Tag Archives: baseball

Book Review: The Essential W.P. Kinsella

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W.P. Kinsella is best known as the writer of Shoeless Joe, the book that Field of Dreams was based on. However, that just scratches the surface of the many short stories and novels he has written over the years, not just on baseball, but also on others subjects, such as those related to the “First Nations” of his homeland of Canada.

And for Kinsella’s 80th birthday and the 25th anniversary of the release of Field of Dreams, many of his short stories have been put together in Tachyon Press’ The Essential W.P. Kinsella.

While I, of course, was most interested in the baseball stories within and only skimmed some of the other works, rest assured that this is a big and comprehensive collection of many of Kinsella’s works, and while some are better than others, you cannot deny that this is a big and diverse assortment of stories that Kinsella clearly put a lot of care into.

So, without further ado, here are some thoughts and reviews on some (not all- I’ll admit two or three of the stories just sort of failed to stick with me) of the baseball stories within Essential W.P. Kinsella:

The first baseball story in the collection is “How I Got My Nickname”, a strange fantasy tale where a dream-version of W.P. Kinsella talks about playing with the 1951 Giants, who all share his family’s love of books and languages. A weird story, but kind of cute when you think of it as a childhood fantasy.

In “The Night Manny Mota Tied The Record”, a writer (again likely a thinly-veiled Kinsella) is given the opportunity by some sort of cosmic arbiter to die in Thurman Munson’s place, and that such a opportunity is given to people anytime a well-known figure dies a premature death. An interesting concept, and in some cases it feels like something that would be better suited for a individual bigger than Thurman Munson (they off-handedly remark on presidents and civil rights leaders that had been spared or condemned due to how their cosmic substitutes decided). I wasn’t sure what to think about this story, and the ending was pretty corny. Still, a neat concept.

“Searching for January”-which runs with the fact that no trace of Roberto Clemente was ever found- is about a man in the late 1980s who discovers a time-lost Clemente drifting onto a Latin American beach, having apparently not aged a day since his fateful flight and thinking it’s now January 1973. This set-up actually ends up being much better than it sounds, and this is arguably my favorite baseball story in the collection, although the ending is just like an episode of The Twilight Zone I remember seeing. Despite that, it’s a great little gem of a story, and I’m somewhat surprised it hasn’t been made into a short film or anything.

Oh, and if anybody wants to make this into a short film, call me, I’ll write the screenplay.

“Distances” is about a old pitcher with the uncanny ability to remember the distances between major city who convinces a Iowa high school team to let him pitch for them in a game against a company team. It’s alright, I guess, but is a bit plodding at times.

“How Manny Embarquadero Overcame” is a twist on the the tale of a Latin American player lying about his age or identity, except it also involves voodoo, Detroit, and an ugly dog. It has a great first line that pulls you right in, but sadly the story doesn’t quite pay off the good lede.

Whether “K Mart” is a story about baseball or merely a story that involves baseball is a question the story itself asks. It’s more about the growing up and regrets of a guy who returns to the town where he played pick-up ball for the funeral of his first crush, if you ask me.

The final story of the collection is “Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes To Iowa”, the story that was later expanded into Shoeless Joe and then adapted into Field of Dreams. It is roughly (if I remember Shoeless Joe correctly) the first chapter of that book, in which Ray Kinsella builds the field and then Joe Jackson shows up, eventually asking if he was in heaven (“No, it’s Iowa.”). It’s a good read and you definitely could see why it was ultimately made into a full book and then the movie, although you can’t help but look at some of the parts that are dated or different from the movie that eventually was made from it (for example, in the story, it’s mentioned that Wrigley Field doesn’t have lights, but in the movie, it’s specifically mentioned that even Wrigley Field now has lights).

Speaking of which, at the end of the collection, there is a short piece by W.P. Kinsella about that story, the book, and the movie adaptation, and I learned some things from it. For example, his working title was The Kidnapping of J.D. Salinger (Salinger would become the Terrance Mann character played by James Earl Jones in the film), and the voice in the film that speaks to Ray was Ed Harris.

Overall, I found The Essential W.P. Kinsella something of a mixed bag. Kinsella’s writing is great when it’s on, but can be a bit grating and hokey when it isn’t, and while there are a lot of good ideas in his stories, not all of them are always followed upon. Still, I’d recommend this book, especially if you liked Field of Dreams and the semi-magical properties it ascribes baseball.

