World Baseball Classic 2017
- Thread starter Merkle's Boner
- Start date
Smoltz made that a lot more complicated than it is. Second and third, one out, the runner tries to score on any ground ball. If he's thrown out, you end up with first and third anyway. Any screwup, which we had, and the run scores.
I thought that for a moment too, but it was largely because Vasgersian was screaming his face off.
Mexican PBP guy (the network that has the rights for here is an offshoot of Televisa) actually called McLutchen catching the Japanese HR. This as the guy kept running and the dugout was cheering. Only when the scoreboard changed did he go, "wait, it is a homerun"
And then Cutch throws the ball over his shoulder without even looking to give someone a souvenir to make it even weirder.
This is precisely why I got Truped at first, crappy finish on the pitch's movement (or lack thereof), coupled with the fact Cutch wasn't moving to go back, plus how wide the camera shot was. Thought it was long gone.
ONE MORE GAME TO GO! Let's finish this deal.
Yeah, rich nation of 300 million people against its own protectorate, a poor quasi-nation of 3.5M. A loss would be humiliating, and even a win would be at least mildly farcical.
Of course it isn't the only way it can be done, but it is the right way to do it. Playing one game a week would be dumb. It would be terrible. It would be asinine.
And if you only played one game a week, the Padres would have a starting pitcher whose name you recognize, bullpens would be shorter and better, benches would be longer and better, and while the shorter season would mean you'd get more outlier seasons, when clumped together in 150ish game bunches, I seriously doubt you'd see many teams winning more than 60-65% of their games.
I have to disagree, Orel - I think baseball is by its nature a long-haul sport. Just look at the way we talk about small sample sizes, or the BABIP gods. We all accept that there's a lot of randomness in any one game, which is why we play so many to try to minimize the effect of that randomness. Just look at last night's game - Kinsler's double missed being a 2 run HR by maybe two feet. What if they failed to get the runner in after that? The difference between the game staying tied and the US going up 3-1 basically would've been the fact that it was raining.
Think of it this way - every year, there are at least 10 games or so where it seems like your team is hitting bullets right at people while the opponent is dribbling weak grounders through holes. It's frustrating, but it happens, and we all accept it. But would we accept it so easily if there was one game per week, or if it was in a single elimination tournament like this? I don't think I would.
Think of it this way - every year, there are at least 10 games or so where it seems like your team is hitting bullets right at people while the opponent is dribbling weak grounders through holes. It's frustrating, but it happens, and we all accept it. But would we accept it so easily if there was one game per week, or if it was in a single elimination tournament like this? I don't think I would.
Frankly, posts like this are why you suck.
If your enjoyment of this tournament is contingent on everyone agreeing with your perspective, you are a lousy fan in addition to being a lousy poster.
Enjoy the tournament without taking gratuitous shots at other posters or just go away.
This is silly. It's a baseball game, not a war. The rich nation in question is paying millions of dollars to the players from the protectorate, because those players are outstanding. So, if those outstanding players win the game, there is no shame involved. I would be surprised if the PR team doesn't win, b/c they are both good and devoted to each other as a team, but anything can happen in one game, which is one of the reason people dislike the format. It doesn't give us the answer to the somewhat childish question, "Who's is the best in the whole world, Daddy?" What it gives us is exciting baseball at a time when a lot of us are longing for it.
Sure, and I like that exciting baseball. And if PR can win, they will doubtless deserve it and it'll be a huge credit to them, as was reaching the finals in 2013. But it also won't say great things about the US's national-team organization, who should frankly dominate this competition (with occasional noises from Japan) the way we do international basketball.
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Gratuitous...we'll done.
Edit: I mean, seriously. Your sole contribution to this thread is a drive-by post in response to something I posted during a game over 36 hours ago. You tell me I suck for taking shots at other posters and quote a post of mine which wasn't even directed at any other posters. Gratuitous?? Pot, meet your identical fucking twin.
