2013 World Baseball Classic

[SDL]

Starting with next WBC, I prefer a rule change regarding the eligibility of players. It is ridiculous knowing the Israeli team could move to the final sixteen with nearly all American players. There could be two American teams competing. After reviewing Mexico's preliminary roster, their team could consist of a quarter to a third of American players AGAIN.

That is the law in Israel...any Jew in the world can get Israeli citizenship if so desired and is eligible to play. I'm Jewish, but I would not play for Israel. My choice.

[cutchemist42]

Starting with next WBC, I prefer a rule change regarding the eligibility of players. It is ridiculous knowing the Israeli team could move to the final sixteen with nearly all American players. There could be two American teams competing. After reviewing Mexico's preliminary roster, their team could consist of a quarter to a third of American players AGAIN.

Yeah, the WBC eligibility rules are a joke. I give the Czech team way more credit then I ever will to the Israeli and GB team. Like seriously, what type of person in Israel tunes in to these games and is pumped to start watching baseball because a bunch of Americans represent them. It's eligibility rules like the WBCs that people make fun of in the media and make it seem like a joke to the sports viewing world. I tried talking the WBC with other people on the other forum and the first few posts simply laughed at the joke of eligibility. The Czechs lost to America-Britain, Canada lost to America-Italy, and South Africa and France are losing to America-Israel. It's a joke.

I've said it before, but the IIHF rule is better. You want to play for another NT? Prove it by actually getting the citizenship.

The WBC needs a lot of change to be a more legit competition.

Baseball Canada twitter is now saying game will start 30 minutes later at 1:38 ET.

[wbcno1fan]

[QUOTE=cutchemist42;2066427]Yeah, the WBC eligibility rules are a joke. I give the Czech team way more credit then I ever will to the Israeli and GB team. Like seriously, what type of person in Israel tunes in to these games and is pumped to start watching baseball because a bunch of Americans represent them. It's eligibility rules like the WBCs that people make fun of in the media and make it seem like a joke to the sports viewing world. I tried talking the WBC with other people on the other forum and the first few posts simply laughed at the joke of eligibility. The Czechs lost to America-Britain, Canada lost to America-Italy, and South Africa and France are losing to America-Israel. It's a joke.

I've said it before, but the IIHF rule is better. You want to play for another NT? Prove it by actually getting the citizenship.
I couldn't agree more guys, its pathetic seeing the Spanish team,which is made up of players from CUBA/DR/VENEZUELA,and probably only two real Spanish players. How can a country get behind a team that really has no national connection to the people they are trying to represent. I sure hope that in future editions of the WBC,and as baseball grows worldwide these awful rules are abolished.

[Unit312J]

Unit 312J, and anyone else who was at the game tonight in Jupiter, did the umpires suspend the game immediately at 12:52 AM, or if there was a third rain delay how long did it last and what time did the umpires call the game suspended until Noon Eastern Time tomorrow ?

It was suspended immediately. We lost power at the stadium...

[Unit312J]

PLowery, there is still a ton of rain in the area.....They are shooting for a 3PM Eastern restart time for the France and South Africa.... rain in forecast this evening too, so it'll be a mess for the regularly scheduled game...

[cutchemist42]

PLowery, there is still a ton of rain in the area.....They are shooting for a 3PM Eastern restart time for the France and South Africa.... rain in forecast this evening too, so it'll be a mess for the regularly scheduled game...

The winner of France/SA might have to play an actual double-header. I've said it before, but Florida should never host this again. I'm still afraid the Miami round will be a flop too. With a new stadium there attendance was still bad compared to other new stadiums.....

[PLowry]

Thank you Unit312J. It is now 3:08 PM Eastern Time Zone so hopefully they should begin again soon.

[Rally Monkey]

I watched the end of that South Africa-France game. Mostly slop, but the final out (a running grab down the first base line into the SA bullpen) was exciting. Good luck to South Africa taking on Spain tonight.