Note: I was provided a review copy of this book.

OOTP International Baseball Competition Part 4: Can Italy finally win a game?

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Throughout the year, I’ll be posting updates of a simulated league from Out Of The Park Baseball 2016 made up of national “dream teams” to determine what the greatest baseball country on Earth is… or something like that. Previous installments can be found here. This is a long post, so there is a JUMP after the first day. Also, hit any picture to make it bigger and more readable.

April 13

A day of rest across the Competition. Some minor moves here and there, such as Australia placing Brendan Wise on the DL and Mexico doing the same with Luis Alfonzo Garcia, but nothing Earth shattering. Instead, teams prepared for their next series: Dominican Republic at Australia, Rest-Of-World at South Korea, Mexico at Taiwan, Japan at Italy, Cuba at Netherlands, Panama at USA, Venezuela at Canada, Puerto Rico at Colombia. The best series of the bunch, most agreed, would be Cuba-Netherlands. However, a morbid curiosity had taken hold with Team Italy, the only team still without a win, as they were to host Japan, 9-3 and with their only losses coming against the Dominican… who, it should be noted, were waiting for Italy after the Japan series.

It’s not like they hadn’t had chances: they’d lost by just one to the Netherlands early in the season, and had at one point held a 5-0 lead on Puerto Rico. But, in the end, without fail, every time the final out was recorded, Marco Nanni’s team had lost.

But, hey, maybe this would be the week!

MORE AFTER JUMP:

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OOTP International Baseball Competition Part 3: Week 2

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Throughout the year, I’ll be posting updates of a simulated league from Out Of The Park Baseball 2016 made up of national “dream teams” to determine what the greatest baseball country on Earth is… or something like that. Previous installments can be found here. This is a long post, so there is a JUMP after the first day. Also, hit any picture to make it bigger and more readable.

April 6:

The final games of the second series of the season actually started the day before, as Italy at Korea and Taiwan at Japan both began at 11:05 Eastern time on Sunday night.

In Tokyo, it was the Masahiro Tanaka show, as he struck out 14 Taiwanese, a record for the young season, while the Japanese offense got to Wei-Yin Chen and the Taiwanese bullpen to get the 8-0 win in a crisp two-and-a-half hour game. Japan thus remained undefeated at 6-0, while the Taiwanese fell to 2-4 on the year.

In Seoul, Italy remained without a victory, as Korea bludgeoned them, 12-2. Byung-Ho Park and Yong-Taek Park hit home runs, while Hyun-Jin Ryu (who wasn’t on the DL when this simulation started, and thus isn’t on the DL in the simulation) got the win.

Several hours later, in the visitor’s clubhouse of Rogers Centre, Team USA manager Joe Maddon sat in his office with his Bench Coach, the esteemed Buck Showalter. It was, to be sure, an unusual pair- the personable and quirky Maddon and the outwardly gruff Showalter. But Team USA hadn’t lost a game yet, and there hadn’t been any complaints or anything from those who had been on the bench the whole time!

And there were many: Matt Holliday hadn’t played yet. Joe Mauer hadn’t played yet. Jonathan Lucroy and David Wright hadn’t played yet either. Luke Donaldson had only played once. Long-reliever Madison Bumgarner (“I wish I had this much depth in the real world,” said Joe) and middle set-up man Steve Cishek had yet to leave the bullpen.

In fact, the discussion today seemed to be whether maybe they should shake up the starting line-up. They decided not to.

And then Joe Maddon spoke:

“Man, this is very cool, it’s like a computer-enhanced situation that’s perfect.”

Buck Showalter just let out a “Mmmm-hmmmm”.

Not long after the discussion in Toronto, the mid-day game in Caracas started between Venezuela and Australia. Liam Hendriks pitched well for Australia, giving up only 7 hits, but sadly for him, he allowed two runs, while Felix Hernandez allowed only one. And, to make matters worse, Hendriks left the game with an injury, at the time not yet disclosed. Ned Kelly O’Shaughessy didn’t take the news well, needless to say, and at one point screamed at God, saying that he volunteered to have inflicted upon him any injury that had hit one of Australia’s few starting pitchers with MLB experience. At the end of the game, he teared up while saying: “Well, mates, our boys lost 2-1 today, but it feels like 20-1. I need a drink.”

