WBC: Day 6
Round 2 Teams:
Pool A: Japan, Korea
Pool B: US, Canada
Pool C: PR, Cuba
Pool D: Venezuela, DR
Now that Canada is (for the moment) the king of North American baseball, those hosers to the north will move on to Round 2, while los hombres to the south will head to Spring Training, home, or who knows where--hot, crowded places with a couple of Xs in the name, I suppose. That was the only real question mark this early in the tournament. Now, with teams like Italy and Taiwan out of the way, the level of competition should improve drastically. I see no reason to believe that it won't be either US-Venezuela or US-DR in the final, though Japan could be a wild card, especially with the last few days off.
Not that one game really matters in the greater scheme of the tournament, but what went wrong in the US-Canada debacle? Given that pitching is usually everything, my first reaction was, "Dontrelle Willis must have been throwing beach balls." But apparently our defense did us in: no errors, but 5 earned runs on just 6 hits for Willis (2005 ERA of 2.63; Wednesday ERA of 16.87). I nearly crapped myself when I turned it on in the 6th to see the score at 8-6 in Canada's favor, a score which would stand to become the final.
Shocking, but not the end of the world. Instead of sweeping through the Stadium Formerly Known as The BOB, the South Africa game is a must-win in order to advance. That's right: Thanks to freakin' Canada, the US-South Africa contest has some meaning, and that's just a laughable thought when you get right down to it.
Pool A: Japan, Korea
Pool B: US, Canada
Pool C: PR, Cuba
Pool D: Venezuela, DR
Now that Canada is (for the moment) the king of North American baseball, those hosers to the north will move on to Round 2, while los hombres to the south will head to Spring Training, home, or who knows where--hot, crowded places with a couple of Xs in the name, I suppose. That was the only real question mark this early in the tournament. Now, with teams like Italy and Taiwan out of the way, the level of competition should improve drastically. I see no reason to believe that it won't be either US-Venezuela or US-DR in the final, though Japan could be a wild card, especially with the last few days off.
Not that one game really matters in the greater scheme of the tournament, but what went wrong in the US-Canada debacle? Given that pitching is usually everything, my first reaction was, "Dontrelle Willis must have been throwing beach balls." But apparently our defense did us in: no errors, but 5 earned runs on just 6 hits for Willis (2005 ERA of 2.63; Wednesday ERA of 16.87). I nearly crapped myself when I turned it on in the 6th to see the score at 8-6 in Canada's favor, a score which would stand to become the final.
Shocking, but not the end of the world. Instead of sweeping through the Stadium Formerly Known as The BOB, the South Africa game is a must-win in order to advance. That's right: Thanks to freakin' Canada, the US-South Africa contest has some meaning, and that's just a laughable thought when you get right down to it.
posted by Pat at 5:52 PM
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