Quite a contrast between the full stands at the Japanese games with the avid fans singing a different song for each player and this half filled park. Thanks, Orel for those photos of the European parks. I had no idea about all that.
Yup, and now Drew Smyly ust got pulled even though he's 20 pitches under the limit. Why the hell did he even take a roster spot if he was limited to his own personal pitch count? America's participation in this tournament is downright embarrassing. I would honestly prefer it if we didn't bother playing.Quite a contrast between the full stands at the Japanese games with the avid fans singing a different song for each player and this half filled park.
No joke, this Puerto Rican infield may be the best that's ever been assembled on one team (particularly if you want to includ catcher in your definition of infield).Correa's flying catch at third is making me long for a young, flexible third baseman. Wow!
I missed that part, sorry.So, of course I fell asleep, but I am trying to figure out if Andrew Miller is pitching as badly as he seems to be. I know that the Arenado error led to a run behind Miller, but didn't he put two on and allow a double steal (he and Posey)? How did he look?
If Jones was in left he may have caught that one too.Adam Jones just robbed Manny Machado of a HR to RCF. Machado was well on his way to pulling a Miguel Cairo too.
And now Cano with a bomb to left. 4-3, bottom of the 7th.
Jeffery Maier looks like he's been on a bender for the last decade.
Me, too. The game is on mlbn now, which is nice for those of us who can't stay up.Just saw Stanton's HR, the ball was murdered.
You're leaving out a certain part-time bowler/RF.I have always been critical of Team USA's apathy towards the WBC. I think it's the height of arrogance for America to continually dismiss this event as "an exhibition nobody cares about" when most evidence shows that, in fact, the rest of the baseball world cares about it very, very much.
Having said that, I think some of the teeth-gnashing about the quality of Team USA's roster is misplaced. There's no question that the starting pitching is considerably weaker than it could be, but as far as the lineup is concerned, it's pretty close to the best that the country has to offer. Over the last three years, Posey, Arenado, and Goldschmidt have probably been the best American players at their respective positions. Though he's only had one great year, Murphy now has a strong argument for being the best second baseman as well (and that argument would have to include Kinsler, too). In the outfield, McCutchen and Stanton can certainly stake a claim as being amongst the elite, though both currently have something to prove (a possible sharp decline for the former, and health for the latter). You could argue that Donaldson belongs on the team, but I think the only really glaring absences are Trout and Seager (and with respect to SS, Crawford is very clearly the best defensive American SS, and probably number 2 overall behind Seager).
And hell, the pitching isn't that bad. Roark was the fifth best American pitcher by WAR last year, and Miller may very well be the single best reliever in baseball.
That's at least 30% of the reason I'm rooting for the US team.Not to get ahead of ourselves, but I wonder if the USA wins whether that leads to more of the big names wanting in next time around. The atmosphere is incredible and I would bet many of these guys will call this a highlight of their career.
Yeah, you can put Betts in there on the same level as Donaldson. My overall point, though, is that with clear exceptions of Crawford and Jones, you can make an argument that Team USA has the best American player at each position (or one of the top 3, in the case of the outfield). That argument is stronger for some positions than others (e.g. Posey at catcher vs. Stanton in the OF), but I think that only in the case of SS and one of the OF positions can it not be made at all.You're leaving out a certain part-time bowler/RF.
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/220103566/world-baseball-classic-sets-attendance-record/The '17 Classic has already drawn 976,828 fans, surpassing the previous tournament attendance record of 885,212, set in 2013. That is a 24 percent increase from 2013 through two rounds, with three games still to be played.
The 2017 second round drew 354,977, making it the most-attended second round in the tournament's history. The Tokyo pool drew a total of 209,072, breaking the record for the most-attended pool in tournament history. Saturday's game between the U.S. and Dominican Republic in San Diego drew a sold-out crowd of 43,002 to Petco Park, marking the largest attendance for a World Baseball Classic second-round game held in the U.S.
Yes but only Yadier makes that throw.Profar just got picked off 1B while leading a dugout cheer after he hit a single.
His arm shouldn't be allowed in America.Yes but only Yadier makes that throw.