Up in Canada, meanwhile, it looked like Joe and Buck’s decision to keep with the usual line-up was working out just fine. After 4 innings, Team USA led 6-1, and Canada was already putting in it’s 3rd pitcher of the day in Chris LeRoux. A Paul Goldschmidt single and a Andrew McCutchen home run later, and it was 8-1.

“Alright, alright, alright,” said Joe Maddon. Buck kept the same expression he always has:

Team USA bench coach Buck Showalter, simply delighted by a 8-1 lead with Clayton Kershaw on the mound.

Team USA bench coach Buck Showalter, simply delighted by a 8-1 lead with Clayton Kershaw on the mound.

As the game went on, it became even more of a rout: Buster Posey and Giancarlo Stanton went back-to-back off Scott Richmond in the 6th and two more runs were added off Dustin Molleken in the 8th. Kershaw, meanwhile, taking Tanaka’s earlier performance for a challenge, went and struck out 15 Canadians, resetting the record not even 24 hours after it had been set.

Post-game, Maddon quipped that the 3-game sweep of Canada was America’s revenge for Queenston Heights. No American sports writer had any goddamn idea what he was talking about.

In Latin American night games:

The Dominican Republic scored two runs in the 8th and one in the 9th to edge out a 5-4 victory over the Puerto Ricans, who fell to 0-6. Robinson Cano had two home runs.

Colombia also remained winless, as they were beat by Rick Vandenhurk and the Dutch 2-1.

Cuba demolished Panama, 16-3, but received a scare as Odrisamer Despaigne had to leave early with a tender shoulder. He was listed as day-to-day after the game.

But in Nicaragua, the game was going into the Bottom of the 9th and the home-team Rest-Of-Worlders were tied up with Mexico, 3-3. However, Rene Leveret (a French-born 1B who plays in the Indy leagues) and Cheslor Cuthbert (a Nicaraguan Royals prospect) died with groundouts, and a Antoan Richardson (Bahaman, Rangers Organization) single was for naught when pinch-hitter Kai Gronauer (German, formerly of the Mets organization) flew out to right. To extra-innings the game went, and there a Jorge Cantu double brought home the winning run for Mexico as they stood victorious 4-3 over the still winless Rest-Of-Worlders.

(GO BELOW THE JUMP FOR MORE)

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“30 Teams, 30 Posts” (2015): A request to the Minnesota Twins, from a Rochester Red Wings Fan

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. Previous installments can be found here. Today, in the final installment, an open letter from a Rochester Red Wings fan to their parent club.

TO: Minnesota Twins

CC: General Manager Terry Ryan, CEO Jim Pohlad, Director of Minor League Operations Brad Stell, Manager Paul Molitor

SUBJECT: Sano and Buxton

Hello,

I am writing as a fan of the Rochester Red Wings, your AAA club. You’ve been good to us over the years. We’ve made the playoffs twice and come close a few other times since this affiliation began, and we’ve been lucky enough to see Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Brian Dozier, Francisco Liriano, Denard Span, Grant Balfour, Glen Perkins, and many other fine players. We even got to have Joe Mauer and Joe Nathan stop by briefly on rehab assignments, which was nice.

But, not to sound ungrateful, we have a simple request for this coming season: Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton. We very much would like it if you had them stop here before you inevitably call them up in September (if not earlier), perhaps never to grace minor league fields again.

Now, we understand. Neither of them have been able to put much time in AA yet, and with a new affiliate in the Chattanooga Lookouts, you no doubt are looking to make a good first impression. And, what’s more, Chattanooga’s climate is probably way better for a young baseball player in April and May than Rochester’s is.

Seriously, the weather here in April can never seem to remember what season it is. Yesterday, I was in shorts, but this weekend, it could snow.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that, come June, Rochester would be the perfect place for Minnesota’s two biggest prospects since Mauer to prepare for the big leagues. The weather will be getting warmer, schools will start letting out, and Frontier Field will start getting packed. By the 4th of July, the stadium will be full basically every Friday night, with some fans packing cowbells and giveaway thunder-stix, much to the annoyance of some people.

And it’ll be even more special if we have Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano to cheer on. Some of us have been waiting for years to see them. So, please, if at all possible, don’t make them bypass AAA.

