Ichiro is one of only two players from major league rosters in the World Baseball Classic final.
Posted on 03/20/2006 2:59:55 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
SAN DIEGO -- I don't pretend to know -- or especially want to know -- what lurks in Bud Selig's wildest imagination. It's difficult enough to consider that Selig might actually have a wild imagination. Downright scary, really.
But I have to think that in his most out-there fugue state, Selig could never have dreamt that the championship game of the first World Baseball Classic -- he didn't conceive this idea, but it's his baby -- would be played with only two major league players in it. Only two names that would be even remotely recognizable to your average American baseball fan.
And both of them, by the way, are from Japan.
It's like Microsoft missing the cut at the computer supershow. It's like Duke being bumped down to the NIT. It's like leaving the salt and pepper off the table, for crying out loud.
Like it or not, though, here we are. When Cuba and Japan meet in the final of the WBC at Petco Park on Monday night, pitcher Akinori Otsuka and outfielder Ichiro Suzuki will be the only representatives of the most powerful baseball league on the planet. Out of nearly 1,000 players on the provisional rosters of the 16 teams in the Classic, out of nearly 500 players on the 30-man rosters, out of more than 175 MLB players on those final rosters, Team Japan's Otsuka and Suzuki now stand alone.
So what does that mean? That American baseball may be a tad overrated? That the best baseball in the world -- don't say it! -- might not be played in North America after all?
(Excerpt) Read more at sportsillustrated.cnn.com ...
Ichiro is one of only two players from major league rosters in the World Baseball Classic final.
Was there any kind of mandatory drug testing?
Not according to my knowledge, if there is then I am shocked.
We got beat by a bunch of hockey players from Canada!
Apparently yes, but very lax...
Pitcher tests positive for banned substance
Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:20 AM ET15
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - South Korean pitcher Park Myung-hwan has tested positive for a banned substance and been thrown out of the World Baseball Classic, Major League Baseball said in a statement on Friday.
No further details on the test were immediately available.
Park appeared in just one game for South Korea, who stormed through group play as the tournament's only unbeaten team with a record of 6-0.
South Korea is scheduled to meet bitter rivals Japan in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The announcement comes a day after the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) lashed out at Major League Baseball, saying he had serious concerns about the drug-testing being implemented during the World Baseball Classic.
WADA President Dick Pound, who has regularly been at odds with MLB over their anti-doping procedures, warned MLB that unless it disclosed the details of the policy and testing program prior to the end of the tournament it could damage baseball's efforts to regain a spot on the Olympic program.
Without public disclosure of the anti-doping policy and implementation details, Pound said WADA would be left with no choice but to declare the WBC non-compliant with the world doping standard.
It's baseball season?
Season starts April 1st I believe.
April Fools Day?
First of all, his name is Ichiro Suzuki. He should be required to use both names like everyone else in MLB, but Bug Selig has no backbone.
Second, I am convinced that Bug has wanted Cuba to win all along. He seems to like Fidel -- he and Peter Angelos, who illegally refuses to hire Cuban defectors.
As far as I know, they said there was drug testing on Olymp[ic standards. The International Baseball Federation woudln't sanction it otherwise.
But I don't know if any actual tests were conducted.
Not really. Dontrelle Willis certainly did. He had two horrible starts, undermining the good ones by Clemens and Peavy. But the manager, Buck Martinez, was a large part of the problem. He had no strategy for scoring runs when the homeruns weren't coming. With players like Damon, Utley, Young, etc., I woudl have used the hit-and-run a good bit, stolen some bases, bunted. Instead, we waited around for the homers to come. We only beat Mexico the first time with two solo HRs from Chipper Jones and Derrek Lee.
The other teams are in midseason form. The major leaguers haven't played for months. Talent goes where the money is. Cuba's a different story, but the best Japanese players are in the US (& Toronto), even if they are locked up in Japan for 5 years.
The worst thing they could have done, though, is copy the dumb World Cup format.
The games have been great so far and the 2 teams in the finals revere baseball in a way that we used to back in the day. Japan reminds me of the KC Royals of the 70's with speed, defense, and pitching. Ichiro is one the greatest 5 tool players in the majors with speed, hitting for average, glove, arm, and power when he needs it. If you ever get the chance to see a game in Japan you will see how into it the fans are compared to the US and they actually will serve you beer in the stands from a really cute girl with a mini-keg on her back! I will be seeing the Hiroshima Carp play the Hanshin Tigers next month and I can't wait!
American players are unmotivated and spoiled by money. In basketball, USA lost to Italy and Argentina in 2004.
Here we go!!!
Yes. There was drug testing. A South Korean got booted for testing positive.
Won't happen. Not even WW2 interrupted the National Pastime.
After doing some checking, April 2nd is the official start of the MLB season.
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