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    • Saturday, March 23, 2013

    Freeman was set to play for Canada

    (www.torontosun.com)
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    posted on March 23, 2013 at 10:24 AM by The Mighty Quinn to wbc  |  3 comment(s)

    But does he know the lyrics to ” Let’s Go to the Mall” or the “Beaver Song”?

    “LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. - How many national teams can boast having a suitable replacement for an MVP winner?

    Had Joey Votto’s knee prevented him from playing in this month’s World Baseball Classic, Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman was ready and willing to wear the maple leaf.

    “I told the players association to make sure they let the WBC know that both my parents were born in Canada,” Freeman ...

    Read More...

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    1. Tschingsch posted on March 12, 2013 at 06:09 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    A relaxing morning of Honkbal. Doesn't really matter if they win or lose.

    And of course as I type that Simmons hit a homer...
    2. Honkie Kong posted on March 12, 2013 at 06:42 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    These Japanese pitchers have been generating a lot of strikeouts.

    Given the extensive rest after this game, this should be all hands on the pitching deck for the Honkballers?
    3. Tschingsch posted on March 12, 2013 at 06:47 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Japan is Honkbal kryptonite
    4. phineas posted on March 12, 2013 at 06:50 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    These mainland big pitchers aren't even reaching 90mph. They should cast a wide net in the mainland to find good arms.
    5. Good cripple hitter posted on March 12, 2013 at 06:51 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    I'm fascinated by how badly Japan is beating up on the Honkballers. It reminds me of some of the qualifying round games where Canada would beat up on Germany or the UK. And yet the Netherlands are going to the finals. Go figure.
    6. Honkie Kong posted on March 12, 2013 at 06:59 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Is there a sub 7 inning mercy rule?

    Honkballers should probably give all their backups some time in the middle after the 3rd/4th inning.
    7. Tschingsch posted on March 12, 2013 at 07:00 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    These mainland big pitchers aren't even reaching 90mph. They should cast a wide net in the mainland to find good arms.


    They just need to find more Loek Van Mils. I'm sure there are plenty of 7' 95mph throwing people lying around...
    8. phineas posted on March 12, 2013 at 07:04 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    The taller a pitcher is, the more difficult it is to keep his mechanics. Look at Japanese pitchers' height and the number of strikeouts they generate. They need to look at every possible talent.
    9. phineas posted on March 12, 2013 at 07:06 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Is there a sub 7 inning mercy rule?

    5 innings and 15+ run differential.
    10. Tschingsch posted on March 12, 2013 at 07:12 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    The taller a pitcher is, the more difficult it is to keep his mechanics. Look at Japanese pitchers' height and the number of strikeouts they generate. They need to look at every possible talent.


    Doug Flutie should change his name to Doug Floootij
    11. Honkie Kong posted on March 12, 2013 at 07:18 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Doug Flutie should change his name to Doug Floootij

    And throw knuckleballs!

    5 innings and 15+ run differential.
    Thanks
    12. Tschingsch posted on March 12, 2013 at 07:30 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    You mean Knokkelbal
    13. Matt Clement of Alexandria posted on March 12, 2013 at 07:37 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    I'm fascinated by how badly Japan is beating up on the Honkballers. It reminds me of some of the qualifying round games where Canada would beat up on Germany or the UK. And yet the Netherlands are going to the finals. Go figure.
    Japan is way better than Cuba. Both are independent nations with heavily protected and flourishing professional leagues, but Japan has an order of magnitude more people and an economy another order of magnitude stronger. That isn't determinative, but we should expect a significant difference. (Jose Abreu alone makes the Cubans a stronger side than you'd expect. He's probably a better pro prospect than anyone in NPB. He's amazing and I want him in the majors.)

    The Honkballers have no real pitchers, and their front-line stars are mostly prospects and AAAA types, with AA guys filling in around the edges. Japan's just a lot better.
    14. Honkie Kong posted on March 12, 2013 at 07:39 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Is this former Cub top prospect, Mark Pawelek?
    If I recall correctly, he had some major control issues.
    15. Honkie Kong posted on March 12, 2013 at 07:41 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    The Honkballers have no real pitchers, and their front-line stars are mostly prospects and AAAA types, with AA guys filling in around the edges.

