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This Day in Baseball So Close, Canada; Double Dutch Upset
Are you watching the World Baseball Classic? There's actually quite a bit of earnest early competition.
  • Adam Dunn, not the most popular player in these parts, came to Toronto as a late addition to the U.S. team and homered to provide the American margin of victory in a 7-6 win over the hometown Team Canada.
  • It was (har!) a "Dutch treat" as The Netherlands -- The Netherlands! -- nipped the heavily-favored Dominican Republic, 3-2 as Sidney Ponson outdueled Edinson Volquez.
  • In a few somewhat less competitive games, Venezuela beat Italy 7-0; Puerto Rico knocked off Panama, also 7-0; China beat Chinese Taipei, 4-1; and Japan blew out Korea, 14-2.
Your thoughts, Bauxites?


Posted by Mick Doherty on Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 12:34 AM EST.
So Close, Canada; Double Dutch Upset | 20 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Gerry - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 08:50 AM EDT (#197080) #
The WBC doesn't mean much, if anything, the pitchers are not able to pitch as they would in the playoffs and many players don't even show up.  But having said that yesterdays game was a lot of fun.  The game had a playoff atmosphere which is great for March but is is sad that Canada couldn't get one more hit in the ninth to make it even more memorable.
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#2JBrumfield - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 09:36 AM EDT (#197081) #

Yesterday's game intensified my hate for Kevin Youkilis.   He hit a couple of lasers, one going foul.   That two-run homer by Adam Dunn to make it 6-3 was the kill shot but kudos to Canada for making it close.  God Bless Mike Johnson, a former Edmonton Cracker-Cat and teammate of Scott Richmond's, for trying but Ryan Dempster should've been there yesterday.  Thanks for nothing, Ryan!  Boy, we needed that MLB experience yesterday.  Phillippe Aumont has got a filthy breaker, doesn't he?  Leroux looked good too yesterday and Davidson showed some moxie too.  Still, great atmosphere and a good game except for the final result.

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VBF - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 11:43 AM EDT (#197083) #
If the U.S. beats Venezuela and we beat Italy (and yes its 'we' as I am a citizen of Canada) which are likely outcomes, we play Venezuela on Tuesday at 5pm. Yesterday, for some unknown reason, Venezuela used two of their four ML starters: King Felix and Carlos Silva. Now that they're starting Armando Galarraga against the United States tonight, their only starter who played in the Majors last season is Ramon Ramirez who pitched 27 innings for the Reds last season.

Hernandez did not use up his whole pitch count, but I would assume he's unable to play Tuesday merely because it would only be two days rest and he pitched four innings.

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TimberLee - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 11:59 AM EDT (#197084) #
"The WBC doesn't mean much, if anything...."  I beg your pardon?  Have you ever seen more excited and involved fans than those who have been filling stadia in Tokyo, San Juan, and even Toronto? Top-level international sport always has that added significance. A lot of US commentators continue to scoff at the whole tournament as if it were some sort of intrusion into their private domain, but the WBC certainly looks like it is serving to promote the game around the world. How many Major League players from China do you think there will be in, say, 2025?
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VBF - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 12:02 PM EDT (#197085) #
After reading the rules, Felix Hernandez and Carlos Silva are unable to pitch for four days as they exceeded the pitch count of 50, which would have allowed them to pitch after one day of rest had they been under that.

And if Ramon Ramirez does start, you can bet Joey Votto's going to have a few tips for his teammates.

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Thomas - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 01:27 PM EDT (#197086) #
Has Venezuela officially announced that Galaragga is starting against the US tonight? If so, I'm a bit confused by Sojo's management of his pitchers.
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Chuck - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 01:29 PM EDT (#197087) #
I can't see why King Felix was wasted against the "Italians".
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VBF - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 01:44 PM EDT (#197088) #
Yes. It will be Galarraga versus Oswalt.

http://web.worldbaseballclassic.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090307&content_id=3939134&vkey=wbc&team=usa&lang=1
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scottt - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 01:52 PM EDT (#197089) #
Just speculating, but it looks like they went to Hernandez in the fifth after Silva exited with the game tied at 0. They really didn't want to lose to Italy.
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Wildrose - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 05:43 PM EDT (#197090) #
Just speculating, but it looks like they went to Hernandez in the fifth after Silva exited with the game tied at 0. They really didn't want to lose to Italy.


