What were your impressions of the World Baseball Classic?

I enjoyed it greatly, however, I was quite disappointed in the USA performance. There were some excellent plays and great pitching overall. I was a bit dismayed that I was unable to attend any rounds this year. Three years ago I went to all rounds in San diego and was able to see Dice K before he began pitching for Boston.

The series will continue to get better as the years go on.

@Sueanne_Tremendous I agree. I was able to see a US-Mexico match-up last time around when I lived near LA a few years ago. Got to see the Rocket pitch, and was amazed to see Mexico come away with the win.

It’s kind of nice to see the US get their pompous ass handed to them. It sounded like the US players who participated really got into it, and I’m hoping more and more owners, GM’s, and players will see the value and make it important. It’s great to see how much the rest of the world cares.

My impression was that the Americans – both the players and the fans – didn’t care. We were the least interested participant in this tournament. Every other nation/team saw it as a World-class event on par with the Olympics. We treated it as a side-show attraction, the prelude to the “real” baseball to come in the next month. And that is a crying shame. For something we paradoxically call “our national pasttime”, we should have more drive and determination and ambition when players put on a uniform saying “USA”.

I can’t help but think of the movie Miracle, and the scene when the coach finally gets his loose-knit bunch of players to realize that they’re not players from other teams playing a couple games on this new team. They are the Team of the United States of America. That should have been a badge of honor in and of itself, and should supersede the MLB teams all these players were on, and supersede the MLB teams we fans generally root for.

@MrItty Good points. I loved Miracle. Everything I read about the experience of those who actually were on Team USA was that they cared immensely. However, most fans, execs, other MLB players, etc., did not, so I agree with you there.

Who won?

@Garebo Japan beat Korea in the finals last night. Japan won the last Classic 4 years ago, as well. US lost to Japan in the semis. Here is an excellent editorial article about the WBC, the US, and last night’s finals.