WBC dominican team

onion · Post by **onion** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:18 am

vlad's out. manny's out. pedro's out. what's going on with the super team? seems like they're not the jugernaut they used to be. i guess they'll have to make do with ortiz, pujols, tejada, and soriano, plus whoever i'm forgetting.

Post by **Baseball=Life** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:39 am

Another downside of the long baseball season is that world baseball events are much harder to schedule and make happen, it always seems to overlap with Spring Training.... The Tigers actually have 14 people on their roster leaving for the WBC this week.... But can you imagine a true World Series? That would be great, but MLB will never let it happen.

Post by **retep** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:46 am

They should have this all in november. I feel that if you play it in the spring, people will treat it like spring training. Play it in the fall, people will treat it more like the world serise that had just finished. Plus, if someone gets hurt, its less likly to mess with the MLB season.

Blancito21 · Post by **Blancito21** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 10:33 am

Awesome....can't wait to go see Pete LaForrest, Sandy Alomar JR. and Tony Fernandez at Petco in half a month. I feel like I'm getting ripped off. These fuckin guys don't care about shit but they're money. Every excuse should come with a disclaimer that says.....my team's lawyers have informed me that my participation in the classic is voluntary and unsanctioned by my employer so if I get hurt and can't play I will get the shit sued out of me!!!

Well, at least I'll be with my daughter. Explaining the finer points of the game to a 5 year old girl is a chore...but special nonetheless.

Post by **retep** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 11:28 am

I don't blame the players for dropping out: I blame the MLB management for not listening to the players when they said that March wasn't good.

Blancito21 · Post by **Blancito21** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 11:58 am

retep wrote:I don't blame the players for dropping out: I blame the MLB management for not listening to the players when they said that March wasn't good.

So you really think that after 162 games (not including playoffs) these greedy pricks would really want to go and spend another month away from their families, especially those that reside in other countries, for no pay, when they could be travelling around the globe? They are supposed to be playing baseball during this time anyway to get ready for the season and they can't get together for a couple of weeks with their compatriots and represent? In a lot of Latin-American/Caribbean countries there are kids impoverished beyond belief who only know baseball and idolize these players like Gods. You came from that and now you won't put the uniform on to represent your people and make them forget the horror within which they live??? Sickening. My toe hurts, I need to get acquainted with my teammates, my sex-change-stage 3 surgery is next week and I'm really too excited for my new pussy to play!!!! Bitches.

tallguy · Post by **tallguy** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 12:26 pm

Dan, I think that for younger players you're quite correct. I'm not familiar with most of the players you specifically mentioned, but in the case of an old and/or injury-prone player, you have to agree with him when he holds off the WBC.
Really I'm thinking about Bonds here, I know he's not Dominican, but he did refuse the be in Team USA, and I went to and fro on that for a while. Eventually I agreed with it, though. We, the Giants fans, collectively paid a shit-load of money to watch them play last year, and they played almost the whole season without him, but he still got payed his own shit-load of money. With injury concerns as grave as his are, he is right not to risk the WBC.
That said, for the majority of players the injury-concern card is not valid, as you said, and I agree.

onion · Post by **onion** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 12:45 pm

let the stupid fuckhead MLB players opt out. it'll probably make it a better series, as it seems likely to weaken the US more than anyone else (though the dominican has taken a beeting). remember that there are a bunch of teams out there with little to no ML talent (Cuba, netherlands ('sides jones (no, sydney does not count)), australia (with a handful of bit players), etc.). some people have perfectly valid arguments for dropping out (bonds, pedro), some don't (manny). many fall in between. i would think that a lot of players would gladly go right now, if only to get out of spring training. doesn't seem so.

when is the right time to do this thing? i don't think you can do it right after the WS, for a number of reasons. first of all, players are tired. you think a lot of guys are droppin' out now, imagine if they played right after the season. second of all, it would seem kind of lame coming after the WS (unless we had a lame WS). football would be in full swing and the public would be pretty baseball outed (sorry for the made up word). i gotta think that maybe this could have been done a little earlier, so there was more time between when it finishes and when the season opens, but that in general this is the right part of the year to do it.

tallguy · Post by **tallguy** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:06 pm

Also don't forget how blessed we are with weather here in the Bay Area makes it easy to forget how rough February/March or October/November can be in most of the country. We'd end up only being able to use San Diego for the US venue
Still, it is the World baseball classic after all. It could be played entirely elsewhere. Maybe that would be better for the sport, make it seem less like a USA-thing. That is what they are trying to do, after all.

