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Shoot. Verlander is out.
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Once again, I got a facebook invite to "Stop the WBC" and thought it was the World Baseball Classic when it was really the Westboro Baptist Church protesting in my hometown (alas, I'm at college now and can't counterprotest - when they protest in Connecticut I'm at home for break, and when they protest in my hometown, I'm in Connecticut for school. Go figure.). This is the second time since December. Can't baseball pick an abbreviation that doesn't already belong to a crazy offensive nutjob group? They wouldn't call it KKK, even if it actually stood for something that made sense, so I say they pick a new abbreviation.
Then again, the World Baseball Classic is not just for Americans, and I doubt many foreigners know of the evil WBC. So perhaps it makes sense. But now I'm getting 30 Facebook alerts a day telling me to Stop the WBC, and I like the World Baseball Classic, so it's kind of awkward. Especially since this isn't the first time....Comment
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There are too many WBCs in this world, how about the World Boxing Council turning 50 this year.Comment
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I'm sure some people call the Westboro Baptist Church the "WBC". But it's not common. What is more likely, I think, is that people will think of boxing before baseball when the term "WBC" is used. That's one reason why MLB and its flacks seem to prefer calling it by its full name--or simply "Classic".Comment
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For those of you who think the World Baseball Classic's eligibility standards are way too liberal, consider this: Bruce Chen withdrew from Team China today because he was having too much trouble providing documentation of his grandparents' link to China.
In other news, national team training camps have opened. Team China lost its exhibition game against the KBO's NC Dinos 6-1 in Arizona. And the Orange beat Gateway Community College (also in Arizona), 6-1. See here for more.Comment
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Originally posted by Phantom Dreamer View Post
great...then let him blow it out in a meaningless game against AA players in Peoria, Arizona....Stop the nonsense Phantom. History has shown it has NOT led to arm injuries. So sick of that argument. It's baseball. It's an unnatural act, and an injury can happen ANYTIME. Mo Rivera blew out his knee farting around before a game. So enough already with that lame argument.Comment
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I don't see it as a lame argument. They'll shut somebody down fast in spring training if there's a problem, because the games don't count. The managers in the Classic aren't in that position--but the major league franchises who are paying these pitchers has to worry about a pitcher hurting himself going all out for his country in a game that doesn't count for them. Moreover, what about the fact pitchers in the Classic are likely putting in more competitive innings than in spring training, which could impact the season, much less any potential postseason? The cumulative effect of those competitive innings is a legitimate concern. Now, the WBC IIRC uses pitcher limits to at least lessen those concerns, but doing so undermines the playoff feel of the Classic itself. It's a difficult issue for the Classic to deal with.Originally posted by Unit312J View PostSeen on a bumper sticker: If only closed minds came with closed mouths.
Some minds are like concrete--thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.
A Lincoln: I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.Comment
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My last comment on this issue till after the WBC, but I think it actually shows it is still liberal........Originally posted by Rally Monkey View PostComment
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And then you have idiots like the Washington Nationals that threw away a chance to win the World Series over an artificial injury concern. Here's an analogy:Originally posted by jalbright View Post
"Hi Russell Wilson. You've had an excellent year playing quarterback for us here in Seattle. As we're coming up here on week 16, we're going to shut you down and have Matt Flynn play the rest of snaps for the season and playoffs. You've taken too many hits in the open field and we value you as a long-term investment, so we're going to stop you from playing incase you might get hurt."Last edited by Cincy Fan; 02-16-2013, 05:52 AM.Comment
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I agree the Strasburg situation was crazy--but that was the regular season. MLB teams aren't seeing much if any financial benefit from the Classic right now, though they hope it will have future benefits. Basically, the teams are being asked to risk highly paid pitchers for a bunch of exhibitions that are not yielding current benefits. Halladay had a messed up back/shoulder last year and was never worth the $20 million he got last year--and that hopefully wasn't a long term issue. Pitchers are far more prone to that stuff than position players since almost all their value comes from their arms. There are guys who are world-beaters for a year or two, hurt their arms, and never come close to that level again, often struggling to even reach mediocrity. So when it comes to the Classic, the likelihood of injury to pitchers compared to spring training may not be dramatically increased, but if an injury occurs to a pitcher, it could have a huge impact, which means the teams are making a significant risk--and there's only some hoped-for payoffs years from now. I can't fault the teams for finding the risk outweights the benefits when it comes to pitchers. When it comes to healthy position players, there's not as much of an increase in the likelihood of injury, which changes the calculus.Originally posted by Cincy Fan View PostSeen on a bumper sticker: If only closed minds came with closed mouths.
Some minds are like concrete--thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.
A Lincoln: I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.Comment
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WBC warm-up
Netherlands beat China 16-3, well I guess the Dutch squad is in good shape.
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Cuba will play five games in Taiwan. They are currently playing vs. the Taiwan National Team; will take on Australia tomorrow, will rest on the 20th; on the 21st they will face a CBPL selection; on the 22nd will face Taiwan again, will rest on the 23rd, and on the 24th will face the Netherlands. On the 25th they will travel to Japan where on the 27th they will face the Hasin Tigers and on March 1st they will play vs. the Yommiuri Giants before they make their debut vs. Brazil on the WBC. Best regards!Originally posted by NewEnglandAmazins View PostComment
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