[SoxScout]

Quote

Team USA second baseman Dustin Pedroia left the team Saturday to be examined by Red Sox doctors in Fort Myers due to a strained muscle near his rib cage.

The Red Sox second baseman said he hoped to return to the American squad if doctors allow, but that Boston officials are expected to take a cautious approach.

"Hopefully this is just a couple of days," Pedroia said.

Pedroia said he felt the injury during the team's workout Friday. Mark DeRosa is the only remaining second baseman on the roster. The team is likely to add a player from the provisional roster, such as Brian Roberts of the Orioles.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/base...hurt/index.html

WBC nightmare, don't let him go back.

This post has been edited by SoxScout: 23 March 2009 - 09:40 AM

[RedOctober3829]

SoxScout, on Mar 14 2009, 05:38 PM, said:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/base...hurt/index.html

WBC nightmare, don't let him go back.

This is exactly why I hate the WBC. Yes, I know that he could have easily hurt himself in Fort Myers but this tournament is so unnecessary in the middle of spring training.

[Bowlerman9]

RedOctober3829, on Mar 14 2009, 05:40 PM, said:

This is exactly why I hate the WBC. Yes, I know that he could have easily hurt himself in Fort Myers but this tournament is so unnecessary in the middle of spring training.

I dont get the WBC hate. What, exactly, was Pedroia doing over there that he wouldnt have done in Fort Myers? Didnt Lugo get hurt the other day in Fort Myers? How come every time some small thing happens in the WBC, the WBC becomes this terrible thing?

Players get hurt. They get hurt in ST, the regular season, the post season, the off-season, in their home, on the road, everywhere. Why the WBC is evil - I just dont get it.

[Comfortably Lomb]

Bowlerman9, on Mar 14 2009, 05:43 PM, said:

I dont get the WBC hate. What, exactly, was Pedroia doing over there that he wouldnt have done in Fort Myers? Didnt Lugo get hurt the other day in Fort Myers? How come every time some small thing happens in the WBC, the WBC becomes this terrible thing?

Players get hurt. They get hurt in ST, the regular season, the post season, the off-season, in their home, on the road, everywhere. Why the WBC is evil - I just dont get it.

I think there's a heightened chance that he actually plays hard if the games matter somewhat. Like with the NFL, the only goal for decent players in the preseason should be to survive without injury for when the games actually mean something.

[paulftodd]

Bowlerman9, on Mar 15 2009, 05:43 AM, said:

I dont get the WBC hate. What, exactly, was Pedroia doing over there that he wouldnt have done in Fort Myers? Didnt Lugo get hurt the other day in Fort Myers? How come every time some small thing happens in the WBC, the WBC becomes this terrible thing?

Players get hurt. They get hurt in ST, the regular season, the post season, the off-season, in their home, on the road, everywhere. Why the WBC is evil - I just dont get it.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb

Quote

Maybe I pushed it a little too hard, too fast to get this going. I'll get this checked out Sunday."

[yecul]

Bowlerman9, on Mar 14 2009, 05:43 PM, said:

I dont get the WBC hate. What, exactly, was Pedroia doing over there that he wouldnt have done in Fort Myers? Didnt Lugo get hurt the other day in Fort Myers? How come every time some small thing happens in the WBC, the WBC becomes this terrible thing?

Players get hurt. They get hurt in ST, the regular season, the post season, the off-season, in their home, on the road, everywhere. Why the WBC is evil - I just dont get it.

I tend to agree, but those are "real" games. In ST you ramp up effort and have activity stopped the second something pops up.

So... while you're pretty much right, I don't see how you can argue that there is *no* tangible difference.

[George from Maine]

Pedroia is one of those guys who plays hard no matter what. He only has one gear.

[ichirob4ichiro]

Bowlerman9, on Mar 14 2009, 05:43 PM, said:

I dont get the WBC hate. What, exactly, was Pedroia doing over there that he wouldnt have done in Fort Myers? Didnt Lugo get hurt the other day in Fort Myers? How come every time some small thing happens in the WBC, the WBC becomes this terrible thing?

Players get hurt. They get hurt in ST, the regular season, the post season, the off-season, in their home, on the road, everywhere. Why the WBC is evil - I just dont get it.

I think the root of a lot of the criticism stems from the fact that he didn't get hurt doing something for the Sox-- not so much the "he was playing too hard, too early" argument. Of course he could of gotten hurt in Ft. Myers... Hell, fans could to some degree even understand him hurting his back while sneezing, just as long as he did such things happen under the eye of the Sox staff. At least while with the Sox, a fan would assume the injury was suffered for the sake of the Sox, not something that the fans can't find reason in.