[PLowry]

I also watched every single second of the South Africa 11-innings victory vs. France. When the French had the bases loaded with only one out in the bottom of the 10 th inning, the odds of South Africa winning were as close to zero as you can get.

For those who were there, does this look like it needs any corrections ? --- 7:00 PM scheduled start; two hours 18 minutes 1 st rain delay; 9:18 PM start of play; 26 minutes 2 nd rain delay top of the 5 th inning; 12:52 AM top of the 10 th inning 3 rd rain delay less than a minute as the power goes off; suspension until 12 Noon next day; 4 th rain delay 3 hours 10 minutes; play begins again 3:10 PM in the top of the 10 th inning; play ends at 4:00 PM after the bottom of the 11 th inning with a 5-2 South Africa victory.

It reminds me of this game --- ended at 3:55 AM – at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia – 7/4/1985 "The Night the Lights Did NOT Go Out in Georgia – rain delay 1:24 at start, Mets 16 Braves 13 in 6:10 and 19 innings, 2nd rain delay 0:41 bottom 3rd, 4th of July fireworks show began at 4:01 AM, ended at 4:12 AM; firewords show carried live on WOR-TV in New York – 44,947 fans, 8000 fans remained at the end; Braves were down to their last strike twice and came back to tie it both times with home runs; in one of the absolute weirdest moments in baseball history Braves pitcher Rick Camp, batting .060 lifetime with zero home runs, batting in the bottom of the 18 th inning only because the Braves had noone left on the bench that could pinch-hit, crushed an 0-2 forkball for a homer to left over a drawn-in outfield to tie the game at 11-11. Just prior to Camp's totally unfathomable home run, the Braves radio announcing crew stated, "Well if Rick Camp, with what must be the worst batting average of anyone in the big leagues, hits a home run to tie this game it will definitely be the weirdest moments in the history of baseball, -------, there's a drive, way back, way back, and Rick Camp has hit his first-ever home run to tie this game at 11, I can't believe what I have just seen with my very own eyes."

[PLowry]

For those of you who persevered and took in the entire game, you may be happy to hear that at least you witnessed the seventh longest ever baseball game in terms of elapsed time ever played, as South Africa defeated France 5-2. During their bone-chilling late night home games at Candlestick Park, the Giants once came up with a marketing play. Based on the French Foreign Legion's highest award, the CROIX DE GUERRE, the Giants handed out a CROIX DE CANDLESTICK medal to anyone still in their seats at the end of a Giants extra-innings night game. For similar loyalty to the game, the Jupiter Hammerheads should give some type of award to all those who attended last night's game and this afternoon's resumption all the way until the end today.

LONGEST GAMES TAKING SEVEN HOURS OR MORE BY ELAPSED TIME

16 OR MORE HOURS
No game, thus far, has been identified as having an elapsed time of 16 or more hours.

15 TO 16 HOURS
# ONE --- 15:00 = 3:00 game + 12:00 change-of-field delay – Hays Field, Lubbock, Texas; Ferguson Field, Jal, New Mexico – 5/1?/1986 – Texas High School League 4A best two-out-of-three playoffs - knowing that torrential rains made playing their second game of the best two-out-of-three series at Hays Field in Lubbock Texas at 1 PM and “if-necessary” third game at 7 PM totally impossible, both teams along with coaches, fans, and umpires set out at 7 AM on what ended up being a 510-mile long Odyssey from Lubbock, Texas to New Mexico in search of a dry field, fields were found in Artesia (2:00 wait) and Hobbs (2:30 wait) but the fields were too wet and it was raining in both places, in Hobbs they ran into two other Texas high schools, Pecos and Canyon, who were also in search of a dry field, when told that Eunice had a dry field the race was on between the Pecos/Canyon caravan and the Hereford/Andrews caravan, Pecos and Canyon won the race, and proceeded to begin their second game, Canyon had won their first game the night before so when Canyon got way ahead early in the second game, Hereford and Andrews decided to wait and play afterwards since there would be no need for a third game if Canyon won, but Pecos staged a big comeback to win, forcing a deciding third game, and leaving Hereford and Andrews still looking for a dry field, then they heard there was an old field in Jal that had not been used in two years, flickering light standards were fixed by taping two wires together with black electrical tape, outfield had knee-high weeds, foul lines were chalked using an old shoe box, finally after a 12-hour long change-of-field delay, they began play at 12:00 Midnight New Mexico time, 1:00 AM Texas time, Hereford High School Whitefaces 4 Andrews High School Mustangs 3 in 3:00 and 8 innings - 50 fans including Hereford mascot Red – finished at 3:00 AM New Mexico time; 4:00 AM Texas time.