Thank you, and good luck on your upcoming season,

-A Rochester Red Wings Fan

“30 Teams, 30 Posts” (2015): The Cubs won’t be boring

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. Previous installments can be found here. Today, the Cubs.

There is a saying that a work of fiction can be good or bad, but the worst thing it can be is be boring. The same could be said for baseball teams. And, well, the Cubs may be many things this season, but they will not be boring.

After all, this is a team with Joe Maddon as manager. He’s never boring. He’s always doing crazy shifts, having his team do themed road-trips where they dress up as 1890s gentlemen or Hawaiian beach bums or whatever.

They have wonder-prospect Kris Bryant. Or, at least, they will. It’s complicated, but basically they’ll call him up within a few weeks, when they’ll be able to start his service clock late enough where they’ll be able to keep him from free agency for an extra year.

They have Wrigley Field still under heavy renovation. The bleachers won’t be done for at least two months. What the heck! How does this happen? Still, not boring.

And, of course, they have their endless quest to finally win their first World Series since 1908, and, perhaps more importantly, the quest to prove Back To The Future II correct.

So, yes… the Cubs are not going to be boring this year. That is for sure.

“30 Teams, 30 Posts” (2015): The Padres do exist! Let’s remember when we thought otherwise!

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. Previous installments can be found here. Today, the Padres.

It’s nice to see that San Diego, one of the most beautiful cities in America, has finally gotten a MLB team again. I mean, maybe they’ve had one the last few years, but I honestly can’t remember. After all, the Padres were like extras in a movie: there, but unnoticed.

So, let’s remember the years where San Diego only technically had a Major League team, because we all forgot they existed:

2007: The last year I can truly remember the Padres existing before this year. They got into a tie-breaker playoff against the Rockies and lost in 13 innings. The age of darkness began.

2008: 63-99 and last place. America only recognized their existence when Jake Peavy or late-career Greg Maddux pitched, along with the occasional Trevor Hoffman milestone.

2009: 75-87, 4th place. The most notable thing listed about them on their Wikipedia page is that Jody Gerut became the first player in history to have a lead-off home run in a new stadium when he led off the first game at CitiField with a homer off of Mike Pelfrey. Jake Peavy was traded this year and Trevor Hoffman had gone to the Brewers. The sinkage into obscurity seemed to be in full swing.

2010: Actually a pretty good year, as they went 90-72 and finished in second place, a beacon of relevance in a ocean of meh. Oh, but they blew a 6.5 game lead late in the season and lost the division to the Giants, and then Adrian Gonzalez was traded after the season. And then they returned to obscuresville.

2011: 71-91, last place. I cannot remember a thing about this team.

2012: 76-86, 4th place. This was Chase Headley’s breakout year, if I remember correctly. Other than that, I can’t think of anything special about the Padres in 2012.

2013: 76-86, 3rd place. Was this the year they had the fight with the Dodgers? I think this was the year they had a fight with the Dodgers. Otherwise, I can’t remember a thing about them.

2014: 77-85, 3rd place. Tony Gwynn died and everything was terrible. Otherwise, I can’t remember much about them.

…And then there is 2015. I guess we’ll see how that turns out, huh?

Next time: The Cubs.

 

 

Famous For Something Else: Will Ferrell

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For April Fool’s Day, here are the statistics for Will Ferrell from his “Every Position In One Day” charity stunt:

Year Tm Age POS G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB OppQual
2015 OAK 48 SS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015 SEA 48 2B 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015 LAA 48 CF 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015 CHC 48 3Bc/PH/1B 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015 ARI 48 LF 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015 CIN 48 3B 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015 CHW 48 DH 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015 SFG 48 C 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015 LAD 48 P 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015 SDP 48 RF 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/1/2015.
Year Tm Age GS W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 SO/W OppQual
2015 LAD 48 0 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/1/2015.

In other April Fool’s Day news, check out how Baseball Reference has added a feature to add a ‘stache, afro or beard to any player picture.

Really, is there anything that that site doesn’t do?

“30 Teams, 30 Posts” (2015): Reds October? Unlikely.

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. Previous installments can be found here. Today, the Reds.

