It’s all come down to this: Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico for the WBC title. The Dominican is going for a perfect tournament, but Puerto Rico, with a win, could make all those previous games for the Dominican irrelevant. It’s one game, winner take all. Go below the jump for the tale of the tape:
It’s a showdown tonight, a grudge match four years in the making. In one corner, the mighty Dominican, now by far the biggest fish in the increasingly small WBC pond. In the other corner, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the upstart amalgamation of the Netherlands, Curacao and Aruba. Four years ago, the Dutch upset the Dominican twice, and now the Dominican has a chance for revenge. They probably will get it, but as we saw in Puerto Rico-Japan (and Puerto Rico-USA, and Netherlands-Cuba, and… you get the idea), there are no guarantees in baseball.
Go below the jump for the tale of the tape:
The game between Japan and Puerto Rico, on paper, should belong to the Japanese team, a seasoned squad that relatively breezed into the San Francisco round and which will be playing with far more rest than Puerto Rico, which will be playing it’s third game in as many days. But, as has been shown time and time again, in baseball weird and unexpected things can happen. Go below the jump for a more in-depth preview.
In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball has reared it’s head in pop culture and fiction.
In a first for Bizarre Baseball Culture, we’re going international to look at one of the more strange appearances of baseball in Japanese culture. To be more exact, we’re looking at an old episode of the Pokémon anime, entitled “The Double Trouble Header”.
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Okay, are you done laughing/rolling your eyes? Good. Now go below the jump for this installment, which has been weeks in the making:
With Team USA’s 4-3 loss to Puerto Rico and elimination from the World Baseball Classic, there are certain to be many theories as to why, once again, the Americans failed. Some are legitimate (lack of conditioning compared to teams from Asia and Latin America, the various dropouts from the event), some aren’t (the claim that the American players “didn’t care” about the games or their outcomes is easily disproved by Vinnie Pestano‘s post-game Tweet), and some are probably somewhere in between. But, ultimately, the fact that Team USA fell can be brought down to this:
It’s baseball, and in baseball, games aren’t played on paper. And that means weird things can happen, and even small mistakes can doom giants, especially in settings such as tournaments where the margin of error is small.
Consider: Who could have expected that the Team USA lineup would be so anemic (sans David Wright, now resting from his wounds in a S.H.I.E.L.D. Heli-Carrier until he is needed in 2017, and Joe Mauer, who reminded the world about how beautiful a swing he has) for much of the tournament? On paper, you wouldn’t have expected it, but the games aren’t played on paper.
Or consider Nelson Figueroa, who hadn’t thrown a pitch in the Majors since 2011. Who could have expected him to have the night of his life? Or that the umpiring would have had such a… unusual strike zone? Nobody. There are countless other variables that determine this tournament and any given game. And tonight, those variables helped put Puerto Rico on top.
So, before you go ripping into Team USA, or calling for the WBC to be cancelled (it won’t be), just remember: this is baseball. The best team doesn’t always win. Some of the greatest teams in baseball history* haven’t won. It’s what makes the sport great. It’s why we watch. And sometimes, it can be very cruel and fickle game.
So enjoy the rest of the World Baseball Classic, people, because, like all baseball, we have no idea what’s going to happen.
*The 1906 Cubs, the 1954 Indians, the 1969 Orioles, the 2001 Mariners…
As the WBC continues and Opening Day draws near (Thank the Baseball Gods!), here’s a look at what you can expect from the Continuum by the end of the month:
Jurickson Profar will be playing for Team Netherlands after all, taking over for the injured Yurendell de Caster.
So why does that matter?