Blancito21 · Post by **Blancito21** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:09 pm

Cuba has plenty of ML talent, they just can't leave the country. They also have some of the strangest names for Latinos that I have ever heard and I've grew up and played with some oddly named Dominicans and South Americans.

Seth and Paul, I agree with the Bonds and Pedro absences, it's the others like manny, Sheffield, Matsui and Mora (because he won't relinquish 3rd base to Cabrera?!?!?! Are you kidding me!?!?!?!) that drive me nuts.

And no there really doesn't seem like there is a better time than now. I'm TiVoing tonight's games.

Southpaw Slim · Post by **Southpaw Slim** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:39 pm

Blancito21 wrote:My toe hurts, I need to get acquainted with my teammates, my sex-change-stage 3 surgery is next week and I'm really too excited for my new pussy to play!!!! Bitches.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Post by **gohlkus** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 6:33 pm

Don't forget this is the first time they've done this.

I think the buy-in from the players as a whole has actually been pretty good. For every Manny and Barry, there's a Jake Peavy (on the US team) or Ben Sheets (not on the US team, but he wanted to be) who genuinely want the competition and to represent their country. Sure, those guys don't have the stature of, say, Pedro Martinez. But they're definitely the future of the game.

There's a good argument for March, too. November comes not long after a 162-game season. Though baseball players do train largely year-round, that is the time they're most likely to want and need downtime. After a long, grueling season that ends disappointingly for 31 out of 32 teams, the last thing those guys probably want to do is play a couple weeks of exhibition ball.

Conversely, in March, these guys are just starting getting ready for the season. The WBC can serve as a warmup and there's a reasonable time for these guys to get back to their teams for the end of spring training. Sure, you could argue that it might make it tougher for teams to gel together. But now is a much better time to get players to participate.

onion · Post by **onion** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 7:16 pm

i really don't get why mora pulled out. i've been a big fan of his since he came over from the mets, when he was still a .260 hitter. i love the way he plays in the field. he's got the ability to play anywhere on the diamond. farthermore, he seems to be really into his country. the only thing that i can figure is that his stated explenation is accurate. 3B is his weekest position. he's worked hard to get it down, and has done a pretty good job. he could honestly be worried about going out to the outfield then coming back and playing third. last year he started off the year with a whole bunch of errors, then settled in. maybe it is best that he keep his mind at 3B. what i don't understand is why doesn't cabrera play in the outfield? i believe the marlins are planning on moving him back to third this year, so maybe he has the same reasons mora gave, but he did play OF all last year. eh. i don't know. i was pretty shocked to see that mora pulled out. from what i know of the guy he's pretty straight up. i gotta think that he really felt it would be detrimental to his play for the o's for him to go play center. it just seems strange from a guy who's used to being pushed all over the diamond. 'sides, center might be his strongest position. i don't know. i kind of wish someone would just come out and be like "i just don't want to play."

Blancito21 · Post by **Blancito21** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 10:38 pm

I believe Mora's exact words were, "I would give third up for Edgardo Alfonzo because he is a veteran and he's earned that respect. But for Cabrera, I don't think I should have to give up my position for someone so new to the game." Uhhh...Melvin...I could think of a couple of reasons why that statement makes no sense. Bottom line is that Mora should play third, Alfonzo should play first and Cabrera should play right, Magglio in left and Abreu in center.

onion · Post by **onion** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 1:03 am

wow. that is pretty dumb. i think mora's just touchy because he finally got a position. the guy's been a floater from day one. time after time he was told he's not an everyday player. that's still a dumb thing to say. anyway, you're right about where everyone should play.