When you put your country’s jersey on, you unlock a whole new level of playing for the name on the front. The feels, the passion, the glory of going to battle next to your fellow countrymen or in most cases, similar heritage, can’t be measured. It is my dream to have an opportunity to play with the Greeks in the WBC. For those reasons, I fail to understand why it seems like an impossible task to convince some of these players to play. The WBC is only 2-3 weeks long... what the hell is so difficult about throwing 4-5 innings as a starter when you would do the same thing in Spring Training.
The World Baseball Classic is my favorite sporting event outside of college baseball’s regional weekend or maybe even the winter Olympics. It is 2 weeks of pure passion and joy… when I think of that sentence, it's always the Dominicans that pop into my mind. The Nelson Cruz home run in 2017 was so damn electric that I’m getting feels thinking about it. Marlins Park will be hosting its 2nd quad-annual Santo Domingo North Festival.
This year’s WBC begins March 8th and consists of 20 teams in four different cities: Taiwan, Tokyo Phoenix and Miami.
The group pairings confused me this year…
Group A (Taiwan): Chinese Taipei, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Cuba, Italy and Panama
Group B(Tokyo): Japan, Korea, Australia, China, Czech Republic
Group C (Phoenix): Mexico, USA, Colombia, Canada, Great Britain
Group D: Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Israel, Nicaragua
Pool A is a tricky group to look at at first glance. Taipei is strong along with the Netherlands and Italy. Cuba could begin their surge back to the spotlight as the Cuban government has allowed defects to suit up. Cuba was the New York Yankees of the 90s and early 2000s. Panama will give teams a few fits here and there, but absolutely do not have the starpower and depth to survive this group. The Schengen Zone rivalry between Netherlands and Italy continues as the Dutch have dominated this matchup for the last decade in the European Championships, not to mention the star-power they have from the big league ranks in the classic. I’m rolling with Chinese Taipei and Netherlands, but I might have to circle back and take Netherlands/Cuba to advance.
Pool B doesn’t have much to discuss as it is so top heavy and kind of a disappointment from a competitive standpoint. Japan and Korea should roll with ease. China is arguably the worst team in the whole event and Czech, as awesome of a story they are, won’t be able to keep up with Japan. Czech deserves an IMMENSE amount of respect for the culture and program they are building in Czech Republic. A baseball team full of homegrown talent in Europe is about as impressive as it gets. Japan and Korea advance.
Pool C is a super fun group to watch. USA and Mexico on paper are the teams to beat no doubt. Colombia and Canada are two teams that might get overlooked but are littered with big leaguers across the board. Great Britain will be a young, super exciting team to watch. Mostly MiLB guys but talk about a team that will be entertaining... lots of Americans with English heritage combined with the players from the Bahamas. This is a tough group to pick along with USA, but I think I have to take Colombia over Mexico.
Last but sure as hell not least, Pool D, the D is for Pool of Death. Who in their right mind thought it was fair to put the DR, Puerto Rico and Venezuela in the same group. LMAO! It’s really sad that one of those three will not advance… not to mention the cinderellas of 2017, Israel, is also in this group. I have a personal soft spot for my boys from Venezuela and Nicaragua. Nica will be a fun group, but just will not have the talent to compete with those countries. Experience will be everything for them. Dominican and Venezuela will advance (PS: I might have to change that pick depending on some last minute roster moves).
A 5 team group play parlay will be so easy to hit with some of these matchups. Please go check the schedule of this tournament, 3-4 days in a row of nearly 24 hours straight of baseball thanks to the time changes across the tournament. I can’t lie, I will have to put college baseball aside for a few days during group play. We get this show once every 4 years.
When you put your country’s jersey on, you unlock a whole new level of playing for the name on the front. The feels, the passion, the glory of going to battle next to your fellow countrymen or in most cases, similar heritage, can’t be measured. It is my dream to have an opportunity to play with the Greeks in the WBC. For those reasons, I fail to understand why it seems like an impossible task to convince some of these players to play. The WBC is only 2-3 weeks long... what the hell is so difficult about throwing 4-5 innings as a starter when you would do the same thing in Spring Training.
The World Baseball Classic is my favorite sporting event outside of college baseball’s regional weekend or maybe even the winter Olympics. It is 2 weeks of pure passion and joy… when I think of that sentence, it's always the Dominicans that pop into my mind. The Nelson Cruz home run in 2017 was so damn electric that I’m getting feels thinking about it. Marlins Park will be hosting its 2nd quad-annual Santo Domingo North Festival.
This year’s WBC begins March 8th and consists of 20 teams in four different cities: Taiwan, Tokyo Phoenix and Miami.
The group pairings confused me this year…
Group A (Taiwan): Chinese Taipei, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Cuba, Italy and Panama
Group B(Tokyo): Japan, Korea, Australia, China, Czech Republic
Group C (Phoenix): Mexico, USA, Colombia, Canada, Great Britain
Group D: Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Israel, Nicaragua
Pool A is a tricky group to look at at first glance. Taipei is strong along with the Netherlands and Italy. Cuba could begin their surge back to the spotlight as the Cuban government has allowed defects to suit up. Cuba was the New York Yankees of the 90s and early 2000s. Panama will give teams a few fits here and there, but absolutely do not have the starpower and depth to survive this group. The Schengen Zone rivalry between Netherlands and Italy continues as the Dutch have dominated this matchup for the last decade in the European Championships, not to mention the star-power they have from the big league ranks in the classic. I’m rolling with Chinese Taipei and Netherlands, but I might have to circle back and take Netherlands/Cuba to advance.
Pool B doesn’t have much to discuss as it is so top heavy and kind of a disappointment from a competitive standpoint. Japan and Korea should roll with ease. China is arguably the worst team in the whole event and Czech, as awesome of a story they are, won’t be able to keep up with Japan. Czech deserves an IMMENSE amount of respect for the culture and program they are building in Czech Republic. A baseball team full of homegrown talent in Europe is about as impressive as it gets. Japan and Korea advance.
Pool C is a super fun group to watch. USA and Mexico on paper are the teams to beat no doubt. Colombia and Canada are two teams that might get overlooked but are littered with big leaguers across the board. Great Britain will be a young, super exciting team to watch. Mostly MiLB guys but talk about a team that will be entertaining... lots of Americans with English heritage combined with the players from the Bahamas. This is a tough group to pick along with USA, but I think I have to take Colombia over Mexico.
Last but sure as hell not least, Pool D, the D is for Pool of Death. Who in their right mind thought it was fair to put the DR, Puerto Rico and Venezuela in the same group. LMAO! It’s really sad that one of those three will not advance… not to mention the cinderellas of 2017, Israel, is also in this group. I have a personal soft spot for my boys from Venezuela and Nicaragua. Nica will be a fun group, but just will not have the talent to compete with those countries. Experience will be everything for them. Dominican and Venezuela will advance (PS: I might have to change that pick depending on some last minute roster moves).
A 5 team group play parlay will be so easy to hit with some of these matchups. Please go check the schedule of this tournament, 3-4 days in a row of nearly 24 hours straight of baseball thanks to the time changes across the tournament. I can’t lie, I will have to put college baseball aside for a few days during group play. We get this show once every 4 years.
