Baseball

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

The Houston Astros were this year's world series winner.

Game 4 was a classic; the Astros pitchers managed to toss the 2nd no-hitter in World Series history, 66 years after the first. The 1st still has a distinction of being the only perfect game thrown in the world series (and now, playoffs in general).

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

World Baseball Classic kicks off in about a month starting with the Asian pools. This year's finals tournament expands from 16 finalists to 20 slotted into 4 pools of five teams each.

Pool A , playing in Tiachung:

Chinese Taipei
Netherlands
Cuba
Italy
Panama

Pool B, playing in Tokyo:

Japan
Korea
Australia
China
Czech Republic

Pool C, playing in Phoenix:

USA
Canada
Mexico
Colombia
Great Britain

Pool D, playing Miami:

Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico
Venezuela
Israel
Nicaragua

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

The pools are pretty much balanced the same way, 2 big teams, a wild card and then 2 teams that are just happy to be there.

In Pool A those team would be Cuba and the Netherlands with Taiwan itself being the wild card, though there is a lot less of a gap between the non-Cuban teams here than in some of the other pools. Italy will have major league talent; Panama isn't a pushover, and I don't think the Netherlands are as good right now as they have been the past decade. Maybe the same could be said of Cuba, but Cuba has been a baseball powerhouse for a long time and gets the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.

Pool B I think is the easiest in terms of picking the two big ones likely to move to the next round. Something has to have gone wrong, maybe embarrassingly so, for Japan and Korea not to get to round 2. If a team is going to sneak in there it would be Australia who falls into no-man's land of being good enough to neither be among the best or worst. The talent on the Australian team should be a higher caliber than the Chinese and who knows with the Czech but, I don't think they are ready to sneak through.

Pool C may be the easiest. You have Team USA and then Colombia. No matter how they are ranked internationally by the WBSC, once the professional talent shows up and takes it semi-seriously, Mexico folds. It always does, it doesn't produce enough quality players to compete at that level.
Canada had teams of sluggers who couldn't pitch in the earlier tournaments. Last time out they emphasized pitching and convinced the best of Canada's major league pitchers play in the tournament, but all the hitters aged out and they couldn't hit a lick. Then the pitching collapsed due to a combination of age and the tournament being played during MLB spring training.
This time around, I don't think the best Canadian players are committed to the tournament, and so you're left with a team that will neither hit nor pitch. Great Britain is the textbook definition of the team that's happy to be there.

Pool D is Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico. Venezuela could easily move on though the overall talent is just a rung under the top 2. Israel and Nicaragua get the short end of the stick being grouped in this pool.

[Nonc Hilaire]

Nap posting on baseball is our year’s first robin.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

Nap posting on baseball is our year’s first robin.

What can I say? I have a better track record than the groundhogs.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

https://youtu.be/xbrbsd3CUDY

xbrbsd3CUDY

Netherlands beat Cuba

https://youtu.be/xufQYPYfr_4

xufQYPYfr_4

Panama beat Chinese Taipei (first win Panama has ever had in the WBC)

Right now, two games are on.

I have Australia vs Korea on in the background. It is 3-2 Korea in the bottom of the 6th (Korea is the home team)

Last I checked, the other game was in the 4th inning, Panama vs Netherlands tied 0-0

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

Team Australia just pulled off an upset over Team Korea, hanging on to win the game 8-7.

Australia are set up real well, merely win one more and go 2-2 in pool play and they very well could advance.

Korea is not quite in a do or die situation but their next game is against Japan, who are a better team, and they could start the tournament 0-2 while losing the tiebreaker against Japan and Australia. 2-2 probably doesn't get it done unless the Aussies blow it and lose their next three games.

========

The Netherlands beat Panama 3-1, leaving Netherlands 2-0 in the pool.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

Pool A is close to chaos; the Cubans are beating Taiwan by seven runs going into the eighth inning. If Italy can somehow win against the Netherlands, we will see a Pool where all five teams finish 2-2 in the bracket, with the two advancing teams surviving the tiebreaking mechanisms.

--------------------------------

Pools C & D located in America started.

-The USA won it's opening game. The British hadn't a chance.

- Mexico lost and will be desperate going into game 2 against the US.

- The heavyweight battle was Venezuela vs the Dominican Republic. The lineups of both teams are filled with MLB all-stars at every position. The pitching rosters are mostly quality. The Venezuelans managed to pull it off as the slight underdogs and while not a killer, the heavily favored Dominicans, many people's favorite to win it all going into the tournament, finds itself a game behind their 2 biggest opponents to advancement in Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

---------------------------------

Meanwhile Pool B: Japan ran the table and win three consecutive wins have qualified for the next round.