    Hmm, replace Honkballers with Astros. And the description still fits.
    16. Good cripple hitter posted on March 12, 2013 at 07:50 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Is this former Cub top prospect, Mark Pawelek?
    If I recall correctly, he had some major control issues.


    Yes it is and yes he did. In his last stint that made it to baseball-reference, he walked 15 and hit 6 batters in 8.2 innings while pitching in the Frontier League.

    Japan is way better than Cuba. Both are independent nations with heavily protected and flourishing professional leagues, but Japan has an order of magnitude more people and an economy another order of magnitude stronger. That isn't determinative, but we should expect a significant difference. (Jose Abreu alone makes the Cubans a stronger side than you'd expect. He's probably a better pro prospect than anyone in NPB. He's amazing and I want him in the majors.)

    The Honkballers have no real pitchers, and their front-line stars are mostly prospects and AAAA types, with AA guys filling in around the edges. Japan's just a lot better.


    Thanks for that. I really should make a point of reading wbc previews, right now I just have a vague sense of the tiers of teams.
    17. The Clarence Thomas of BBTF (scott) posted on March 12, 2013 at 08:20 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    I think MCoA is underselling the Dutch a bit. They're a really young team with some real talent on the squad. But it's definitely true that they're one of the teams most benefiting from the format of the competition. Them and Italy.

    I also think that because the Netherlands has so little pitching depth they go from being able to hang with a legitimately excellent baseball country like Cuba (which is probably 4th or so in the world in sheer talent level behind the USA, Japan, and the Dominican Republic) when they have their better pitchers available and shelled by Japan when they don't.

    How are they doing the seeding for the semifinals? I'm expecting the Dominican Republic and USA to advance, but I don't know how they'll be matched up. Will the #1 seed face the Honkballers?
    18. Good cripple hitter posted on March 12, 2013 at 08:21 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Yeah, assuming Japan wins this they'll play the #2 seed from the other pool and the winner of that pool with play the Netherlands.
    19. The Clarence Thomas of BBTF (scott) posted on March 12, 2013 at 08:36 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    A dutch special!

    So here's my predictions from mid-January:
    "USA and Canada, Japan and Cuba, Korea and the Dutch (man, that's a weak pool), Venezuela and the DR."


    Woof, I'm glad I'm not a betting man.
    20. Liver of blaspheming 'zop posted on March 12, 2013 at 08:41 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    MCoA is also presuming that all populations are equally talented at baseball, which isn't true - height, up to a point (6'3ish?) is an advantage for position players, and I suspect its even more of an advantage for pitchers. East Asians are shorter than the mixed populations of the Caribbean countries, so the extra millions of raw population doesn't translate to as big a difference in the size of the pool of potentially talented baseball players.
    21. Tschingsch posted on March 12, 2013 at 08:43 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    The Taiwan pool was probably weak because of the Netherlands beating the Dominican Republic in 2009. They were probably ranked higher than they normally would be... of course they're going to be ranked even higher for the next one.

    My prediction was Venezuela winning the tournament, so I'm certainly glad I didn't bet on it either.
    22. Honkie Kong posted on March 12, 2013 at 08:44 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    A lefty to Andruw? This might not be over yet.
    23. The Clarence Thomas of BBTF (scott) posted on March 12, 2013 at 08:53 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    The Netherlands is making this respectable. Can't complain too much about a game where the tying run is at the plate in the late innings.

