It's now in the books. The 2006 World Baseball
Classic is now over. Japan won. They beat Cuba in the
championship game. Cuba, the team that nobody expected
to be there in the Championship game. Sure, Fidel's Boys
have practically OWNED every international tournament;
the last major tournament they lost was the Gold Medal
game in Sydney to the USA…the 4-0 shutout by Ben Sheets
of the Brewers.
Winner of 25 IBAF World Cups, including
nine in a row. Nine-time Intercontinental Cup Champions.
Winner of 3 out of 4 Olympic Games. Pan-Am Games Gold
Medalists 11 times.
This was supposed to be different. The
PROS were going to be there. Yours truly agreed with the
consensus that it was to be a Dominican Republic/Korea
final. Just looking at the Dominican lineup, you were
looking at possibly the best around. David Ortiz at DH.
Albert Pujols at 1st. A DP combo of Miguel Tejada and
Alfonso Soriano.
Adrian Beltre at 3rd. An OF consisting of
Moises Alou, Juan Encarnacion and Wily Mo Pena. A rotation
of Bartolo Colon, Daniel Cabrera and Odalis Perez. Put
that team in any MLB division and you'd be guaranteed
a postseason berth.
Put them in the AL East and King George
of The Bronx would go apoplectic. The Dominicans and Puerto
Rico seemed to OWN Cuba in the first round of the Classic.
Puerto Rico mercy-ruled them 12-2 and the Dominicans beat
them handily by a 7-3 margin.
The Koreans? They went 6-0 going into the
semifinal with Japan, a squad that finished the second
round with a 1-2 record. Go figure. To most, the Japanese
were unknowns, save for Ichiro. None of the other Japanese
playing here in the States were there.
There was no Tomo Ohka of the Brewers. Ditto
for So Taguchi of the Cardinals. We know that Hideki Matsui
was "pressured" by The Boss Of The Bronx to skip it. Korea
had Hee-Sop Choi of the Red Sox as one of their big bats,
along with two guys named Seung Yeop Lee and Jong Beom
Lee that scouts here have been drooling over for a while.
Some pitchers you may have heard of named
Chan Ho Park, Jae Seo, Sun-Woo Kim and Byung-Hyun Kim.
Over the past few years, the Koreans have become the dominant
force in Asian baseball and their 6-0 start seemed to
show it.
I took special notice of Sun-Woo Kim and
Byung-Hyun Kim. Both used to pitch for the Red Sox. "Sunny"
was a good prospect for the Sox, hurling a no-hitter in
the minors and giving a glimmer of hope in the majors
until he was traded to the Expos for Cliff Floyd.
As for the other Kim, "BK," I was impressed…the
troubles he had while in Fenway were gone; it wasn't the
same player that was part of the only trade Theo Epstein
regretted ever making (Kim for Shea Hillenbrand).
After hanging 2 defeats onto Japan, it looked
like the Koreans would make it to the finals. Japan 6,
Korea 0. Byung-Hyun Kim reverted to his Fenway self and
allowed 3 runs (earned) in a third of an inning pitched.
As for the final being Japan and Cuba,
that alone HAD to be the ultimate kick in the nether regions
for the USA. That's right, the country that INVENTED game
was absent. Once again, Mexico stood in the way. It was
the 2003 COPABE Olympic Qualifier in Panama all over again.
Even the score was the same. Mexico 2, US 1.
Roger Clemens walked off into the sunset;
his final appearance on the mound with a "L" tacked on
to it. Of course, this blow to Clemens' pride may have
an effect. Clemens is tied with Cy Young for most wins
in a Red Sox uniform; a record that would have been broken,
lets say…during the first week of so into the 1997 season.
Somehow, I think Clemens might want to go
out accomplishing that, rather than being the loser to
Mexico. Plus, nobody has worn #21 in Boston since he left.
Team USA was supposed to be strong on paper.
Missing from the team was a guy they wanted. A guy named
Barry Bonds, And yes, I heard all the fingers being pointed
at him; that his not playing was a reason why. That may
be true.
Hell, Ken Griffey Jr. was there (OK, his
dad was a coach), Jeter and A-Rod were there, Jason Varitek,
Mark Teixiera and Vernon Wells. Was it Buck Martinez'
managing?
Some think so. Did he tap bench coach Davey
Johnson's brain for any ideas? Johnson, the former Met/Red/Dodger
and Oriole manager and second baseman has managerial experience
in international games, having managed two USA squads
in competition and being the interim manager of the Netherlands
in 2003.
Could the US have fared better if Johnson
had been in charge? I tend to think so. Common sense says
you lean towards having somebody in charge who knows the
international game and who can manage it.
The embarrassing moment had to be the loss
to Canada. Being behind 8-0 at one point had to be demoralizing.
For Dontrelle Willis, allowing 5 runs on 6 hits in 2.2
innings had to be the low point. That one moment exposed
the US as a team that could be beaten.
Getting back to the Cubans, there had to
be anger in Miami, especially from US Representatives
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart; both who
tried to have the Cubans banned from participating. It
also must have galled those two that the day before the
final, the Cuban team took part in building a house for
Habitat For Humanity in San Diego.
Yes, some of the players hammered and painted.
And, there were no defections. They finished second, but
were given a heroes welcome in Havana on their return.
And, as promised, their share of revenues went to the
victims of Katrina. I'll bet that now Ros-Lehtinen and
Diaz-Balart are now ready to call the recipients of Cuban
aid "Comunistas!"
The one thing missing? A US/Cuban showdown.
With the exception of the Gold Medal game in Sydney, the
Cubans have always bested the USA in international competition.
This was a matchup people wanted.
Roger Clemens has always said he wanted
to face the Cubans. Clemens was not on the 1983 Pan American
team and was denied a chance back then to face the Cubans.
On second thought, knowing Clemens' penchant for brushbacks,
and with US/Cuban relations lower than low, maybe it was
just as well that never happened. I can only imagine the
brawl that would have happened had Clemens hit a Cuban
or two.
The Cubans were hungry for a matchup; for
years they defeated college players and minor leaguers.
Plus, they wanted to avenge the loss in Sydney. The Cubans
wanted to play the US. I feel they could have beaten the
US. The losses to Canada and Mexico showed that. I know
that I mentioned the two Cuban losses. They came back
to beat the Dominicans and Puerto Ricans; they would have
been especially motivated to beat the US.
We'll have to wait 3 years for any possible
WBC matchup. Both the US and Cuba will be in three tournaments
this year: The FISU (University) Baseball Tournament and
the COPABE Olympic Qualifier (both in Havana) and the
IBAF Intercontinental Cup to be held in Taiwan in November;
but the US will send college players to the FISU tournament
and most likely minor leaguers to the COPABE and Intercontinental
tournaments. Doubt you'll see Ken Griffey Jr. putting
on an USA uniform again this year.
Hopefully, those three years will pass
quickly.
