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When Japan advanced to play Cuba in the finals of the World Baseball Classic, the matchup was not what Major League Baseball commissioner had envisioned or set up the tournament to produce. On Monday, Japan won the game 10-6 and the first championship of the World Baseball Classic. As they celebrated, Gothamist was left to wonder whether the tournament can become a fixture in the United States.
Several problems exist. Although fans of other nations had no problems getting into the tournament, American fans had March Madness to distract them. What's the best time for the tournament? Mid-season is out of the question, and after the season, when soccer plays it's World Cup, might pose as many problems as this pre-season format. Even given the untapped talent on Japan's and Cuba's team, much of which might be able to play in the Major Leagues, does the tournament really need South Africa, Australia and the Netherlands in the tournament? The first WBC turned out better than expected, but it needs some work before it can become a mainstay. It will be held again in 2009.
Photo by Lucy Nicholson (Reuters) via Yahoo
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i kind of wanted cuba to win and then watch its entire team defect.
and that trophy is HUGE. almost looks like the nba finals trophy.
I wonder if US fans will want to watch the WBC if the US doesn't win.
I think they should do it mid-season, especially since it's only every four years. So, every 4 years, shorten the season by 12 games or so to about 150 and get rid of the all-star game that year. That way, it can be played in about 3 weeks and share the profits among teams - it's good for baseball, so complainers like Whinebrenner need to get over it.
Also, I think the semifinals round should also be a round-robin like rounds 1 and 2. The top 2 teams play for the final and the other two teams play for a 3rd place consolation trophey. That would add a total of 2 games, which could be exhasuting, but it would have been cool to see Japan vs. DR, DR vs. Korea, etc. Other than that idea, my other suggestion would be to make the final best 2 out of 3.
My final suggestion is that MLB actually get a good broadcasting deal for this sucker. Half the games were on Deportes only! What the f**k? Other than that, MLB was stupid in charging people to watch it online - I thought they were trying to build interest. $9.99 for the whole tourney (except the finals) online was a pretty good deal, but for the first go-round, it should have been FREE.
I think in 2009 there will be more high profile players on the US team in particular, now that they have something to prove. So that will increase the fan interest here.
But the timing is a problem, maybe they could just try to avoid having the championship and semis during the first weekend of the NCAAs, since that's the worst one. I don't particularly like the mid-season idea because it makes a serious injury or freak accident much more costly -- and teams with more participating players (which will probably be the contending teams) will be at a bigger disadvantage since everyone else will get to rest.
yo mama's suggestion about the 3rd place game is interesting, though -- don't they have a consolation game in the world cup for the semifinal losers? But I wonder if they'll run into problems with MLB over adding more games.
Think back to basketball in the Olympics. This is the second time millionaire U.S. pros have been wiped out at a sport invented in the U.S.
No wonder the NFL got rid of the college all-star vs. pro champion game. The pros would probably have gotten wiped off the field.
Larry - Agreed except for the NFL comment. The pros might actually kill some of the college guys; the best linebackers in the NFL have 10 years of experience and steroid use on their side.
i was reading that the reason that it was mostly on deportes is that it was going to be a signature event for them.
and the reason it wasn't on espn more is because of the semi-last minute decision to go with the classic and espn already having set up their schedule.
what about after the regular season? or even after the post-season. even the boss might be happy with that one.
Perhaps I read the article wrong. In my world, the end of the baseball playoff season is in November. "Soccer's World Cup" is in the Summer. Though the Qualifying rounds do start earlier, the schedule is not so dense that it would conflict with the WBC. Also playing the WBC after the season would be nice for fans who had to watch thier teams not win the World Series yet again :) For the players though, it might be friggin' cold. Cold is, however, location dependent.
if they play all the US games in So Cal, cold shouldnt be a problem. Also, aside from players on teams that make it to the WS, that would give them time to rest up a bit too. I imagine though that the players would feel less inclined to play in the WBC after slogging through their seasons, many would be more fearful of injuries, and might just want to go home and play golf and beat up strippers.