Though trite, the WBC brings an additional complication with its disassociation of what the normal 'level-headed' fan really cares about and can find reason in. Ultimately, this disassociation just gives the fan one more things to blame and bitch about when something bad happens.

[NomarsFool]

Just a question, but don't players typically play only a few innings in the first weeks of ST, but I assume they play the whole nine in the WBC?

[SoxScout]

Quote

Q: What you can tell us about what happened and how serious it is?

A: I was hitting extra yesterday and kind of felt some soreness. Started taking flips today and I kind of felt a shooting pain a little bit. Out hitting coach, Reggie Smith, said, “Hey, that’s it. Go get checked out.” Our trainer obviously called the Red Sox and I’ll get checked out by the doctors there. I think it’s more precautionary than anything. Obviously I’m upset. It’s a couple of days and I’ll be back tomorrow after I get checked out. I’ll continue playing. It’s up to the Red Sox. I don’t really have a say in that matter.

Quote

Q: Have you ever had any sort of oblique thing before?

A: No, nothing like that. I’ve never really had anything like this which is why it’s frustrating. Obviously I train real hard in the off season to get ready and try to prevent something like this from happening. Maybe I tried a little too hard too fast to get this going. I’ll get it checked out tomorrow.

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/ba...s-from-pedroia/

A few more questions in the link.

[gcapalbo]

The whole, entire issue about why this is a bad idea is that you've got players in 'meaningful' games during a part of the season when they're supposed to gradually extend themselves and get into playing shape.

Quote

"Maybe I tried a little too hard too fast to get this going"

is what it is.

The WBC is an intriguing idea, but they're practically no 'good' time to do it.

I was very happy when the Domenican team was blown out, and we got Papi back in camp. I continue to worry a lot about Dice-K, his having people watching him notwithstanding.

The only mitigating factor is it affects every team equally (assuming everyone sends players).

Tommy LaSorda be damned-- no way I let Pedroia go back.

This post has been edited by gcapalbo: 14 March 2009 - 06:45 PM

[kazuneko]

gcapalbo, on Mar 14 2009, 01:44 PM, said:

The WBC is an intriguing idea, but they're practically no 'good' time to do it.

Out of curiosity, what's wrong with the middle of January, in an appropriate climate? You can even rotate the WBC around different tropical locations - Hawaii, the DR, Venezuela, Taiwan, etc, wherever baseball is popular. It would be a huge event for the host country and would put baseball on the calender in the midst of the offseason.

[Comfortably Lomb]

kazuneko, on Mar 14 2009, 08:08 PM, said:

Out of curiosity, what's wrong with the middle of January, in an appropriate climate?

The problem, I would assume, would be getting the big name players to show up.

[Snodgrass'Muff]

kazuneko, on Mar 14 2009, 08:08 PM, said:

Out of curiosity, what's wrong with the middle of January, in an appropriate climate? You can even rotate the WBC around different tropical locations - Hawaii, the DR, Venezuela, Taiwan, etc, wherever baseball is popular. It would be a huge event for the host country and would put baseball on the calender in the midst of the offseason.

I don't think that fixes the problem people have with it, though. Why would players be less likely to get hurt in January than they are in March? If someone doesn't like the fact that they're playing it at all, there won't be a time of year to schedule it that will change that person's mind. The risk exists any time you try to hold the tournament.

That being said, I personally love the idea of the tournament and am OK with the risks players take to represent their countries. It sucks that Pedroia got hurt, but I'm not about to go nuts about it as I'm a fan of international competition.

[paulftodd]

kazuneko, on Mar 15 2009, 08:08 AM, said:

Out of curiosity, what's wrong with the middle of January, in an appropriate climate? You can even rotate the WBC around different tropical locations - Hawaii, the DR, Venezuela, Taiwan, etc, wherever baseball is popular. It would be a huge event for the host country and would put baseball on the calender in the midst of the offseason.

January is the players vacation time, which most players are not going to give up, and in fact, this is even worse than playing in March from a health/injury perspective.

And the weather is not tropical in Taiwan in January.

As for it being a huge event for the host country and putting baseball on the calendar when most folks are into NBA or the coming super bowel, who cares. Certainly not the players (not from the host country), fans, or team owners. I guess it might help to pay some of Bud Seligs 18 million dollar salary.

[kazuneko]

paulftodd, on Mar 14 2009, 02:23 PM, said:

January is the players vacation time, which most players are not going to give up, and in fact, this is even worse than playing in March from a health/injury perspective.

I guess. They don't seem to have any problems getting NBA players to show up for the Olympics. I would think there would still be a lot of pressure on players to show up to represent their country, and we're only talking once every three years. I know Gary Sheffield's season begins when Gary Sheffield gets paid, but I'd like to think that most MLB players actually enjoy playing the game.

paulftodd, on Mar 14 2009, 02:23 PM, said:

As for it being a huge event for the host country and putting baseball on the calendar when most folks are into NBA or the coming super bowel, who cares. Certainly not the players (not from the host country), fans, or team owners. I guess it might help to pay some of Bud Seligs 18 million dollar salary.