Good point, but they did take a four nothing lead in the fifth and probably should have shut King Felix down before  reaching  50 pitches.  As it stands now , Felix and  Silva are done for the Toronto portion of the tournament.

We'll see how they handle Gallaraga tonight, will he come out before 50 ? It appears if they lose and have to play Canada , they will utilize a bull-pen by committee approach if they play Canada. Fortunately they have only two lefties on their roster.
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uglyone - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 05:48 PM EDT (#197091) #
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, it seems that Jason Bay ain't no Manny Ramirez.
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Nolan - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 07:00 PM EDT (#197093) #
With regards to Hernandez, I saw it mentioned on BTF - or on a linked article - that the team's manager Luis Sojo claimed he was forced to use both pitchers in that game based on pitching schedules received from each of their teams.
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brent - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 08:15 PM EDT (#197094) #

http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2009/03/2009_al_east_pr.php#comments

The Jays are horrendous and could lose 90 games. They are projected for 5th place if you don't want to read the AL East preview.

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scottt - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 09:12 PM EDT (#197095) #
Gallaraga is keeping them in the game. I'm guessing each MLB starter has a pitch count limit.
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Chuck - Sunday, March 08 2009 @ 09:53 PM EDT (#197096) #
Further to limits imposed by their MLB teams, I think pitchers are limited by WBC rules to just 70 pitches in round 1.
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Ryan Day - Monday, March 09 2009 @ 12:38 AM EDT (#197099) #
I just got back from the US-Venezuela game, and was having quite a good time rooting for the underdog in a close game, until I saw something I had really hoped to avoid for the rest of my life: Victor Zambrano pitching for the team I'm cheering for.

Ugh.

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greenfrog - Monday, March 09 2009 @ 10:29 AM EDT (#197101) #
"Adam Dunn, not the most popular player in these parts"

I don't have an issue with Adam Dunn. What did the guy do to deserve being unpopular in Toronto? (Assuming that the above statement is in fact true.) He was basically off most fans' radar until JP gratuitously criticized him for being a slacker. If anything, the fiasco should have made JP (more) unpopular and left Dunn unscathed. If anything, the media attention made me aware that Dunn was a more productive hitter than anyone on the Jays last year (and in 2007), so JP's comments seem to say more about the GM's performance than that of the player.
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Chuck - Monday, March 09 2009 @ 01:37 PM EDT (#197102) #

If anything, the fiasco should have made JP (more) unpopular and left Dunn unscathed.

But that's based on the presumption that we're living in a rational world. Sadly, we're not. In fact, an account of the game that I heard suggested that fans were giving Dunn a hard time yesterday. Presumably, they too are bigger fans of dirtbags than guys who, I don't know, hit two homeruns in two games. Good thing for them, then, that dirtbags are a dime a dozen.

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TamRa - Monday, March 09 2009 @ 02:40 PM EDT (#197103) #
Blair mentioned on Twitter that JP and Dunn shared a warm pregame hug....not sure if it was sarcasm (it wasn'tobviously so beyond the actual content) or if there was an actually mia culpa...
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Mike Green - Monday, March 09 2009 @ 08:39 PM EDT (#197119) #
The March 9 Hares:

Manager-   Billy Southworth
C-                Benito Santiago
1B-              Willy Aybar
2B-              Arky Vaughan
SS-              Bert Campaneris
3B-              Aaron Boone
LF-              Myril Hoag
CF-             Jim Landis
RF-             Billy Southworth
DH-             Jackie Jensen

Bench- Koyie Hill (C), Darrel Cheney (UI), Doug Ault (1B-PH), Elliot Johnson (IF-OF), Larry Raines (IF-OF)

SP-            Lefty Williams
SP-            Jesse Litsch
SP-            Terry Mulholland
SP-            Ron Kline
SP-            John Curtis
RP-            Joe Dawson
RP-            Vince Horsman
RP-            Woody Rich
RP-            C.J. Nitkowski
RP-            Ed Acosta

The pitching is thoroughly mediocre and lists to the left, but you've got excellent defensive support down the middle of the diamond.  You can rotate the OFs through the DH slot, as Hoag played a lot of centerfield.  Southworth could be counted on to make the most of the talent on hand.

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So Close, Canada; Double Dutch Upset | 20 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.