World Baseball Classic 2017

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
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Yeah Leyland and his .500 career winning percentage isn't going in the Hall of Fame, and winning the WBC will mean squat.
 

Stanley Steamer

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Jan 11, 2012
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Rossland, BC
Hosmer is such a stud. Nailed twice on his elbow with fastballs in the past few nights, and he looks away, grimaces, and trots to first. Only when he gets there does he talk about it. Maybe that's what Kinsler was driving at.
 

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
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For all the talk of the lack of stars for the Americans, this seems like a really fun group of good young players.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Dec 24, 2002
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Puerto Rico's pitching has totally crapped the bed. Well, the fact that they used a corpse in the middle of this inning (as referenced by Stanley Steamer) speaks volumes.
 

Brand Name

make hers mark
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Oct 6, 2010
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Moving the Line
Fuck you and your Truping, Matt. Seriously. I knew that wasn't even close based on the outfield depth and lack of going back. No reason for that, and it was blatantly a can of corn. Inexcusable at this level for an announcer who has been around this long, on this stage.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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This should have been played about three hours earlier. Way to cater to your East Coast (and Puerto Rican/Dominican etc) audience, baseball...
 

santadevil

wears depends
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Aug 1, 2006
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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.
This is an amazing post.

I opened this thread for the first time in about a week and this was the first.post that greeted me.

How are you feeling now?
 

jon abbey

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Jul 15, 2005
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Jonah Keri sums up nicely what was wrong with Kinsler's pregame comments yesterday:

"Team USA second baseman Ian Kinsler took a lot of flak for comments he made before the tournament’s deciding game. Rightfully so. Kinsler claiming his team played the game in a better way than their opponents from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic was a breathtakingly arrogant and ill-founded move. His close-minded comments didn’t merely offer a hint of subtle bigotry. They spoke to something that’s long been my biggest problem with a sport I otherwise adore.

Go to a game in Japan or Korea or Puerto Rico, and the common theme will be fun. Not merely the kind of fun you get watching great athletes at the top of their game. But also players being allowed -- even encouraged -- to play with flair. Blast a home run in many other baseball-mad nations, and flipping your bat to the sky and skipping around the bases is embraced by similarly giddy fans. Watch a ball even a half-second too long off the bat in a major league game, and you might end up with a 97-mph fastball in your ear the next time up.

Baseball offers many wonderful traditions worth preserving. But the extent to which American players are taught to value decorum above all else -- and to punish any player that dares show a hint of style or bravado -- is absolute bullshit. Sports are far more enjoyable when athletes get to enjoy themselves, when they get to show joy in their faces, and in their actions. Celebrations and shouts of triumph are de rigeur in basketball, football, soccer, and so many other sports. Only baseball insists of having a stick up its collective butt.


Want to put your head down and trot silently around the bases after a homer? Go for it. But if you want to pump your first and let out shouts of delight, that should be cool too. Credit Kinsler for coming up huge in the finals. But he’s dead wrong about the right way to play. Baseball has a real chance to broaden its appeal if both players and fans ape their Dominican and Puerto Rican counterparts."

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/six-things-from-the-usa-vs-puerto-rico-wbc-final-that-turned-me-into-a-believer/amp/
 

Tyrone Biggums

nfl meets tri-annually at a secret country mansion
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Aug 15, 2006
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Jonah Keri sums up nicely what was wrong with Kinsler's pregame comments yesterday:

"Team USA second baseman Ian Kinsler took a lot of flak for comments he made before the tournament’s deciding game. Rightfully so. Kinsler claiming his team played the game in a better way than their opponents from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic was a breathtakingly arrogant and ill-founded move. His close-minded comments didn’t merely offer a hint of subtle bigotry. They spoke to something that’s long been my biggest problem with a sport I otherwise adore.

Go to a game in Japan or Korea or Puerto Rico, and the common theme will be fun. Not merely the kind of fun you get watching great athletes at the top of their game. But also players being allowed -- even encouraged -- to play with flair. Blast a home run in many other baseball-mad nations, and flipping your bat to the sky and skipping around the bases is embraced by similarly giddy fans. Watch a ball even a half-second too long off the bat in a major league game, and you might end up with a 97-mph fastball in your ear the next time up.

Baseball offers many wonderful traditions worth preserving. But the extent to which American players are taught to value decorum above all else -- and to punish any player that dares show a hint of style or bravado -- is absolute bullshit. Sports are far more enjoyable when athletes get to enjoy themselves, when they get to show joy in their faces, and in their actions. Celebrations and shouts of triumph are de rigeur in basketball, football, soccer, and so many other sports. Only baseball insists of having a stick up its collective butt.


Want to put your head down and trot silently around the bases after a homer? Go for it. But if you want to pump your first and let out shouts of delight, that should be cool too. Credit Kinsler for coming up huge in the finals. But he’s dead wrong about the right way to play. Baseball has a real chance to broaden its appeal if both players and fans ape their Dominican and Puerto Rican counterparts."

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/six-things-from-the-usa-vs-puerto-rico-wbc-final-that-turned-me-into-a-believer/amp/
All due "respect" to Kinsler. He's a straight white male. He doesn't have the right to speak about other cultures. Just sit there enjoy the win and STFU.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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I agree with Keri. I guarantee my younger nieces and nephews would be much more likely to sit thru 9 innings of a baseball game if there was drumming, singing and JOY out there instead of it always being so serious. There's a reason every little kid's favorite Red Sox player was David Ortiz, and it's not just because of the Home Runs, it's because he was obviously having fun out there.
 

Doug Beerabelli

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I think a straight white maile has as much a right to speak about other cultures as much as anyone else. And the rest of us have the right to think a bit less of him because of it. Like the straight white male typing this message.

Agree with Keri, too. This was a fun tournament to watch in part because of the joy on display. I hope the powers that be figure out a way to play the WBS at a time when the best players from these countries can participate without limitations or fear of injury due to lack being in mid season conditioning form.
 

KiltedFool

has a terminal case of creeping sharia
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Dec 22, 2005
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Was interesting to me, Posnanski's recent podcast talking about the WBC he went on at length about the absolute joy of Francisco Lindor. His skills and talent are undeniable, but the absolute joy the dude plays with is so infectious. Don't think I've seen the word joy associated with baseball this many times in a brief span as the last week or so.
 

Tyrone Biggums

nfl meets tri-annually at a secret country mansion
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Aug 15, 2006
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I think a straight white maile has as much a right to speak about other cultures as much as anyone else. And the rest of us have the right to think a bit less of him because of it. Like the straight white male typing this message.

Agree with Keri, too. This was a fun tournament to watch in part because of the joy on display. I hope the powers that be figure out a way to play the WBS at a time when the best players from these countries can participate without limitations or fear of injury due to lack being in mid season conditioning form.
Ehh after what happened with 45, straight white males have no right to do so. Sorry but that's just how it is in my opinion. It's an opinion shared by most. Just the way it is. SWM's need to stand up for people that Kinsler offended. His comments at first I didn't see as racist but then I read he supported 45 so I think it's obvious that it came from a xenophobic/racist point of view.

Just a shame this has to overshadow a wonderful tournament.