TV coverage, even if it's just moving it a couple weeks.

[Monco]

Someone mentioned in a previous post about playing the 3 rounds at different times,March,July,October.Something similar and making players play for the country they're citizens of.Also,reduce the number of teams.I didn't even know they played baseball in South Africa.

[Productive Outs]

Someone mentioned in a previous post about playing the 3 rounds at different times,March,July,October.Something similar and making players play for the country they're citizens of.Also,reduce the number of teams.I didn't even know they played baseball in South Africa.

 

What would you call it if you reduced the number of teams? The "Most of the World Baseball Classic"? Countries shouldn't be penalized just because they aren't as good as the other countries.

[KatJ]

I have a serious albeit elementary question: is the WBC going to be an annual deal, or every four years like the Olympics?

[Geech]

The next one is in 2009 and then every four years after that.

[NorthsideAvenger]

Korea wasn't the best team in the tournament. The fact they had the best overall record is irrelevant. Were you complaining about Seattle not being handed the world series title in '01 for their 116 wins?

 

Korea WAS THE BEST TEAM IN THE TOURNAMENT, anybody who disagree apparently wasn't watching the WBC.

 

KOR 2, TPE 0

4 Mar KOR 10, CHN 1

5 Mar KOR 3, JPN 2

12 Mar KOR 2, MEX 1

13 Mar KOR 7, USA 3

15 Mar KOR 2, JPN 1

18 Mar JPN 6, KOR 0

 

They beat the HIGHLY more talented USA team---convincingly. They beat Japan---twice in HIGHLY competitive games. They beat the teams they needed to in China and Chinese Taipei. To me...Korea was the BEST TEAM in the tournament, and you have no facts to prove otherwise. On the flip side, being the best team, doesn't mean squat, if you run into a team that "turn the switch on."

 

Cuba is arguably the most talented team in the WBC, but Korea...was hands-down the best team in the tourny, WITHOUT ANY DOUBT.