World Baseball Classic: Finally A Real World Series
By Arnie Weisberg
We Americans have always had an ego problem
when it comes to baseball. It’s the only sport where our national
champions win a title considered a world championship. The NFL has
the Super Bowl Champs; hockey awards the Stanley Cup; the NBA winners
are just that: NBA Champions. But the last team standing in baseball
is the World Series champion.
I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Now that
the White Sox have finally won the Series after 88 years, I’m enjoying
being able to strut around bragging about how “My White Sox” are the
world champions of baseball, especially since they did it before the
hated Cubbies, but let’s get real. We (as if I had anything to do
with it) beat other U.S. teams, but never faced the Cubans or Japanese
or Dominicans.
Castro has always claimed his countrymen were
the best ballplayers in the world (except for the ones who defected
to play here). Then they suddenly became sore-armed has-beens. The
best of the Japanese have begun to realize how much greener the grass
is on our side of the ocean. And, if you believe the stories you see
on ESPN and HBO, playing major league ball in the U.S. is the only
way out of poverty in the Dominican Republic.
But, with the exception of the Olympics, which
doesn’t feature MLB players, and a few exhibition games, we’ve never
faced teams from other countries in a real competitive venue.
As you’re reading this, 16 teams from countries
all around the world are finally getting together in the World Baseball
Classic. There are 16 teams, grouped in 4-team pools, mainly determined
by geographic location. The way the tourney is set up, the U.S. shouldn’t
have a problem getting out of the first round because they’re in a
group with Canada, Mexico and South Africa (the pool winner and runner-up
go to the next round). The Americans will face the winner and runner-up
from the pool that includes the team from Japan. Assuming they get
past the Japanese and make it to the finals, the U.S. squad will probably
go up against a team from either Cuba or the Dominican Republic. That’s
where the real World Champion will be determined, and the winner can
rightfully brag that it is the World Series Champion.
Let’s put a little perspective on this, though.
Each team is allowed 30 players on their roster. These teams are made
up of players either born in their respective nations or claim descent
from the country they represent (Mike Piazza is playing for Italy).
As I’m writing this (before the final rosters are determined), there
are 177 major leaguers in the Classic that are now on Major League
rosters, and this doesn’t include the teams from the Asian pool (Japan,
Korea, China and Chinese Taipei). The Dominican Republic has 29 on
their preliminary roster; Puerto Rico, 22; Mexico, 23; so, even though
the games will pit the U.S. against another country, most of the names
will be familiar.
I’m looking forward to the U.S playing Japan
in the semi-finals and, hopefully, the U.S. beating Cuba in the championship
game. Then we can truly say we have the World Series champions.
One last thought: even though these games are
being played by professionals who, in some cases, make way too much
money, there is a rule in place that made me smile and flash back
to my Little League days. They have a “Slaughter Rule,” yes, professional
ballplayers using a “Slaughter Rule.” I know, I know, these days it’s
called the “Mercy Rule,” but, to me, it will always be the “Slaughter
Rule.” If a team is losing by 15 runs after 5 innings or by 10 runs
after 7 innings, the game is called. The winning team will feel superior,
the losing team will be embarrassed, and men will always be boys.
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