Baseball World Cup is on for 2006 according to BA

[thedaymen]

Dominican Republic. How is this for MURDER:

 

1B: Pujols

2B: Soriano

SS: Tejada

3B: Aramis Ramirez

OF: Manny Ramirez

OF: Vlad

DH: Big Papi

 

Pitchers: Colon and Martinez

Feel free to add your own lineups and other STUDS from these countries

 

For Venezula: 1-2-3 rotation of Santana, Zambrano, Garcia

Hitters: Cabrera and Ordonez

 

US: Pick and choose. A zillion options.

 

I predict 5 BBs for the entire team for the entire tournament.

 

Only if Sammy is batting in the lineup, then it will be the folks just ahead of him

[Jon]

According to the AP, Japan is officially in.

[1908]

According to the AP, Japan is officially in.

Time to get tickets.

[wvcbxl]

At least the outcome is guaranteed to be different from that of the World Championship cuurently taking place in the Netherlands.

 

Team USA was eliminated by Cuba in the quarter finals. No way Cuba gets invited to the World Cup.

[1908]

No way Cuba gets invited to the World Cup.

I was under the impression that Cuba's already been invited. Has that changed? Have the declined the invite? I hope not.

[wvcbxl]

Oops, my bad.

 

Thanks for the correction, 1908

 

My previous sig read "assumption is the mother of all foul-ups". :roll:

[1908]

Oops, my bad.

 

Thanks for the correction, 1908

 

My previous sig read "assumption is the mother of all foul-ups". :roll:

No worries. It does look like Cuba's participation is unlikely. An official decision won't happen until December, though; and it sounded like Japan wasn't going to participate just a couple months ago so I'm still holding out hope.

[LoneStarCubFan]

Oops, my bad.

 

Thanks for the correction, 1908

 

My previous sig read "assumption is the mother of all foul-ups". :roll:

No worries. It does look like Cuba's participation is unlikely. An official decision won't happen until December, though; and it sounded like Japan wasn't going to participate just a couple months ago so I'm still holding out hope.

 

I'll be stunned if Cuba actually shows up for this tournament. They'll get their clocks cleaned by the DR, USA or Venezuela. Castro will come up with some excuse about capitalist entities trying to entice his guys into defecting as their reason for not participating.

[1908]

I'll be stunned if Cuba actually shows up for this tournament.

Seems unlikely at this point.

 

They'll get their clocks cleaned by the DR, USA or Venezuela.

You'd think so, although the national team played pretty well against the Orioles back in 1999. They'd have the advantage of being a true team versus a team of All-Stars, too. I hope they play so we get to find out.

[wvcbxl]

Just in case anybody is interested, Cuba won the IBAF World Championship last friday by defeating South-Korea 3-0 in the final.

 

Official result:

1. Cuba

2. South-Korea

3. Panama

4. The Netherlands

5. Japan

6. Nicaragua

7. USA

8. Puerto Rico

[LoneStarCubFan]

I'll be stunned if Cuba actually shows up for this tournament.

Seems unlikely at this point.

 

They'll get their clocks cleaned by the DR, USA or Venezuela.

You'd think so, although the national team played pretty well against the Orioles back in 1999. They'd have the advantage of being a true team versus a team of All-Stars, too. I hope they play so we get to find out.

 

At the ASG last year I actually got a chance to ask Ben Sheets about pitching against Cuba in the 2000 Olympics. He said it was like facing a real good AA team. If they show up, they won't medal.

[1908]

I'll be stunned if Cuba actually shows up for this tournament.

Seems unlikely at this point.

 

They'll get their clocks cleaned by the DR, USA or Venezuela.

You'd think so, although the national team played pretty well against the Orioles back in 1999. They'd have the advantage of being a true team versus a team of All-Stars, too. I hope they play so we get to find out.

 

At the ASG last year I actually got a chance to ask Ben Sheets about pitching against Cuba in the 2000 Olympics. He said it was like facing a real good AA team. If they show up, they won't medal.

That's a lot of info for Ben to gather based on one game versus Cuba. It's still an interesting story, though. Like I said, I hope they play so we can test your pronouncement.

[1908]

Looks like San Diego will be hosting the WBC Semifinals and Final.

 

Got room on your couch, BBB? :D

[1908]

I'll be stunned if Cuba actually shows up for this tournament.

Seems unlikely at this point.

Then again, maybe there's hope after all.

 

MLB.com[/url]"]The United States, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, China, Canada, South Africa, the Netherlands, Italy, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Panama and Australia have all accepted invitations. Only Cuba, which is working out logistics, has yet to formally join the fold.

 

Negotiations are ongoing and DuPuy, on Thursday [9/29/05], sounded confident that Cuba would play.

 

"It's going to happen," said DuPuy, who was joined by MLB vice presidents Paul Archey and Laurel Prieb at the conference.

[wvcbxl]

Still no confirmation from Cuba:

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/051013intupdate.html

 

Cuba’s participation in the World Baseball Classic is not as imminent as was reported on BaseballAmerica.com Friday. The Latin American news service that carried the original story apparently mixed up the Classic with a regional amateur qualifying baseball tournament in Puerto Rico. Major League Baseball’s Paul Archey, senior vice president for international operations, said he had not received an official letter of acceptance from Cuba. While MLB still expects Cuba to participate, Cuba is not yet in.

 

Anybody ready on the bench to step in just in case?

[1908]

Anybody ready on the bench to step in just in case?

I can't think of a natural fit but I'm sure MLB has a contingency plan. No Cuba would be disappointing, no doubt.

[1908]

Castro says Cuba to play in World Classic

Sweet.

[sweetpeteman]

Castro says Cuba to play in World Classic

Sweet.

 

Awesome, soon there will be a couple more Cuban players to go after!

[goonys evil twin]

I stand by my belief that not much good will come from this marketing ploy.

[1908]

I stand by my belief that not much good will come from this marketing ploy.

Of course you do.

[LoneStarCubFan]

US manager and a portion of the roster to be announced at 2 p.m. CST today at the Winter Meetings. Active ML managers cannot manage any of the teams in the tournament.

 

The MLB on XM morning show is dropping hints that the manager will be Buck Martinez.

 

I'll be shocked if it's anybody other than Lasorda.

[erik316wttn]

The other day Barry Bonds announced his participation in the tournament. So we know one person for sure.

[bc2k]

This thing has disaster written all over it. I am so not looking forward to any Cubs players getting involved in this mess.

[LoneStarCubFan]

Buck Martinez will be the U.S. manager.

 

Coaching Staff

Davey Johnson

Reggie Smith

Marcel Lacheman

Ken Griffey Sr.

[Keener98]

Very experienced and talented coaching staff in my opinion.

 

Also during the press conference questions were being asked of course. One of the questions I found quite funny.

 

Reporter.."Has Cuba, and Fidel Castro, been given any assurances that the Cuba team will return home with the same amount of players they leave with"?

 

Other guy...."There are some questions you just dont want to touch with a 10 foot pole, and this is one of them. The answer is NO they havent been assured this". :D