I Love the WBC
I can't reiterate how incredible the WBC has been. Because I have the MLB.com video pass, I have been able to listen to the games during the day and sometimes catch the later games at television at home.
When team Canada outdistanced the U.S. 8-6 yesterday, this very unsettling feeling set in. I watched the last few innings with Cubbie and we were sitting there stunned. By this point I was rooting for Team U.S.A. 100% of the time. Earlier in the game I was rooting for Team U.S.A. except for when Jason Bay was batting, but after he was pulled for Calgarian Ryan Radmanovich, all of my fervor went to America the Beautiful. It was amazing to see a team with a fair number of minor leaguers punching the U.S. in the mouth like that. Here's an example. 21 year old starter Adam Loewen of the Baltimore Orioles (single-A) pitched a scoreless 3 2/3 against HOF American talent. That set the tone. No team with A Rod will ever win.
The U.S. needs to beat South Africa today. I think Clemens can handle that. At this point, however, they need some help, too. In the case of a WBC tie-breaker, runs allowed between the tied teams is the first tie-breaker. If Mexico beats Canada tonight, then there will be a three way tie (at 2-1) for the two available spots.
Here's how the runs allowed are shaking up so far.
Mexico (1-1) has given up 2
Canada (2-0) has give up 6
The U.S. (1-1) has given up 8
Let's assume that the U.S. beats South Africa. The U.S. will advance outright if Canada beats Mexico. The U.S. will also advance if Mexico beats Canada and scores at least 3 runs. It's simply amazing that it has come down to this. And all of this happens tonight. I am simply in heaven.
While watching the telecast, I was completely offended when Cubbie mistakenly suggested that Matt Stairs was the best product of Team Canada. He said something like, "After Matt Stairs, who do you think the next best player on Canada is?" Ridiculous. Let's just take a look at the offense numbers courtesy of baseball-reference.com.
Matt Stairs (age 37) – 162 Game Averages (Career Best)
BA .267 (.298)
OBP .361 (.389)
SLG .489 (.582)
RBI 87 (106)
Similar Players Through Age – Hank Sauer, Cliff Johnson, Bill Robinson
Jason Bay (age 26) – 162 Game Averages (Career Best)
BA .295 (.306)
OBP .387 (402)
SLG .553 (.559)
RBI 102 (101)
Similar Players Through Age – Marty Cordova, Hack Wilson, Jim Edmonds
The only Canadian today that might have an argument against Bay is Gagne, and he certainly isn't playing in this WBC. And again, that's comparing nectarines to clementines.
When team Canada outdistanced the U.S. 8-6 yesterday, this very unsettling feeling set in. I watched the last few innings with Cubbie and we were sitting there stunned. By this point I was rooting for Team U.S.A. 100% of the time. Earlier in the game I was rooting for Team U.S.A. except for when Jason Bay was batting, but after he was pulled for Calgarian Ryan Radmanovich, all of my fervor went to America the Beautiful. It was amazing to see a team with a fair number of minor leaguers punching the U.S. in the mouth like that. Here's an example. 21 year old starter Adam Loewen of the Baltimore Orioles (single-A) pitched a scoreless 3 2/3 against HOF American talent. That set the tone. No team with A Rod will ever win.
The U.S. needs to beat South Africa today. I think Clemens can handle that. At this point, however, they need some help, too. In the case of a WBC tie-breaker, runs allowed between the tied teams is the first tie-breaker. If Mexico beats Canada tonight, then there will be a three way tie (at 2-1) for the two available spots.
Here's how the runs allowed are shaking up so far.
Mexico (1-1) has given up 2
Canada (2-0) has give up 6
The U.S. (1-1) has given up 8
Let's assume that the U.S. beats South Africa. The U.S. will advance outright if Canada beats Mexico. The U.S. will also advance if Mexico beats Canada and scores at least 3 runs. It's simply amazing that it has come down to this. And all of this happens tonight. I am simply in heaven.
While watching the telecast, I was completely offended when Cubbie mistakenly suggested that Matt Stairs was the best product of Team Canada. He said something like, "After Matt Stairs, who do you think the next best player on Canada is?" Ridiculous. Let's just take a look at the offense numbers courtesy of baseball-reference.com.
Matt Stairs (age 37) – 162 Game Averages (Career Best)
BA .267 (.298)
OBP .361 (.389)
SLG .489 (.582)
RBI 87 (106)
Similar Players Through Age – Hank Sauer, Cliff Johnson, Bill Robinson
Jason Bay (age 26) – 162 Game Averages (Career Best)
BA .295 (.306)
OBP .387 (402)
SLG .553 (.559)
RBI 102 (101)
Similar Players Through Age – Marty Cordova, Hack Wilson, Jim Edmonds
The only Canadian today that might have an argument against Bay is Gagne, and he certainly isn't playing in this WBC. And again, that's comparing nectarines to clementines.
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