There is a lot of parity in baseball these days. Few teams can truly be said to be totally out of it. However, when you look at the NL Central, you can’t help but feel like the Cincinnati Reds have missed their chance, at least for this year:

  • They are in a deep division with four teams that could conceivably win the division, and are certainly in better shape to do so than the Reds are.
  • They did nothing to significantly improve over the winter.
  • While the lineup is great, the starting rotation is very iffy, especially if Homer Bailey has more health issues. They don’t have Mat Latos anymore.
  • Oh, and Johnny Cueto is headed to free agency soon, so it’s likely the Reds are going to have even more pitching depth issues in the future.
  • Some members of the line-up are coming off of off-years (or, at least, what the Reds hope were just off-years and not starts of a trend) or, in some cases, just getting old. They’ve added Marlon Byrd as their big off-season addition, and he’s 37, for pete’s sake!
  • With the ticket sales and excitement that come with hosting the All-Star game this season, it’s less likely that Reds brass feel the need to add anybody during the year to spice things up and get more butts in the stands in the short-term.

So… sorry, Reds fans, but you won’t be seeing a Reds October this year.

Next Time: Padres.

OOTP Baseball Competition Part 2: The Rest of the First Week

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Throughout the year, I’ll be posting updates of a simulated league from Out Of The Park Baseball 2016 made up of national “dream teams” to determine what the greatest baseball country on Earth is… or something like that. Previous installments can be found here.

Thursday, April 2nd:

As Taiwanese closer C.C. Lee of the Cleveland Indians struck out Barbaro Canizares to seal a 2-1 Taiwanese win to finish the first game of Thursday, April 2nd, the people of Cuba became very unhappy. Communists on the island blamed this 0-2 start on the “capitalist traitors”, the people of Miami blamed the Castro brothers. But perhaps they both should have blamed Hung-Wen Chen, the Taiwanese starter, who had given up only one run in 7 innings of work.

In Sydney, a 9th inning by Jeong Choi allowed Korea to go 2-0 on the season with another win over Australia. Losing pitcher Grant Balfour, in a post-game interview with Ned Kelly O’Shaughessy, drunk angry Australian announcer, spoke only in the language of profanity that few can speak. Thankfully, Ned did speak that language, and was able to translate it into being “I am unhappy with my performance tonight.”

In Japan, the Japanese also moved to 2-0, beating Puerto Rico 7-3. However, right-fielder Yoshio Itoi left the game with shoulder soreness. It was reported that he would miss 3 weeks.

At 1:05, games started in Italy and in the Dominican Republic, where the sleepy player from the previous night’s 18-inning marathon had to get up and play the second game of the season. And while the 2nd game of the DR-Venezuela series was nowhere near as long as the first one, it still had plenty of drama.

After a nice pitching performance by Michael Pineda, a HR by Carlos Gomez and a Nelson Cruz RBI single, the Dominican was up 2-0 going into the ninth as Joaquin Benoit took the mound to get the save. Except, well, he didn’t get the save. He had an implosion that ended with a Jose Altuve 3-run home run that chased away Benoit and brought in Antonio Bastardo.

But then, in the bottom of the ninth, the Dominican had a comeback of their own off of Yusmeiro Petit and Jean Machi, culminating in a Hanley Ramirez double to give the Dominican another walk-off win!

Screen Shot 2015-03-28 at 1.02.54 PMPedro Martinez was pleased.

The game in Europe was nowhere near as interesting, as the Dutch routed the Italians, 11-5, as Wladimir Balentien hit his second HR of the year,

Finally, there were the games in the Western Hemisphere. Panama and Rest-Of-World and the USA-Colombia game started first, and the Americans wasted no time, with Mike Trout going deep for his first home run of the season in the first inning to put the USA up 2-0 on Julio Teheran. Giancarlo Stanton would join his teammate in long-ball with a 3-run shot in the third which chased away Teheran and brought in Kevin Escorcia, a rookie-leaguer in the White Sox organization. This proved to be an unwise decision, as Matt Kemp would go deep against him for two more runs by the end of the inning to make it 7-0 after three. It would be that kind of day at the plate for Team USA, as they battered the Colombians for the 11-2 win, with Mike Trout going 3-5 with a double, home run, 2 walks and 3 RBIs. On the mound, Chris Sale got the win for his 7 innings of work, giving up only one earned run (the other run was unearned).