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For those who like good game write ups, I thought that Tim Brown from Yahoo did a fantastic job with this piece on the US victory over Japan. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/meet-the-unlikely-hero-who-lifted-the-u-s-into-the-championship-of-the-world-baseball-classic-071334127.html
You're a joy.
It's sports. Dream a little. Have fun. It's not 300 million versus Puerto Rico.
It's 9 vs. 9 in the sport that, in a one game sample, has less to do with resources, population, big names, or money than any other.
Maybe Ian Kinsler should keep his mouth shut.
https://t.co/
"I hope kids watching the W.B.C. can watch the way we play the game and appreciate the way we play the game as opposed to the way Puerto Rico plays or the Dominican plays,” Kinsler said. “That’s not taking anything away from them. That just wasn’t the way we were raised. They were raised differently and to show emotion and passion when you play. We do show emotion; we do show passion. But we just do it in a different way.”
https://t.co/
"I hope kids watching the W.B.C. can watch the way we play the game and appreciate the way we play the game as opposed to the way Puerto Rico plays or the Dominican plays,” Kinsler said. “That’s not taking anything away from them. That just wasn’t the way we were raised. They were raised differently and to show emotion and passion when you play. We do show emotion; we do show passion. But we just do it in a different way.”
I don't think he's saying there's anything wrong with those teams just that he hopes kids appreciate the way they do it too.
That's not how I'm reading it at all. It seems to me that Kinsler is being an old-timey "play the right way" killjoy, and borderline racist to boot. I mean, "I hope kids watching the W.B.C. can watch the way we play the game and appreciate the way we play the game as opposed to the way Puerto Rico plays or the Dominican plays" is certainly open to interpretation, but my interpretation is that he's saying "our way is better" and not "we have conflicting styles that I hope everyone can enjoy." Also, the "this wasn't how we were raised" bullshit is never, ever meant to mean "wow, our cultures are totally different but equally valid." He's saying "we were brought up with a certain level of decorum that you low-class showboaters obviously lack." To which I say, fuck him. I now hope that PR squashes team USA like a cockroach and does backflips while doing it.
Based on the fact that Ian's trending on Twitter due to his remarks, I'd say a lot of people read it like I did.
Yeah, I'd call it racism. I don't even think it's very borderline. Your last 3 sentences are dead on, and I hope Kinsler blows his fucking knee out running to first base after Lugo hits him in the back.
EDIT: Upon another reading of his statement, I'm not sure if it was racist. It sure did not sound good, though, even if he was trying to say something else. As we've seen, words matter. He should have been more careful about selecting his words if he was going to say something like this. Or, you know, maybe he is a racist. Who the hell even knows anymore.
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He looks all out of sorts right now. Couple at bats I saw last night he had pretty bad happy feet.
Interesting to see the deuce get the Deportes feed. Correia is .400 at the Prom. Hopefully his OBP is higher than his SLG
First game I've been able to watch, and it's on ESPN 2 in Spanish. Which is light years better than having to be subjected to Steve Lyons.
Seriously, I hate to see the crowd cheering. Act like you've been there before.
For the people shitting on Kinsler, I offer this, though you're free to think he's just covering his ass:
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18980386/ian-kinsler-complimentary-wbc-purpose-differing-styles-play
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18980386/ian-kinsler-complimentary-wbc-purpose-differing-styles-play
Yeah, I think he worded it inelegantly. A very big deal has been made about the way some of the teams play and seem to, I don't know "enjoy" it more, with the raucous crowds, etc. Kinsler seems to be saying "Yeah, that's cool, but I hope kids can watch us and see we enjoy playing the game too."
Or, I guess, he could be saying racist things, with a guy like Adam Jones on his team, who has been VERY outspoken on racial issues, not responding.
Kinsler, by the way, once won the Texas Rangers community service award, and has been nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award due to, among other things, his relief work after the Haitian earthquake, his work with teenage mothers, his work with a project for eating disorders, and a camp for kids that come from situations with domestic violence, homeless shelters or from foster care programs.
OK, thanks. Figured it was something like that. Beltran, sans dome hair, died his beard.