Australia won it's 2nd game and is in the driver's seat. Their next game is against Japan, who will probably beat them. But their final game is against the Czech Republic, who is sitting at 1-2 and not a terribly talented team. Win that game and they are in; lose and there is a possible three-way tie (Aus, Taiwan, Korea) where the tiebreaker decides.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

Team USA is being humiliated by Mexico. They are losing 7-1 in the top of the 7th.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

In the first quarterfinals game in Asia, Australia came oh so close in upsetting the Cubans who managed to hold on to a 4-3 win.

The Cuban team is now heading to Miami for the semifinals, and will play the winner of the upcoming US vs Venezuela game.

Japan vs Italy has just started and the winner moves on and will face the winner of the upcoming Puerto Rico vs Mexico game.


So Mexico and the US advanced from Pool C and Puerto Rico and Venezuela from Pool D. Puerto Rico eliminated the Dominicans in quite an exciting game until disaster struck during the celebrations at the end:



Edwin Diaz was arguably the best closer in the MLB last year and the hope right now is that it is something that will only take months to heal and not take the whole year or requires surgery on the leg he pushes off the mound with.

So Mets fans are in full panic mode right now.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

Going into the bottom of the 8th. Six more outs to go for the US.

Been an exciting game so far.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

The US crushed Cuba tonight by a final score of 13-2.

They await the winner of Japan vs Mexico for the tournament final.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

Mexico is actually holding Japan down. 3-0 Mexico in the top of the 7th.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

What a nasty splitter




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Japan tied it with a dramatic 3 run homerun in the bottom of the 7th; but Mexico came right back with a run. 4-3 Mexico with 1 out in the top of the 8th; Japan is changing pitchers.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

Team Japan did it in the bottom of the ninth, winning 6-5. It was quite a game, and now the finale I think a lot of people who thought would happen: US vs Japan.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

...and that's the end.

The game came down to what everyone was hoping to see: Shohei Ohtani on the mound versus Mike Trout, arguably the two best players in the world, and Ohtani struck out Trout to end the game.

Japan beat the USA 3-2 and are the WBC champions.



Look at that perfect slider. There was no way to hit it and no way to not swing at it as it was going to be a strike.

===================

Great game overall. The US outhit Japan over the whole game but never got the big hit when they needed it the most.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

[Typhoon]

Congratulations to both finalist teams, the USA and Japan, for a game well played.

One, I think, that will be discussed by baseball fans for years to come.

I think the WBC series is a good idea.

[noddy]

Look at that perfect slider. There was no way to hit it and no way to not swing at it as it was going to be a strike.

love that kind of delivery, the cricket equivilant is the yorker and its almost impossible to do perfect, and so good when its executed well.

I have been vaguely following it via jomboy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NccPSinTcK4

an interesting baseball channel that tries to make cricket and baseball understandable to eachother.

Ohtani being a proper all rounder is interesting - they are rare as hens teeth in both games , usually its good at one, ok at the other at best.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

Congratulations to both finalist teams, the USA and Japan, for a game well played.

One, I think, that will be discussed by baseball fans for years to come.

I think the WBC series is a good idea.

Agreed on all those points.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

Look at that perfect slider. There was no way to hit it and no way to not swing at it as it was going to be a strike.

love that kind of delivery, the cricket equivilant is the yorker and its almost impossible to do perfect, and so good when its executed well.

I have been vaguely following it via jomboy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NccPSinTcK4

an interesting baseball channel that tries to make cricket and baseball understandable to eachother.

Ohtani being a proper all rounder is interesting - they are rare as hens teeth in both games , usually its good at one, ok at the other at best.

Ohtani is a unicorn through and through.

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The bucket of cold water is that while the above is true, if he were to just focus on one or the other, he'd be the best at it instead of being merely a Top 30 pitcher and a Top 50 hitter.

The novelty of what he is able to do with his athleticism clouds a lot of people's judgement about how good he actually is in the context of the game.

-Every season he's faded come early August.

-He's had two compromised seasons stateside due to injury which is the equivalent of losing 2 players at once.

-His 2 way ability has not really created a positive extra roster space. The Angels have used the extra slot for a replacement level infielder/outfielder these last few years. Only the teams with the deepest pockets could afford to take advantage of that extra roster flexibility.

[noddy]

-Every season he's faded come early August.

-He's had two compromised seasons stateside due to injury which is the equivalent of losing 2 players at once.

-His 2 way ability has not really created a positive extra roster space. The Angels have used the extra slot for a replacement level infielder/outfielder these last few years. Only the teams with the deepest pockets could afford to take advantage of that extra roster flexibility.

injury always hits allrounders, they are doing twice as much work as the regular guy (tm).

the roster space one I wouldnt have guessed, in cricket (which bats till you run out of team) its a no brainer, you get to carry an extra batsmen always and every time.