The Chris Moeller Archives

We dedicate this championship to Pat Morita

This year's inaugural World Baseball Classic has to be considered a success. Although we were denied a strong showing by the United States, U.S. matchups against Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, or the Dominican Republic, and a championship game flush with MLB superstars, passions ran high for most of the ballclubs and their fans, and the games themselves were well played and exciting.

Many of the concerns baseball people had prior to the tournament wound up being unfounded. The players arrived in good playing condition, and they stayed healthy throughout the two week tourney. Fans of the United States surely felt let down by the results, of course. The New York Yankees-dominated national team played lacklusterly while the Bronx owner sobbed to the press about his superstars' absence from his camp, but it seemed like every time I tuned in, I got to watch the stars of Venezuela or the Dominican Republic gutting it out for national pride, and the unknown Cuban players showing a world of talent.

When the WBC returns in 2009, there will have been some tinkering done to the format. You can be sure of that. It's unfortunate that it has to be a single matchup round robin event, but best-of-three "head-to-heads" would triple the duration of the tourney, and I'm a big believer that March is the best time of year to play the games. Besides, the sudden death aspect of the format wasn't as sudden as one might have anticipated. The Japanese lost three out of four games in the second round pool, fell victim to some bad umpiring by an ex-MLB clown, and still managed to win the championship. I happen to think that a Cuban victory would have made for the best finish, but it was hard not to feel great for the Japanese when they carried their home run hero/manager Sadaharu Oh off the field Monday night. Dominican hero Albert Pujols awaits his championship in October.

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The timing of the tournament wasn't great for the Chicago White Sox, the most marginalized team in Major League Baseball. Even when they're World Champions, they aren't really World Champions.

Pale hose secondbaseman Tadahito Iguchi has a lot to brag about these days, although he wasn't on the Japanese roster.

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I haven't watched a lick of the NCAA basketball tournament, but I read one interesting thing about it. Evidently on Sunday, when Bradley University of Peoria, IL played the University of Pittsburgh, the CBS scoreboard abbreviated the matchup-- Brad/Pitt.

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I owe you an update on my professional life. I'm starting new work next month as a counselor for a non-profit company called Iowa Student Loan. It's the closest I'll ever get to going back to school.

posted by CM @ 4:09 PM