    Bogaerts has impressed me this tournament. I'm really excited to see him this summer in Fenway.
    24. Honkie Kong posted on March 12, 2013 at 08:55 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    The Dutch team is like the Twins teams from 5-6 years ago.
    Dribbling singles and doubles here and there but in the end, always there with a chance.
    25. The Clarence Thomas of BBTF (scott) posted on March 12, 2013 at 08:56 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Seeing eye single right there. Go ahead run at the plate!
    26. The Clarence Thomas of BBTF (scott) posted on March 12, 2013 at 09:00 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    And now I have to get into the office. Wish it was as easy to stream the audio as it is the video.
    27. rb's team is hopeful for the new year! posted on March 12, 2013 at 09:23 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Where can i find a live boxscore for this game?
    28. Good cripple hitter posted on March 12, 2013 at 09:27 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    29. rb's team is hopeful for the new year! posted on March 12, 2013 at 09:33 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Thanks.

    I could not be more excited about the andrelton simmons experience this year.
    30. Misirlou is bad, he's nationwide posted on March 12, 2013 at 10:00 AM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    I could not be more excited about the andrelton simmons experience this year.


    Last year he had 19 fielding runs in 49 games (46 complete). That's just ridiculous. That's a 62 run "pace". The highest ever recorded was 39.

    Put another way, only 4 players in history had as many as 19 runs in fewer than 100 games. The other three played 97, 96, and 85.
    31. RMc and His Roster of Rubbish posted on March 12, 2013 at 01:24 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Italy leads Dominican, 4-0 in the first. Damn.

    Fun fact: If Italy somehow wins this pool, it will guarantee a European team in the final.
    32. JJ1986 posted on March 12, 2013 at 01:28 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Damn. Edinson Volquez walked the first three batters.
    33. Gamingboy posted on March 12, 2013 at 01:52 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    It's said that starting in the Sweet 16, the people running the NCAA tournament become annoyed by the underdog cinderellas, not happy about them.

    We are to that point with the Italians, especially if they win this game and Puerto Rico upsets Team USA tonight, ensuring that at least one of the two biggest providers of MLB talent is knocked out of the tourney. You might see one of Selig's people attack Rizzo in the middle of the night. He's a Cub, so it will only minimally affect the regular season.
    34. Meatwad denied pope, reveals he faked it at mass posted on March 12, 2013 at 01:54 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Are the Dutch eliminated? or just the 2 seed from that bracket?
    35. Good cripple hitter posted on March 12, 2013 at 01:55 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    They're the 2 seed and will play the winner of this pool.
    36. Meatwad denied pope, reveals he faked it at mass posted on March 12, 2013 at 01:57 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Wouldnt mind seeing them rematch the DR, should make for a good game if its anything like last time
    37. Gamingboy posted on March 12, 2013 at 02:02 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    JOSE REYES! MACHINE SCULPTURE! SEE HOW CRAPPY A BASEBALL TOWN MIAMI IS THANKS TO LORIA! FIREWORKS!

    Okay, fine, no fireworks.
    38. Yardape posted on March 12, 2013 at 02:17 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    It's said that starting in the Sweet 16, the people running the NCAA tournament become annoyed by the underdog cinderellas, not happy about them.


    This was in the back of my mind during the USA-Canada game. I wanted Canada to win, but that result would have made the rest of the tournament a lot less interesting.
    39. Gamingboy posted on March 12, 2013 at 02:23 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    It's said that starting in the Sweet 16, the people running the NCAA tournament become annoyed by the underdog cinderellas, not happy about them.



    This was in the back of my mind during the USA-Canada game. I wanted Canada to win, but that result would have made the rest of the tournament a lot less interesting.


    Yeah, see, would it be good for baseball worldwide, especially in Europe, if Italy were to make it to the semi-finals? Probably.

    But would it be good for THIS VERY TOURNAMENT, RIGHT NOW? No, because everybody would laughing at the idea that a team where only about eight players plus a few coaches on it are actually Italian had gotten there while more home-grown baseball powers hadn't.
    40. rb's team is hopeful for the new year! posted on March 12, 2013 at 02:28 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    That one chick by the pool was attractive.