13 TO 15 HOURS
No game, thus far, has been identified as having an elapsed time of more than 13 hours but less than 15 hours.

12 TO 13 HOURS
# TWO --- 12:01 = 3:07 game + 8:54 rain delay – Hunnicutt Field, Princeton, West Virginia – 5/7/2006 – National Collegiate Athletic Administration – Ohio Valley University Fighting Scots 10 West Virginia State University Yellow Jackets 9 in 3:07, rain delay 8:54 top 7th, then Ohio Valley University Fighting Scots 14 Concord University Mountain Lions 5 in 2:49 – 250 fans, 75 fans top 7th, 350 fans at end; 200 fans at end of 2nd game - 1st game ended at 10:01 PM; 2nd game ended at 1:27 AM in the early morning of 5/8.

11 TO 12 HOURS (0)
No game, thus far, has been identified as having an elapsed time of more than 11 hours but less than 12 hours.

10 TO 11 HOURS
# THREE --- 10:50 = 3:07 game + 6:40 rain delays + 1:03 rain and lightning delay – Turchin Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana – 6/5/2005 and 6/6/2005 – National Collegiate Athletic Association – rain delay 0:42 at start on 6/5, postponed, rain delay 5:58 at start on 6/6, Tulane University Green Wave 7 University of Alabama Crimson Tide 4 in 3:07, 1:03 rain and lightning delay bottom 7th – 4125 fans – postponed at 8:32 PM on 6/5, finished at 11:17 PM on 6/6.

# FOUR --- 10:02 = 1:50 game + 8:12 rain delay – MacKenzie Field, Holyoke, Massachusetts – 5/24/1978 – National Collegiate Athletic Association – University of Delaware Blue Hens 1 Harvard College Crimson 0 in 1:50 and 6 innings, rain delay 8:12 top 7th – 125 fans - finished at 10:02 PM.

# FIVE --- 10:00 – Piedras Negras, State of Coahuila, Mexico - 7/18/1926 – Amateur - San Luisito 29 Piedras Negras (Black Rock) Internationals 19 in 5 1/2 innings – finished at 7:00 PM --- THIS ONE IS A REAL MYSTERY. For those of you who have sat through the extra long Red Sox vs. Yankees games which routinely take more than 4 hours to play just nine innings, here is a game that is difficult to imagine. The two teams are neighbors, San Luisita on the US side of the Rio Grande, Piedras Negras on the Mexican side. According to newspaper reports in four different newspapers, they managed to play only 5 and a half innings in ten hours. How could that be ? Perhaps a few siesta breaks in the middle of the game ?

9 TO 10 HOURS

# SIX --- 9:56 = 2:50 game + 7:06 rain delay - Yogi Berra Stadium, Little Falls, New Jersey - 8/14/2000 – Northern League - rain delay 7:06 at start, Catskill Cougars 6 New Jersey Jackals 1 in 2:50 – finished at 11:06 PM.

# SEVEN --- 9:51 – 3:57 game + 5:54 four rain delays – Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter, Florida – 9/21 and 9/22/2012 – World Baseball Classic Qualifier Pool One – South Africa 5 France 2; 2:18 rain delay at start; 0:26 2 nd rain delay top 5 th; less than 0:01 3 rd rain delay and power outage amidst lightning; suspended 12:52 AM after 9 innings and 3:08 to be resumed 12:00 Noon the next day; 4 th rain delay 3:10 before game resumed at 3:10 PM - 922 fans; less than 100 fans for resumption of game on 9/22 – finished at 3:59 PM on 9/20.