In Panama, the Panamanians won 5-0, as Paolo Espino of the Nationals organization struck out 13 in 8.1 IP of work and Angel Chavez went deep twice.

In Mexico, Canada won 11-4 to go to 1-1 on the year, with Sean Jamieson of the D-Backs organization getting 3 RBIs and Russell Martin homering.

Friday, April 3rd

“Well, this is Ned Kelly O’Shaughessy here at Blacktown Baseball Stadium in Sydney, where our Australian boys lead the Koreans 2-0. A reminder, fans, that tonight’s game is brought to you by Foster’s, Australian For Beer, although I personally would like to remind you that [censored] Foster’s is owned by [censored] South Africans so don’t believe what they bloody say. Now, Chris Oxspring was ace for us today, giving up just two hits to the Koreans and striking out six. Luke Hughes hit a 2-run home run in first, and that’s how we got here.”

(pause)

“Excuse me, I have been told by my producer that I should tell you that you should buy Foster’s, or else I’m fired. So, yeah, go buy Foster’s, mate. Anyway, Andrew Russell now on the mound looking to close this off for us. I don’t know where Grant Balfour is, maybe he’s bleeding tired. So, up comes Jeong Choi….”

(Two pitches later)

“And here’s the pitch, and Choi hits it lazily to center…. Oeltjen drifts over… and he catches it. Two more outs and then we can get pissed. Here comes Dae-Ho Lee now, by the way….”

(enters a long tangent about his cousin’s domesticated dingo)

“Oh, and, so… oh, here’s a foul ball… behind the plate… Kennelly to it… and he’s got that ball, just like that smart little dingo! We are just one out away from a real raging party, mates! Now here comes Byung-Ho Park. He had a [censored] home run yesterday, the [censored], so hopefully he won’t get one [censored] here.”

(A few pitches later, the count 2-1)

“And Russell now with the pitch to the right-handed park, and… (audible sound of bat and ball). Oh, bloody hell. BLOODY HELL, that ball is going back… back… back… and it’s (censored) gone. (Censored) me. Me and my (censored) mouth. I need a drink, and not of (censored) Foster’s. 2-1 Australia, here comes Jung-Ho Kang.”

(Several seconds of O’Shaughessy muttering profanity under his breath, and at one point an audible sip of a beer)

“Russell with the pitch… called strike. 0-1. Now, elsewhere in the Competition, Japan leads Puerto Rico 3-1 in the 6th, and Taiwan and Cuba are scoreless. Another pitch… and fouled back. That Taiwan-Cuba game is in the third inning by the way. Out of town scores brought to you by Prescott Pharmaceuticals. Another pitch… and popped back here again. Another 0-2 pitch to Kang is coming up, and you’ll know if we win by the fact I’ll probably start singing. The pitch, and ball one. Oh, c’mon, Andrew… get him [censored] out…. and the pitch… YES! YES! SWING AND A MISS! WALTZING MATILDA, WALTZING MATILDA….”

…

Elsewhere on Day 3:

Japan 4, Puerto Rico 3 (H. Iwakuma 8 IP, W, 8 H, 3 ER, 8 K)

Cuba 6, Taiwan 3 (Cuban HRs by Friedrich Cepeda, Yasmani Grandal, and Jose Iglesias)

Netherlands 2, Italy 1 (Andrelton Simmons left after injury from a HBP, diagnosis pending)

Dominican Republic 8, Venezuela 7 (Carlos Gomez left with back soreness, out for 3-4 weeks. Jose Altuve 4-5 in defeat.)

Panama 5, Rest-Of-World 4 (Ruben Rivera 2-4, HR, 4 RBI)

USA 10, Colombia 1 (Mike Trout 2-3, 3B, 3 RBI, 2 BB, SO, Stephen Strasburg left game after 3.2 innings due to a 96 minute rain delay)

Canada 3, Mexico 1 (Jeff Francis 7 IP, 3 H, ER, 4 K)

Saturday, April 4

“Welcome to Under the Knife, I’m Jake Jiff with your injury update:

Canada placed Tyson Gillies on the DL with a contusion today. It’s expected that various other outfielders, including Reserve Roster call-up Rene Tosoni, will take over his spot in the infield for the next two or so weeks.

