As I have previously mentioned, the World Baseball Classic’s qualifying rounds are about to start. I have, of course, done extensive projections for many of the already-qualified teams, but I am also doing overviews for each qualifying pool as rosters are released. This time: the pool in Regensburg, Germany.
Go after the jump. All rosters are from Baseball America.
The World Baseball Classic starts soon! Well, the qualifiers do, anyway. For the first time ever, there are four qualification pools to decide who reaches the Round of 16. Two of those pools- in Panama and Taipei- will be in November. But first there are two pools that start in about a week. One of them is in Jupiter, Florida (mainly because the teams in it don’t exactly have baseball fields in their countries) and the other is in Regensburg, Germany. The Jupiter pool starts slightly before the Germany pool, so I’ll be covering that one first, covering the baseball heritage (or, in some cases, lack thereof) of the the countries and looking at their teams and chances.
So, go after the jump for my preview of the 2012 WBC Qualifier in Jupiter, Florida. All rosters are from Baseball America.
Earlier this season, a rumor came out the the Yankees might for sale. So I decided to come up with a sales pitch for the team. Now, the Red Sox have been rumored to be on sale. They probably aren’t, but, what the heck:
Are you in the market for one of Major League Baseball’s flagship franchises, playing in it’s oldest stadium? Are you ready to take on a fixer-upper job that will require you to banish memories of chicken wings, beer and one of the biggest collapses in sports history from the mind of fans? Do you like hanging out with celebrities like Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Stephen King and Doug Flutie? Do you have a few billion dollars on hand?
Then you may be the ideal candidate to own the Boston Red Sox, founded in 1901. Current owner John Henry has been having problems of late juggling his ownership of the team with ventures in the European market and in the South, forcing him to place the club on the market. Included in the deal is Fenway Park (a beautiful example of early-20th century stadium design), large shares of the NESN network, access to Wally the Green Monster, and the contracts to all current Red Sox players and personnel. Yes, even Bobby Valentine.
To apply, please call Fenway Park. Ask for Papi.
Davey Johnson has said, possibly jokingly, that Stephen Strasburg might still see game action as a pinch-hitter. It’s not as crazy an idea as you’d think, as Strasburg was hitting .277 with a home run this season, but it does bring the crazy question to mind of who is the best hitting pitcher in baseball right now? Okay, maybe it doesn’t bring that crazy question to your mind, but I bet it is in your mind now. Ha!
One thing about most pitchers in the majors is that they probably aren’t really bad hitters, just bad major league hitters. Many of them probably played in the field during high school and maybe even college, and probably were pretty good hitters. It’s just that once they get to professional ranks they are facing far more difficult pitching and, what’s more, are focusing far more on pitching than they are hitting. Not as much time in the batting cage, not as much time trying to figure out those curve-balls, and not as much time studying game-tape of the next day’s starter. The result is, of course, that the average MLB pitcher is good only for a sac bunt or maybe a lucky single.
However, there are some exceptions:
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The resurrection of the Baltimore Orioles, it could be said, began last September. Buck Showalter had said early on that he would be playing his regulars in games against contenders, while using the September call-ups in the games against also-rans.
By comparison, the Yankees, who had stitched up the division by the final series against the Wild Card contending Tampa Bay Rays, decided to send in the call-ups.
So, it was a study in contrasts. When Boston arrived for the series that would decide their season’s fate, they ran into a team with Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, and a mindset that essentially said “This is our World Series.” The Rays, meanwhile, were basically facing a Yankees team that was playing Spring Training baseball.
And so as we barrel through September with several races still close, the question becomes: will the potential spoilers this year be like the Orioles, or like the Yankees?