[cutchemist42]

So honestly, how pissed is MLB if Israel does not advance?

[island slugger]

Starting with next WBC, I prefer a rule change regarding the eligibility of players. It is ridiculous knowing the Israeli team could move to the final sixteen with nearly all American players. There could be two American teams competing. After reviewing Mexico's preliminary roster, their team could consist of a quarter to a third of American players AGAIN.

It's true that Israel, GB and Spain are made up of foreign players, but you also have to understand that these teams cannot compete AT ALL without these players. Teams will receive a prize if they win the qualifier, and that's why federations are desperate in winning the prize money in order to build baseball facility and grow baseball in their home country, especially when baseball got kicked out of the olympics. That's why many federations are encouraged in using more experienced oversees players to WIN. In the future, WBC will probably change the rules of eligibility, but when there's only few international powerhouse, WBC committee wants the tournament to get competitive as it can get.

[Rally Monkey]

It's true that Israel, GB and Spain are made up of foreign players, but you also have to understand that these teams cannot compete AT ALL without these players. Teams will receive a prize if they win the qualifier, and that's why federations are desperate in winning the prize money in order to build baseball facility and grow baseball in their home country, especially when baseball got kicked out of the olympics. That's why many federations are encouraged in using more experienced oversees players to WIN. In the future, WBC will probably change the rules of eligibility, but when there's only few international powerhouse, WBC committee wants the tournament to get competitive as it can get.

This is right. People, of course, are entitled to take a swipe at the WBC eligibility rules. They're lame for all the familiar reasons we've heard here. Endlessly. But anyone who wants tighter rules will have to be content to live in a world where only six or seven countries have an honest shot of winning the tournament. It's totally legit to prefer a world where the top baseball tournament only has the same eight countries competing year after year. Totally legit. That's just not MLB's vision.

[Rally Monkey]

How can a country get behind a team that really has no national connection to the people they are trying to represent. I sure hope that in future editions of the WBC,and as baseball grows worldwide these awful rules are abolished.

Oh, and I need to quibble with this. I don't know how much everyday Israeli sports fans are cheering for Team Israel in this tournament. But the team's been getting good coverage in both the English and Hebrew Israeli media. So people there are aware of what's going on. It at least seems that some folks there are getting behind them.

I've seen zero coverage if the WBC, on the other hand, in the Spanish press. Makes me think not many people there are paying attention.

[wbcno1fan]

So now officially the WBC has a new team country competing now that S. Africa has been eliminated, I would like to see Israel win later today,even though they are made up of passport players at least there has been great interest in both the country of Israel and American Jews in promoting this event,which the same cannot be said about Spain and its passport players.

[PLowry]

The live-streaming for the Germany game this morning again is great. This has been the highlight of the Qualifiers for me. I sure hope that they live-stream the Panama City and New Taipei City Qualifiers also.

One interesting point. During pitching changes and between innings there is total silence. I wonder if there is some kind of regulation that says commentary is prohibited when there is no action underway ?

[NewEnglandAmazins]

So now officially the WBC has a new team country competing now that S. Africa has been eliminated, I would like to see Israel win later today,even though they are made up of passport players at least there has been great interest in both the country of Israel and American Jews in promoting this event,which the same cannot be said about Spain and its passport players.

Many of Spain's players have at least lived and played in Spain, the same cannot be said of team Israel.

[Unit312J]

I also watched every single second of the South Africa 11-innings victory vs. France. When the French had the bases loaded with only one out in the bottom of the 10 th inning, the odds of South Africa winning were as close to zero as you can get.

For those who were there, does this look like it needs any corrections ? --- 7:00 PM scheduled start; two hours 18 minutes 1 st rain delay; 9:18 PM start of play; 26 minutes 2 nd rain delay top of the 5 th inning; 12:52 AM top of the 10 th inning 3 rd rain delay less than a minute as the power goes off; suspension until 12 Noon next day; 4 th rain delay 3 hours 10 minutes; play begins again 3:10 PM in the top of the 10 th inning; play ends at 4:00 PM after the bottom of the 11 th inning with a 5-2 South Africa victory.