The Dominican placed Carlos Gomez on the DL with his back soreness. Starling Marte has been called up from the reserve roster.

Italy’s catcher, Mattia Reginato, will be out 8 to 9 weeks with a strained hamstring. Marco Sabbatani has been called from the reserve roster.

Thank you for listening to Under the Knife, I’m Jake Jiff.”

…

The second series of the seasons began on April 4. The match-ups included Taiwan at Japan, Italy at South Korea, the Dominican at Puerto Rico, Australia at Venezuela, the USA at Canada, the Netherlands at Colombia, Panama at Cuba, and Mexico visiting Nicaragua to face the Rest-Of-The-World team.

In Japan, the Japanese went to 4-0 on the season with a 14-2 rout behind 3 HRs. Taiwan fell to 2-2.

South Korea had a similar rout, beating Italy 7-1.

In Puerto Rico, the Dominican got off a lead quickly at mid-day and never looked back, as doubles by Robinson Cano and Jose Bautista put them up 1-0 against Twins prospect Jose Berrios. They added another two in the 3rd (David Ortiz home run), three in the 4th (including a Cano 2-run jack) and six in the 8th (most notably with Cano’s second homer of the day, a Grand Slam), as they won a 12-3 rout.

In Venezuela, the Venezuelans finally got their first win of the year, beating Australia 6-4 behind home runs from Jose Lopez, Pablo Sandoval, and Omar Infante. It wasn’t all good, however, because Henderson Alvarez suffered a mild strain and found himself out for the next week or so. Ned Kelly O’Shaughessy drowned his pain with Venezuelan beer.

Cuba impressed the home fans with a 11-2 win over Panama, with Fredy Asiel Alvarez throwing a complete game, giving up 4 hits and only two earned runs, both from a 2-run shot by Carlos Ruiz. Jose Abreu went 4-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs.

Canada gave Team USA something of a scare and were leading 2-0 after 4 thanks to solo shots from Pompey and Lawrie off of Matt Harvey, but then the USA hit machine got into action with 8 unanswered runs to win it 8-2, with Longoria going 4-4 with a triple and 2 RBIs and Giancarlo Stanton with a home run.

Andruw Jones stole the show in Colombia, as he went 3-4 with a HR and 4 RBIs in a 14-5 victory for the Dutch.

And in Nicaragua, Mexico won 12-4, but the bigger loss for Rest-Of-World was in the injury department, as German outfielder Max Kepler sprained his elbow and landed on the DL and Nicaraguan 2B Ofilio Castro also left injured, although at the time the diagnosis was not known.

Sunday, April 5

The day started off less than great for some fans, Andrelton Simmons finally got a diagnosis for his injury: fractured wrist, out 5-6 weeks:

Screen Shot 2015-03-28 at 3.36.12 PMStill, the show would have to go on, as the final day of the first week of the International Baseball Contest (chronologically, at least) came to an end.

The first game, in Korea, at first looked like it may finally be the first win for Italy. At first. Because while they pushed 4 runs across in the top of the fourth, it got really bad REALLY quick:

Screen Shot 2015-03-28 at 3.50.17 PMJapan remained perfect with a 8-3 win over Taiwan.

In Nicaragua, Jorge De La Rosa was masterful for Mexico, holding the Rest-Of-The-World to only 2 hits in a complete game shutout while Mexican hitters battered Rest-Of-The-World pitching for a 13-0 win, with home runs by Jose Aguilar and Karim Garcia. And, yes, Pedro Martinez said “Who?” when he went over the highlights during a rain delay in the Dominican game.

The upset of the day came in Venezuela, where Clayton Tanner and Josh Spence combined to 3-hit Venezuela and give up no earned runs, and HRs came from Mitch Dening and Justin Huber, as the Australians upset Venezuela 5-1. Ned Kelly O’Shaughessy narrowly escaped a group of angry Venezuelan fans after the game, although to hear him tell it, he personally fought his way out.

The score was tied going into the 9th in Toronto, where Canada had given Team USA it’s greatest fight so far. In fact, they had led 4-3 in the 8th and Team USA only tied it up because Josh Donaldson scored before Buster Posey was thrown out at second as he tried to stretch a single into a double.

The Toronto-born Jesse Crain took the mound and put Stanton, Goldschmidt and McCutchen in order, then Craig Kimbrel came out for the bottom of the 9th and retired the order in return. To extra innings the game went.

