WBC: Day 1
Two games today, both from the Tokyo Dome.
South Korea 2, Taiwan 0. Decent game--baseball is baseball. Korea used 4 MLB pitchers; Taiwan didn't have a chance. Korea will get brutalized in the later rounds if all they can muster is two lousy runs against Taiwan. Both teams are pretty good defensively, but it's tough to make any judgements about the offense just yet. Pitching is by far the most notable difference. These guys just don't have the zig-zag-zip of a Santana or a Clemens--or even a Sean Estes. Jeff Brantley sounded like he was suffering from either jet lag or one too many pre-game sake bombs.
Japan 18, China 2. To say that the Chinese were overmatched is the understatement of the year--I can't believe they even managed to score two runs. A pretty good American high school team could murder the Chinese squad, and I know I could play a better left field than the guy they had out there. Why the heck did I stay up to watch this mismatch? Oh yeah--I'm hopelessly addicted to baseball. Ichiro is one of my heroes. A couple of these other guys could definitely play in the Bigs, particularly their second baseman, Nishioka. That 10-year contract rule in Japan is a crock--where's the Japanese version of Marvin Miller when you need him?
The Tokyo Dome looks like a pretty cool environment. Nets extend all the way around the foul lines to prevent foul balls going in the stands, or, I suppose, to discourage crazy drunken kamakazi runs onto the field. I've always wanted to see a Japanese baseball game, but they're never televised. ESPN broadcasts the freakin' spelling bee, but not the Japanese championship--what's with that? Japanese fans are certainly a vocal bunch. These Asian coaches are out of the dugout, cheering their players on, shouting out direction, really engaged in the game, and the players seem to react well to it--maybe Dusty could take note.
Judging by these first two games, this tournament is going to be a ton of fun to watch. I'm suddenly very psyched.
South Korea 2, Taiwan 0. Decent game--baseball is baseball. Korea used 4 MLB pitchers; Taiwan didn't have a chance. Korea will get brutalized in the later rounds if all they can muster is two lousy runs against Taiwan. Both teams are pretty good defensively, but it's tough to make any judgements about the offense just yet. Pitching is by far the most notable difference. These guys just don't have the zig-zag-zip of a Santana or a Clemens--or even a Sean Estes. Jeff Brantley sounded like he was suffering from either jet lag or one too many pre-game sake bombs.
Japan 18, China 2. To say that the Chinese were overmatched is the understatement of the year--I can't believe they even managed to score two runs. A pretty good American high school team could murder the Chinese squad, and I know I could play a better left field than the guy they had out there. Why the heck did I stay up to watch this mismatch? Oh yeah--I'm hopelessly addicted to baseball. Ichiro is one of my heroes. A couple of these other guys could definitely play in the Bigs, particularly their second baseman, Nishioka. That 10-year contract rule in Japan is a crock--where's the Japanese version of Marvin Miller when you need him?
The Tokyo Dome looks like a pretty cool environment. Nets extend all the way around the foul lines to prevent foul balls going in the stands, or, I suppose, to discourage crazy drunken kamakazi runs onto the field. I've always wanted to see a Japanese baseball game, but they're never televised. ESPN broadcasts the freakin' spelling bee, but not the Japanese championship--what's with that? Japanese fans are certainly a vocal bunch. These Asian coaches are out of the dugout, cheering their players on, shouting out direction, really engaged in the game, and the players seem to react well to it--maybe Dusty could take note.
Judging by these first two games, this tournament is going to be a ton of fun to watch. I'm suddenly very psyched.
posted by Pat at 4:36 AM
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