WBC: Japan Defeats Korea 5-3 (10 innings)

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Are we going to have WBC game threads?

[The R-Train]

Does anybody really care who wins in the WBC?

[wvcbxl]

Does anybody really care who wins in the WBC?

 

Perhaps the eventual winners may?

[The R-Train]

Then we should invite Ichiro to post in the game threads.

 

Of course we'd have to lift the word filters first.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Does anybody really care who wins in the WBC?

 

I do. I don't get the antipathy to the WBC among baseball fans.

 

They spend decades writing about how the offseason is "The Void" or "The Dark Time of the Soul" or other such poetic stuff.

 

Now they are offering you a competitive baseball tournament. In early March.

 

And instead of getting on your knees crying in thanks, you spend months hoping your team's best players don't play because of the fractional increase in injury risk over playing in spring training.

 

It's competitive baseball. In March. Hooray!

[jersey cubs fan]

Does anybody really care who wins in the WBC?

 

I do. I don't get the antipathy to the WBC among baseball fans.

 

They spend decades writing about how the offseason is "The Void" or "The Dark Time of the Soul" or other such poetic stuff.

 

Now they are offering you a competitive baseball tournament. In early March.

 

And instead of getting on your knees crying in thanks, you spend months hoping your team's best players don't play because of the fractional increase in injury risk over playing in spring training.

 

It's competitive baseball. In March. Hooray!

 

Who is they? The idiotic myth makers who try to make the sport of baseball something that it is not? I don't care much for that BS.

 

I'm a Cubs fan, first and foremost. If another game is on and I've got nothing to do, I might watch, but I don't care about the WBC. You can't just invent tournaments and expect people to care about them. The excitement over the world series built over time, the excitement for the super bowl built over time. The only reason people care about the olympics is because of the tradition. The primary reason people care about the world cup is that's about the only sport those countries have to follow. The USA has baseball, football, basketball, college and pro, hockey and a whole slew of minor sports. Brazil has soccer. Most of Europe has soccer, and maybe one other lesser sport with some level of popularity. And they have the tradition of the world cup. They just invented this tournament, and the best players don't want to play in it. Plus, it gets in the way of the the season that matters, by both pushing back opening day, and forcing guys to adjust routines.

 

Pitching is probably the only motion in sports, that in and of itself, can injure the player. You can get injured in any sport, but almost all other injuries are the result of fluke collisions and twists, when something goes wrong. Pitching injuries are caused simply by pitching (much of the time), and the injuries can be season and career ending. People don't want their pitchers to get hurt in the WBC, or sow the seeds for getting injured later that year due to irregular strain on the arm at an earlier than normal point in the preperation schedule.

 

I don't see how anybody could question why people don't care about the WBC.

[chuckywang]

I, for one, am fascinated by this tournament. I love that international baseball is becoming popular. It can only help the game.

[Derwood]

the WBC would be far more exciting if 95% of the major leaguers hadn't opted to sit it out this year

[jersey cubs fan]

I love that international baseball is becoming popular. .

 

It would be interesting if it became popular. But I don't think it has at all. Perhaps in another 15 years, after a couple rivalries build and a few "classic" games are played, and remembered, it will become popular. But you'll need far more stars playing in the tourny and not skipping.

[Fro]

I had a lot more fun watching the non-US games... still a good amount of talent on these teams even with a lot of the marquee players sitting it out. The first round especially was really neat.

[chuckywang]

I love that international baseball is becoming popular. .

 

It would be interesting if it became popular. But I don't think it has at all. Perhaps in another 15 years, after a couple rivalries build and a few "classic" games are played, and remembered, it will become popular. But you'll need far more stars playing in the tourny and not skipping.

 

So if a tourney becomes popular with more stars playing, but how do you get more stars to play if the tourney isn't popular?

[Derwood]

I love that international baseball is becoming popular. .

 

It would be interesting if it became popular. But I don't think it has at all. Perhaps in another 15 years, after a couple rivalries build and a few "classic" games are played, and remembered, it will become popular. But you'll need far more stars playing in the tourny and not skipping.

 

So if a tourney becomes popular with more stars playing, but how do you get more stars to play if the tourney isn't popular?

 

don't ask them to play in it when they're supposed to be preparing for the regular season

[chuckywang]

I love that international baseball is becoming popular. .

 

It would be interesting if it became popular. But I don't think it has at all. Perhaps in another 15 years, after a couple rivalries build and a few "classic" games are played, and remembered, it will become popular. But you'll need far more stars playing in the tourny and not skipping.

 

So if a tourney becomes popular with more stars playing, but how do you get more stars to play if the tourney isn't popular?

 

don't ask them to play in it when they're supposed to be preparing for the regular season

 

I'm not sure what other time frame would be a viable option for the WBC though. You can't really hold it in the winter unless you want to play everything indoors.

[jersey cubs fan]

I love that international baseball is becoming popular. .

 

It would be interesting if it became popular. But I don't think it has at all. Perhaps in another 15 years, after a couple rivalries build and a few "classic" games are played, and remembered, it will become popular. But you'll need far more stars playing in the tourny and not skipping.

 

So if a tourney becomes popular with more stars playing, but how do you get more stars to play if the tourney isn't popular?

 

don't ask them to play in it when they're supposed to be preparing for the regular season

 

I'm not sure what other time frame would be a viable option for the WBC though. You can't really hold it in the winter unless you want to play everything indoors.

 

They already play in domes in Asia and Toronto. Then they have Mexico City, Puerto Rico, LA, SD and Miami, places that can easily handle winter baseball. But to your previous point, time is probably the only way you get more stars to play. You can't expect this to be huge in its second incarnation. If there are some big games and a US team that makes noice, 4 years from now you might have a couple more guys who are interested. But it'll probably take at least 4 or 5 run throughs of this tournament before it really turns into a must event for the players, if it ever does.

[erik316wttn]

I think it would be better if played closer to the end of the season rather than the beginning of it. You'd get more of the marquee talent that way.

[Brian]

Yeah i'm up and yeah I'm watching this (what? I've got nothing better to do).

 

Excited to get a look at Darvish.

[Outshined_One]

Yay for insomnia!

[Brian]

thought it would be me talking to myself!

[Outshined_One]

Also, I'm secretly excited for China as a baseball nation over the coming years. MLB has made some headway there and baseball has slowly been growing in popularity. There's a natural nearby rivalry with Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, to boot. I don't think China will become a baseball powerhouse any time soon, but getting a few Chinese names in MLB would be a boon to the sport.

 

And wow, neither announcer wants to be there right now.

[Brian]

Fun Fact: the Nippon Ham Fighters are my favorite sports team I've never seen do anything.

 

yeah hopefully these announcer will say F it and start taking shots during commercial breaks, they've got to know about 58 people are watching this.

[Outshined_One]

That roller-skating cockatoo rules!

[Outshined_One]

That extra-innings rule makes this like college football and OT.

 

What the heck is the point?

[Brian]

yeah that's craziness, 2 men on to start the 13th inning and later

[Outshined_One]

Kosuke!

[Brian]

:lol: the announcer is interviewing these guys dressed like he just came from a jog