    Why is this the first time i have actually seen shots of marlins park? I must have listened to all of the marlins games on the radio last year or something.
    41. Gamingboy posted on March 12, 2013 at 02:28 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Also, I just was wondering: If Puerto Rico were to become the 51st state, what Puerto Ricans would be on a "dream team" USA? Probably just Yadier Molina and maybe Carlos Beltran, right?
    42. Yardape posted on March 12, 2013 at 02:29 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Yeah, see, would it be good for baseball worldwide, especially in Europe, if Italy were to make it to the semi-finals? Probably.

    But would it be good for THIS VERY TOURNAMENT, RIGHT NOW? No, because everybody would laughing at the idea that a team where only about eight players plus a few coaches on it are actually Italian had gotten there while more home-grown baseball powers hadn't.


    I think your second paragraph might take away from the first. That is, will even Italians get excited about making the semis of a tournament that everyone will regard as a joke?
    43. Gamingboy posted on March 12, 2013 at 02:29 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0


    I think your second paragraph might take away from the first. That is, will even Italians get excited about making the semis of a tournament that everyone will regard as a joke?


    It'd depend on how Alex Liddi and Alex Maestri did, really. Like, if Italy were to beat a team on a HR by Liddi or Maestri getting a win, it'd make more of an impression than if it was Rizzo hitting a HR or something like that.
    44. Gamingboy posted on March 12, 2013 at 02:38 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    That said, I wouldn't be surprised if maybe the WBC institutes some rules to cut down on passport players after this year if Italy keeps going. Not eliminate them by any stretch, but perhaps make it so that at least half of your team has to either have been born in your country or be an official citizen (like, I think a few players on the Italian and Spanish teams that we consider "passport players" have actually lived in Spain or Italy so long that they are actual citizens), or maybe make it a point of pride by having a "graduation program" where if your team gets past round X your country is recognized as being good enough at baseball that you are told you can't use as many passport players since it would actually hinder the development of baseball in your country*.


    * This actually happened to Spain- they started relying so much on passport players and defectors that actual Spanish-born players don't get much attention anymore.
    45. Meatwad denied pope, reveals he faked it at mass posted on March 12, 2013 at 02:41 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    on the plus side rizzo does have legit family in italy from what I understand
    46. Gamingboy posted on March 12, 2013 at 02:49 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0


    on the plus side rizzo does have legit family in italy from what I understand


    I remember reading somewhere that with Italy and (to use another example, albeit one that didn't make the main tournament) Israel, it is often considered a manner of pride of an Italian-descended* or a Jewish person does well, even if it isn't for the "home" country. A similar thing happens in Chinese culture: Jeremy Lin is probably the biggest sports celebrity in the Chinese-speaking world, and both China and Taiwan have tried to "claim" him as their own, despite the fact he's American and even was on the Team USA practice team for the 2012 Olympics before he had to pull out due to free agency concerns.

    *I remember reading somewhere that the Italian media made a semi-big deal over the fact RICK SANTORUM was of Italian descent, and, hilariously, it turned out that the Italian Santorums were basically Communists, or something like that. But let's not get into politics...


    So maybe an Italian team doing well in the WBC would have more effect in Italy than we think...
    47. Gamingboy posted on March 12, 2013 at 02:54 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    ...Although come to think of it, I have to wonder how much print-space/air-time any type of sports would be getting in Rome with the whole Pope thing going on...
    48. Meatwad denied pope, reveals he faked it at mass posted on March 12, 2013 at 03:06 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    cano with a homer. so far the middle infield is where its at
    49. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on March 12, 2013 at 03:06 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    Robinson Cano has a really pretty swing.
    I remember reading somewhere that with Italy and (to use another example, albeit one that didn't make the main tournament) Israel, it is often considered a manner of pride of an Italian-descended* or a Jewish person does well, even if it isn't for the "home" country.

    It's the same way for Indians.
    50. Swedish Chef posted on March 12, 2013 at 03:07 PM #  hit 0 | hit 0

    I don't think Italians would regard the transatlantic Italians as ringers, I've never seen any complaints about that in any country in Europe. And there have been many overseas hockey players and a quite a few soccer players representing their mother country. People are likely to complain about how poor talent production is at home, though.

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