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Given that baseball is the oldest professional team sport in America, it is hardly surprising that other sports teams often derive their names from baseball teams, usually those that they once shared a city with. In general, they fall into a few different categories:
Take a look after the jump:
On Youtube, you can find almost anything. For example, the start of the 1983 World Series between the Orioles and Phillies, Live (back then) from Memorial Stadium. ABC had the game, and had Al Michaels, Howard Cosell and Earl Weaver in the booth. It’s a little cut up (we only catch the end of a interview with a young Cal Ripken, and they don’t have the National Anthem), but it still is neat.
It’s interesting to me to see how this is different from how the World Series is broadcast these days, partially due to technology, as well as just some general differences and observations:
The Netherlands was the biggest surprise of the 2009 WBC, defeating the Dominican Republic twice and advancing to the second round. Then, in the 2011 World Cup, they actually won the whole tournament, beating out the mighty Cubans in the finals. Clearly, the Dutch are the class of European baseball, and have taken their place as one of the finest baseball nations in the world… sort of.
I say “sort of” because the Netherlands is something of a misnomer. When you first hear of a Dutch baseball team, you might think that they are all from Holland, perhaps playing Honkbal (as baseball is called in Dutch) by windmills or dykes. However, that isn’t exactly true. You see, the Kingdom of the Netherlands is a far larger state than simply Holland. Several Caribbean countries, such as Curacao and Aruba, are part of the Netherlands. This isn’t to say that there aren’t baseball players from the European Netherlands- there are, and in fact one of the two professional baseball leagues in Europe is based there.
The Dutch figure to bring the majority of their previous international teams to the 2013 WBC, featuring players from the US Minors, the Dutch Hoofdklasse and perhaps a few Major Leaguers. They certainly won’t be favored to make noise in the tournament, but it’s unlikely that they will go quietly, and it’s possible that the Oranje just may again shock the world.
So, after much research, the Dutch national team can be found under the jump. The usual rules apply:
It is a rule born of the schoolyard, and of Little Leagues, repeated by announcers and fans throughout the nation: if the ball and the runner tie, especially at first base, then the tie goes to the runner.
I myself believed it. But, it turns out, it is isn’t true. The Hardball Times has a good article about it, but it is basically this: there are no actual rules that say anything about ties. Therefore, a good reading of the rules would suggest that the ties don’t even exist, either a runner has clearly beaten the ball, or he hasn’t.
As Hardball Times notes, the rules that govern safe and out are these:
Rule 6.05 (j) A batter is out when, after a third strike or after he hits a fair ball, he or first base is tagged before he touches first base.
Rule 7.01 A runner acquires the right to an unoccupied base when he touches it before he is out. He is then entitled to it until he is put out, or forced to vacate it for another runner legally entitled to that base.
Rule 7.08 (e) Any runner is out when he or the next base is tagged before he touches the next base….
As you can see, there is nothing said about a tie. Basically, it depends upon what rule is followed. Veteran umpire Tim McClelland, for example, goes by the middle rule, and basically says that since the batter didn’t “beat” the throw to first, then he is out. This makes a sort of sense when you look at that rule (7.01): if there WAS a tie, then you couldn’t exactly say that the runner had acquired the base BEFORE he was out.
However, former umpire Jim Evans says that actually, the runner is safe, since he had gotten to the base before he was out. So, in other words, in the case of the tie it could be said that, during a “tie” the runner beat the ball to the bag.
In short, it depends on the umpire.
Derek Jeter said on Monday that he wasn’t panicking. In fact, I seem to recall him saying that nobody was panicking, and was even asking the press if they were panicking.
Rule of thumb number one of panicking: If you have to say you aren’t panicking, you probably are panicking, and if you aren’t, you probably will be soon.
On Tuesday night, Joe Girardi was ejected after doing the full Earl Weaver routine.
Rule of thumb number two of panicking: When you have a short fuse shortly after people start wondering if you should be panicking, you are panicking.
Oh, and the Yankees lost tonight, to fall into a tie with the Baltimore Orioles- in September, and only a game and a half up on the Tampa Rays. Which leads to the third rule of thumb of panicking:
When you are panicking, your enemies will take advantage.
The Baseball Continuum 