Monday, March 13, 2006

USA-Japan

So I just spent most of yesterday watching two World Baseball Classic games at Disney's Big AEdison Park of Los Angeheim Angel Stadium. It was an absolutely fantastic time; if there are any doubters about the WBC after this whole thing is over, I'd be surprised if any of them actually had made it to a game. The first game, USA-Japan, was surprisingly under-attended, with barely over 30,000 people in the park. I suspect part of the reason was because many people (including myself) bought tickets and made plans for the evening game, assuming those two teams would be the winners, rather than the runners-up, of their pools. I'm no fan of uber-nationalism, and the chants of "U-S-A" (by anyone above the age of 15) were a bit lame, but the crowd was great. While fans of Japan were in a serious minority (maybe 5%), everyone was friendly to each other, with very little booing. And maybe it was just the section I was in, but the people around me were among the most knowledgeable group of fans I've seen at a game. I sat next to a Yankees fan, who wasn't at all insufferable, and we actually agreed on most stuff. At one point I complained about Buck Martinez's "managing", and he actually defended the guy: "He's under a lot of pressure". I hadn't thought about it, but that's totally right: Varitek's probably being used so sparingly because the Red Sox are demanding it. So I'm going to keep my mouth shut about Buck's "managing" from here on out.

The game itself was all right. I wasn't really rooting for either team, and mostly cheered for two things: (1) good baseball on both sides, and (2) Yankees hitters failing miserably. A decent amount of the first: shaky pitchers making the pitches they needed to, some nice defense. And a lot of the 2nd (Jeter's DP, A-Rod's K with a guy on 3rd, Damon's pinch-hit strikeout)...until the end. Which sucked. It was a pretty amazing last half-inning, with the tension of a real MLB game. At A-Rod's at-bat everyone was making snarky comments about him being unable to get the big hit. "No pressure A-Rod, your whole country's depending on you!" After his hit a lot of people stood in wonder: "wow, he actually a hit when it mattered." (But of course, it didn't really.)

Other comments:

-The questionable call in the 5th made the 1-run win extra painful; the tag looked fine to me, and the lack of a live replay pretty much sealed it. And umpires changing their mind: shades of Doug Eddings. Sadly the runner could've waited an extra second before tagging because Winn's throw sucked so much.
- I was in the parking lot for Ichiro's leadoff HR. But it was pretty clear exactly what had happened. I was half-expecting he'd turn on his fabled power and get 3 more that day.
- Not sure how it looked on TV, but from where I was, after Lee's dive to catch a foul ball, we were sure he was hurt. Wonder how many Cubs fans had heart attacks?
- The force at 3rd on Young's bunt attempt: was he really out? As the guy next to me said, "That never works!"
- My new favorite player is Kosuke Fukudome. His stats are pretty amazing, but obviously it's his name I like. As in, "Mad Max 3: Beyond Fukudome".
- Nathan and Lidge: ugh. If I were a Twins or Astros fan, I would be pretty nervous.

Later today I'll post on the Mexico-Korea game.

5 comments:

  1. seen thru non-USA eyes the over-turned call was scandalous -- justs makes a great game look like a home team fix job -- where'd they get off reversing the safe call? because Buck told them to? -- reminds me of old style USSR hockey

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  2. Okay. Lets clear up this call business. I can absolutely say with 100% certainty that nobody knows for sure.

    With the power of TIVO and super slow replay, the first ESPN replay showed him leaving early, the second one he clearly did not. So obviously the cameras were not in synch on one of them.

    So I guess we will never know.

    A couple of other thoughts - I'm not surprised that the fans were knowledgable. I don't think this is the type of thing that will catch the casual fan. At least now. And especially in CA. I would have loved to have made a weekend out of the WBC, either in LA or SD, but the schedule of games is too screwy. I assume they went with the days they did so that they would not be up agains the NCAA tournament on the weekends. That's the only thing that I can think of. The finals next week are Saturday monday? why not Sat/Sun. Baseball is an everyday sport. I would have totally gone to SD for the weekend.

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  3. "I can absolutely say with 100% certainty that nobody knows for sure."

    Right, but the fact that they overruled the call after a discussion with Buck Martinez is what's so ridiculous about it. It's not like the home plate umpire, who said it was his call to make, said anything about it before Martinez showed up. I really think it's like the Doug Eddings thing -- an ump changed his mind, after making the original call, and that should never happen.

    "So obviously the cameras were not in synch on one of them."

    My guess is the first one was in error; ESPN wouldn't have stuck with it otherwise. It would be nice to have an explanation though.

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  4. I agree with Earl. It was too close to call, therefore the play should stand as called.

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  5. No, I agree as well. Plus the time difference on the play was so close, which ever replay you choose, was about 1 still frame which has to be way, way under a tenth of a second.

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