It reminds me of this game --- ended at 3:55 AM – at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia – 7/4/1985 "The Night the Lights Did NOT Go Out in Georgia – rain delay 1:24 at start, Mets 16 Braves 13 in 6:10 and 19 innings, 2nd rain delay 0:41 bottom 3rd, 4th of July fireworks show began at 4:01 AM, ended at 4:12 AM; firewords show carried live on WOR-TV in New York – 44,947 fans, 8000 fans remained at the end; Braves were down to their last strike twice and came back to tie it both times with home runs; in one of the absolute weirdest moments in baseball history Braves pitcher Rick Camp, batting .060 lifetime with zero home runs, batting in the bottom of the 18 th inning only because the Braves had noone left on the bench that could pinch-hit, crushed an 0-2 forkball for a homer to left over a drawn-in outfield to tie the game at 11-11. Just prior to Camp's totally unfathomable home run, the Braves radio announcing crew stated, "Well if Rick Camp, with what must be the worst batting average of anyone in the big leagues, hits a home run to tie this game it will definitely be the weirdest moments in the history of baseball, -------, there's a drive, way back, way back, and Rick Camp has hit his first-ever home run to tie this game at 11, I can't believe what I have just seen with my very own eyes."

That is correct, but I think it restarted before 3:10. I think it was more like 3:05

[Unit312J]

There was no way there were 922 fans at the start of that France-South Africa or at any time. There were maybe 200 to 300 fans at most and that is generous...

[Unit312J]

So now officially the WBC has a new team country competing now that S. Africa has been eliminated, I would like to see Israel win later today,even though they are made up of passport players at least there has been great interest in both the country of Israel and American Jews in promoting this event,which the same cannot be said about Spain and its passport players.

In talking to a Cuban last night at the Spain/South Africa game he is mentioning several Cubans he think would be able to play for Spain if they advance. Kendrys Morales, Yoennis Cespedes (I thought he got a Dominican Passport, and not Spanish), Aroldis Chapman and such. Not sure about all that, but it is intriquing. That said Spain has no business beating Israel today, but as we know with baseball...anything on any given day is possible

[NewEnglandAmazins]

I don't understand why the Germany/Great Britain game hasn't finished. Germany is leading 16 - 0 in the seventh, isn't there a 15 run lead after five complete innings "mercy" rule?

[PLowry]

Reply to NewEnglandAmazins --- There is a 15-run mercy rule at the end of an inning after the completion of 5 innings; there is a 10-run mercy rule at the end of an inning after the completion of 7 innings.

So today when Germany took a 16-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning, the bottom of the inning remained to be played. If the score had become 16-7 during the bottom of the 7th inning, then there would have been an eighth inning.

[NewEnglandAmazins]

Reply to NewEnglandAmazins --- There is a 15-run mercy rule at the end of an inning after the completion of 5 innings; there is a 10-run mercy rule at the end of an inning after the completion of 7 innings.

So today when Germany took a 16-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning, the bottom of the inning remained to be played. If the score had become 16-7 during the bottom of the 7th inning, then there would have been an eighth inning.

I interpreted the rule as, if one team has a fifteen run lead after five complete innings the game is over. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[PLowry]

Your interpretation was correct. If both teams have batted in the fifth inning, and the lead is 15 or more runs, the game is over. The rule states that the losing team must have five full innings at bat. So for example, if the score is 15-0 after four and a half innings, and the losing team has completed their at bat in the top of the fifth, the game is over. On the other hand, if the score is 15-0 after four and a half innings, and the losing team is coming to bat, the game continues on through the bottom of the fifth. If the losing team scores one run, cutting the lead to 15-1, then the game moves forward to the sixth inning.

[NewEnglandAmazins]

So far Spain and Israel are in the same weight class...