In the top of the 10th, Troy Tulowitzki led off the inning with a double. He then moved to third on a Matt Kemp groundout. But after striking out Josh Donaldson, disaster struck Jesse Crain, as Russell Martin let it past him during the Matt Carpenter at-bat, allowing Tulo to score the go-ahead run on the passed ball. Kimbrel slammed the door in the bottom of the 10th, and Team USA remained unbeaten, 5-4.

There were blowouts in Cuba and Colombia, as Cuba, led by two HRs by Yasmani Grandal (who had 7 RBIs on a 4-hit day) and Yasiel Puig (who went 5-5), demolished Panama 17-4. The Dutch, meanwhile, continued their perfect start with a 14-1 win against the Colombians.

The Dominican also remained perfect, but it wasn’t easy, as they nearly blew a late lead, as Antonio Bastardo struck out Carlos Beltran looking with two men on in the 9th to end the game with a 8-7 Dominican victory.

—

With the first week at an end and every team having played five games, a look at the standings:

Screen Shot 2015-03-28 at 4.51.55 PMAnd the player of the week was Panama’s Ruben Rivera, the former Major Leaguer who now plays in Mexico:

Screen Shot 2015-03-28 at 4.59.37 PMAnd, finally, team statistics so far:

Screen Shot 2015-03-28 at 5.40.50 PMScreen Shot 2015-03-28 at 5.43.26 PM(Next week in the International Baseball Competition: Japan heads to the Dominican for a series between two of the early powerhouses. And later in the week, the USA heads to Cuba for a showdown between traditional baseball powers. Also, you will see the first appearance in this feature of the odd couple of the International Baseball Competition: USA manager Joe Maddon and his bench coach, Buck Showalter. All of this and Ned Kelly O’Shaughessy in the next part of the International Baseball Competition!)

“30 Teams, 30 Posts” (2015): Fun Times in Cleveland Again!

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. Previous installments can be found here. Today, Cleveland!

Sports Illustrated has predicted that the Cleveland Indians will win the World Series this season, breaking the Curse of Rocky Colavito and bringing (depending on how the Cavaliers do) possibly the first “Big Four” title to Cleveland since the 1964 Browns*.

I don’t agree with them, but I can sort of see where they are coming from- the Indians are one of those teams that are way better than many people think.

After all, they have some of the most underrated players in the game. Michael Brantley came in third place for MVP last year, and yet he’s most anonymous. Yan Gomes is becoming one of the best catchers in the league. Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana are good and sometimes great, although Santana had a bad year batting average last year (he made up for it, some could argue, by leading the league in walks). New addition Brandon Moss has pop.

And, oh, right, they have the reigning AL Cy Young in Corey Kluber, who may be the most anonymous Cy Young Award winner ever. I’m reasonably sure that if you asked 100 baseball fans who won the AL Cy Young last year, most of them would think it was Felix Hernandez or Chris Sale or that Clayton Kershaw was so good they just gave him the AL Cy Young based on his interleague games. And it’s not just Kluber- SI noted this:

“After last year’s All-Star break the rotation led the majors in strikeout rate (9.33 per nine), home run rate (0.56 per nine) and FanGraphs’ WAR (11.0), while trailing only the Nationals in ERA (2.95).”

 

Hmm… maybe SI is on to something.

If they are, LeBron James really is going to have to win the NBA title this season, otherwise his title as Cleveland’s savior might end up taken by Terry Francona (who, of course, has a habit of breaking curses). I mean, damn, he comes back to Cleveland and it ends up that the Indians end the city’s long championship drought? And what if they beat the Yankees on the way? Oh, the awkwardness!

Next Time: The Reds

*Football note: It is a cruel irony that all of the Browns’ titles came before the Super Bowl was instituted, as the Super Bowl ended up becoming such an institution that the NFL’s pre-Super Bowl champions have become almost afterthoughts in the sport’s history. The Browns won 4 pre-Super Bowl NFL championships and four title in the All-America Football Conference, a sort of proto-AFL that was partially absorbed into the NFL in 1950. However, their total lack of titles- even conference titles- in the Super Bowl era have turned them into a joke amongst football fans. A similar cruel fate has befallen the Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills’ AFL championship teams.