Well, I'm a fan and I care. The NBA season sucks in January and the Super Bowl is just one day. I think the WBC has potential to be an interesting contest and it would be cool if it were something more than just an alternate spring training. And there's no question it's in baseball's long-term interest to increase it's international popularity, which means its in the interests of both the players and the team owners.

This post has been edited by kazuneko: 14 March 2009 - 08:04 PM

[ichirob4ichiro]

kazuneko, on Mar 14 2009, 08:54 PM, said:

Well, I'm a fan and I care. The NBA season sucks in January and the Super Bowl is just one day. I think the WBC has potential to be an interesting contest and it would be cool if it were something more than just an alternate spring training. And there's no question it's in baseball's long-term interest to increase it's international popularity, which means its in the interests of both the players and the team owners.

How are you going to get some of the bigger named pitchers (or the teams they play for) to think it would be beneficial in anyway to throw competitive innings in January? I can see prospects-- and players who compete in winter leagues already, but that would be a small and uninteresting pool of talent to draw from.

But perhaps that would make the tourney more offensively oriented, providing more runs and more big bombs to bring in the fans.

[fletcherpost]

paulftodd, on Mar 15 2009, 12:23 AM, said:

As for it being a huge event for the host country and putting baseball on the calendar when most folks are into NBA or the coming super bowel, who cares. Certainly not the players (not from the host country), fans, or team owners. I guess it might help to pay some of Bud Seligs 18 million dollar salary.

I appreciate you were responding to a question, however i think make you make the odd sweeping generalization.

I think some players from the USA do care. (I assume you mean players from the USA when referring to the players from the 'host country.') Adam Dunn; Chipper Jones and Derek Jeter amongst others have been saying positive things about representing their country in the WBC. None of the players have to play, they can all say no, so i am going to assume they do care. Although i will not quantify how much they care...(is there a metric to measure 'care'?) - I do concede that they care less for the WBC than they do for the World Series and their respective MLB careers however.

I think some fans (in and of the USA) care too. Perhaps a lower proportion of fans from the USA care, than fans from other countries...but that's not new. However a thing is neither good nor bad because of what the USA thinks...although it might be more or less viable.

I hope Pedroia is on the mend. That he got his injury whilst on duty for the USA, the country of his birth - I'm indifferent to this. However if i found out someone goaded him or coerced him or took advantage of his youthful exuberance and desire to reperesent his country...well then i would be up in arms, cos that's not right.

Edit: Godspeed Dustin

This post has been edited by fletcherpost: 14 March 2009 - 08:33 PM

[geoduck no quahog]

No, I'm sorry - there's NOTHING good about the WBC. It's not a viable tournament to begin with, since in no way does it represent the best players from each country, and certainly not the US. For those of you that enjoy nationalism and international competition, I suggest you stick with soccer and cricket and leave us alone.

I don't care who gets injured, whether it's Jeter or Pedroia or Delgado...an injury in the name of a stupid and meaningless exhibition tournament is outrageous. Baseball players are creatures of habit. This thing comes along every 3 years and fucks up the normal spring training schedule and routine for all MLB players. And don't give me the "It could happen in Ft Myers" routine. The best players on your baseball team are torn away from their coaches. They, like Pedroia, need to get into 9-inning game shape in much less time than normal - and still go back for more Spring Training. It lengthens the pitchers' year and makes them extremely vulnerable. For what? For nothing. For Selig.

There are a lot of little things that go on during Spring Training, all under the watchful eye of professionals. Don't for a second think that a player in the WBC being away from his own team trainer for a month, the guy who knows and cares for him, means nothing. The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox pay their coaching and training staff a lot of money to watch out for their players. They keep them off buses when necessary. They work with them on the side or in the training room. The whole thing sucks.

Pedroia had better bow out now, and I pray that Matsuzaka comes down with a flu to keep him out of games. Won't we all feel good when Japan wins the WBC on the back of our #3 pitcher completely over-extending himself under the "watchful" eye of his Japanese handlers, whom I'm sure have the Red Sox' best interests at heart.

Fuck the WBC.

This post has been edited by geoduck no quahog: 14 March 2009 - 08:32 PM

[Stuffy McInnis]

The MLB Network just said that Pedroia will miss the rest of the WBC due to his strained oblique. This was on the news crawl during the USA v. Puerto Rico game.

And they also just now reported that Brian Roberts has been added in his place.

This post has been edited by Stuffy McInnis: 14 March 2009 - 08:36 PM