Bad call? Looked like the runner didn't touch the plate.

Lou is ashame, he's a huge pitcher, but can't control his stuff enough to make it out of AA.

CS Lin is Chinese for Derek Jeter. (snark)

it's really getting very late for Korea, they're not going to score 6+ runs off Hong Chih Kuo.

Dear Lin: you are probably the top 5 bes hitter on the team, please don't bunt.

edit : oh well it ended up about the same anyway.

man... this homecrowd really is a huge huge advantage.

uggh.. another run there would have been a total death seal.

9 outs away from me donating 20 bucks to BBTF!!!

Kuo time let's go!

Oh, so NOW my internet starts working again...

Only 5 runs to go!

The game would end if Korea is making a comeback in the 9th inning? That's screwy.

They should change that rule, if the announcers are correct.

Given that China beat Brazil, have to think Brazil will go back to Panama City or whatever Latino-American country holds qualifiers. Given the rapidly improving state of Brazilian baseball, it should be a fun qualifier.

One out away!

I'm shocked that China beat Brazil, Brazil's roster is much better than I expected and Cuba absolutely pasted China.

4 more runs to go, right?

These announcers don't seem to understand the rules.

So, the Koreans just took the lead and possibly eliminated themselves doing it....

I think.

Stupid tiebreakers.

How strange. Korea beats Chinese Taipei and Chinese Taipei celebrates...

Annyeong, Korea!

I'm excited to see taiwan go through an inning trying NOT to score.

Stupid tiebreakers.

Yeah, it's really weird. They need to change the rules slightly to allow a would be eliminated team to bat in the bottom of the 9th. Also perhaps put a secondary "tiebreaker" score next to the actual score showing how far behind the team is so that it's more obvious that the they're losing the war.

Taiwan wants to win the game. LOL.

I know the tiebreaker thing seems weird, but you have to be fair. It's not like the Netherlands got a 9th inning to pad their lead against Korea.

Why are they trying to score? That's dumb.

oh boy now it gets interesting

It really doesn't matter if Taiwan scores to tie it up, Korea can't score enough runs to get past them on the tiebreaker. So Taiwan might as well try to win outright for pride/bragging rights/seeding.

These rules make no sense... Korea won't be allowed to try to advance because they're winning...

Stupid, stupid tiebreakers. Congrats to Taipei, it's been a long strange journey. With luck, the success of this WBC will help revive the CPBL much like the Korean performances in the WBC cause KBO attendance to boom.

It's not like the Netherlands got a 9th inning to pad their lead against Korea.

That's a good point. You might need modified rules then to allow for a 9th inning when you're already winning. I know they have rules in place to assure that teams who win by the mercy rule aren't penalized for it.

This pool wound up being terrific. Even though the Aussies didn't win a game they were competitive. I think the lack if real blow outs is a very positive thing for this event.

A long, long, time ago, couldn't a team have a bottom of the ninth be played if they wanted to? I mean, like, a really long time ago. Like, Alexander Cartwright and Doc Adams day?

Well, Korea at least salvaged a winning record. Still gotta be a bitter disappointment.

Good on Taiwan, from having to qualify for the WBC to their pool's first seed in the second round. My predictions about who would make it from each pool are already busted.

Even dumber than trying to score, that guy making the catch at the end.

@176, oh yes, i see now.

Unless they tied it up and then hit a grand slam.

I think the lack if real blow outs is a very positive thing for this event.

Yeah, the only mercy rule so far was China-Cuba. Brazil was very competitive. China won a game! I really hope that Italy and Spain can play well enough to at least make it through full games.

So, for those keeping score - one of the teams who made the finals last tournament was just eliminated by a team who didn't win a game last tournament.

well, i guess for me this is the best of both worlds, Taiwan advance and I don't have to donate money :P

Semi-finals. Korea made the finals of the inaugural Classic. Cuba beat them in the semis in 2009.

No.

Finals.

Korea lost to Japan in the Semi's of the Inagural.

Korea lost to Japan in the Final of the 2009 Classic.

Former at Petco, latter at Dodger Stadium.

The 2006 game was a whole lot of fun, but 2009 game might have been the best baseball game I've ever attended ...

@187, you got it backward.

Also, apaprently, Kim Jun Un is so pissed at this elimination that he's about the invade the south.

the 2009 finals played out like a freaking move script. 10th inning winning hit by Ichiro AND a walk off K by Darvish?

Rollingwave: The Kim family is ALWAYS about to invade the South, but they never do, since it'd be suicide for them. At this point China probably wouldn't help if it was obvious that they made the first move (heck, it'd be entirely possible that China would invade North Korea just so they could put a sane puppet government in place instead of the psycho that they currently only keep around because of tradition and the fact he's not democratic), the atomic weapons that the North Koreans have are probably not usable in battlefield situations and the South Korean/US forces would mop the floor with them in a conventional war, especially if they'd been given warning about it... y'know, like if North Korea had sent out a press release swearing they were going to rain hellfire down upon them.


But we're getting off-topic. WBC-MLB Exhibitions start today... and Joe Torre has JOE MAUER HITTING CLEANUP!?!?!

I mean, admittedly it's an exhibition, but having MAUER HIT CLEANUP and having STANTON HIT FIFTH seems... weird. Especially given the fact that Stanton's batting practice yesterday was like Zeus having come down from Olympus.

@ Gameingboy : that was obviously a snark.