Well, for one Profar (a switch-hitting middle infielder) is the top prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com and other sources such as Baseball America. He’s only 20, but has already played a short stint in the majors last season, even having a home run in his first AB. But it’s what he’s done in the minors that is especially impressive… take a look:
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | Lev | Aff | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 17 | Spokane | NORW | A- | TEX | 63 | 288 | 252 | 42 | 63 | 19 | 0 | 4 | 23 | 8 | 3 | 28 | 46 | .250 | .323 | .373 | .696 | 94 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 2011 | 18 | Hickory | SALL | A | TEX | 115 | 516 | 430 | 86 | 123 | 37 | 8 | 12 | 65 | 23 | 9 | 65 | 63 | .286 | .390 | .493 | .883 | 212 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 2012 | 19 | Frisco | TL | AA | TEX | 126 | 562 | 480 | 76 | 135 | 26 | 7 | 14 | 62 | 16 | 4 | 66 | 79 | .281 | .368 | .452 | .820 | 217 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 5 |
| 3 Seasons | 304 | 1366 | 1162 | 204 | 321 | 82 | 15 | 30 | 150 | 47 | 16 | 159 | 188 | .276 | .367 | .450 | .817 | 523 | 26 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 7 | |||||
And, what’s more, it provides another MLB-level (or close to it) bat into the Dutch lineup, something that will come in handy against whoever they play in the semi-finals. Okay, that isn’t really that much of analysis, but it is true. And, what’s more, it could provide a psychological boost for the Dutch: they are now heading into the semi-finals round and now they are going to be joined by one of the best future stars of baseball.
Should be interesting to see how it all turns out.
A few days ago, I wrote about why the World Baseball Classic probably isn’t going anywhere, despite the doom-sayers. So, here are some things that further back up my that the World Baseball Classic is going to continue:
The ratings for MLB Network have been very good
The USA-Canada game was the most watched non-postseason game ever shown on MLB Network, and last weekend was the most watched weekend in MLB Network’s history. While the TV audience is down from previous WBCs that had games on ESPN, this was almost certainly expected when they moved the games to MLB Network, which, of course, isn’t on as many TVs as ESPN.
Attendance broke the previous record for the first round
463,017 people attended WBC games in round one, almost 10 thousand more than the previous record in 2009.
The ratings elsewhere in the world have continued to be high
As I and others elsewhere have pointed out, this event isn’t really about the United States, it’s about the rest of the world and how MLB can spread baseball in it, leading to more players and, even more importantly, more profit. And, guess what? The WBC still is getting record ratings in other parts of the world.
Add that to the big social media buzz (“#WBC” and similar things are trending during nearly every game, it seems), and the picture is becoming further clear: The WBC is here to stay.
The Baseball Reference Play Index is having a free trial until April 15, allowing people to look at some parts of B-Ref normally not open to unpaying eyes. And while you could use this to find things like the most home runs hit in a post-integration season by a left-hander who was never an All-Star (Travis Hafner‘s 42 in 2006) or the best June team batting average since 1916 (the 1930 Yankees, who hit .366), I instead have decided to look at some more… inglorious streaks.
Like, for example, do you know who holds the record for consecutive games grounded into a double play? Well, post 1916 (1916 is the earliest point where the Play Index is available), it’s a tie between Sid Gordon of the 1943 Giants and Greg Norton of the 1998 White Sox both grounded into double plays in six straight games they had an AB or Sac Fly in.
Okay, now what about the anti-Dimaggio, what everyday player (no P or replacement appearances allowed) has had the longest post-1916 non-hitting streak (again, in games in which they had an AB or sacrifice fly)? Well, again it is a tie: Tommy Dean went 15 games between 1970 and 1971 without a hit during any of the games where he started and had at least one AB or sac-fly, and Mick Kelleher– normally a defensive replacement (and in fact he DID get a hit during some of his defensive replacement games) went the same amount of games over 1981 and 1982 without a record. If you are curious as to what it would be like if I included replacements (but still kept out pitchers and the rare pitcher-used-as-PH), well, Eugenio Velez has that inglorious distinction, having gone 30 games and over a calendar year between 2010 and 2011 without a hit:
| Rk | Strk Start | End | Games | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SO | BB | SB | CS | Tm | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eugenio Velez | 2010-09-14 | 2011-09-28 | 30 | 46 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .042 | .000 | .042 | SFG-LAD |
What about all in one season? That goes to Phil Stephenson, who went 25 games without a hit in 1992.
Now, let it not be said that just because you have a streak that nobody wants that you must be horrible. After all, just ask the pitcher who has the record for consecutive games in which they gave up a home run: Bert Blyleven, who had 20 straight games between 1986 and 1987 in which he gave up a homer.
Japan and the Netherlands have already qualified for the final four of the WBC, but who will join them? That will be decided in Miami, where three of baseball’s traditional powers are joined by the surprising Italian team to determine who will escape to San Francisco. Go below the jump for my preview of the double elimination round:
The Baseball Continuum 