Shouldn't we be collecting Japanese BB cards instead of American?

Darin

They play better baseball. I think I'll trade all my cards for all the Suzukis' and Kawasakis' and Hondas' I can get.
Why do almost all their players look 5'8", 130 lbs. but we still can't beat them?

BunchOBull

It's the saki.

itzagoner

fugu. look it up.

EagleEyeKid

Sushi makes them strong.

matthewbschultz83

No its the fact that the top Americans don't play. No Hamilton, Sabathia, Teixeira, Burnett, Kinsler, etc. Jeter hit under .200, the pitching was absolutely awful. I personally think the WBC is stupid. You give me the team that wins the World Series in October and I'll take them against any country anywhere. The winner of the Japaneese World Series would lose everytime. Bobby V you are wrong. Lets be realistic if those Koreans and Japaneese were really that good, wouldn't they be playing over here because of the money? Did the Koreans have an MLB player other than Choo? I know the Japaneese had at least 4 and they do have the posting system so it does make it harder for them to come over. I also think a team would fair better than a collection of "All-Stars" thrown together at the beginning of spring training.

mbothner

<< <i> You give me the team that wins the World Series in October and I'll take them against any country anywhere. The winner of the Japaneese World Series would lose everytime. >>



Most World Series winners are not going to be all Americans. We definately had the talent to win but the pitching for whatever reason was awful. I really liked the WBC. I hope we get more of our top players in it the next time. Would also be nice if ESPN put all the American games on ESPN or ESPN2.

joestalin

Nomo can out sell Mantle any day of the week.

MooseDog

Baseball used to be a team game. Since the steroid era and the so-called salary cap it's evolved into who can collect the best players (Yankees, Mets, RedSox) and players jump teams so often that no real team "chemistry" develops, except for short periods of time. For the players it's a Me-First attitude for the most part.

The Asian culture is different and suits baseball perfectly. To be asked to represent your country is considered an honor. No player is greater than the team. In a tournament format these teams will have a decided advantage of the US and Latin American teams, who all play "new" baseball (dingers!). Just look at the teams that have dominated the WBC and the Olympics - Japan, Korea, Cuba. Cuba is similar to the Asian teams in that the players can't play anywhere but Cuba so they generally have the same team oriented concept.

As for physical characteristics, it's a sterotype that they are all small. Hideki Matsui of the Yankees is 6'1" 210lbs. Fu*udome is 6' 190lbs. Dice K is 6' 185, and Irabu was big as Sabathia (slight exaggeration).

Well Ok, Ichiro is 5'9" but he rocks.

These teams are better right now because they play :"real" baseball. Pitching, defense, and moving runners into scoring position.

pandrews

<< <i>Why do almost all their players look 5'8", 130 lbs. but we still can't beat them? >>



Bushido.

leathtech

<< <i>

<< <i> You give me the team that wins the World Series in October and I'll take them against any country anywhere. The winner of the Japaneese World Series would lose everytime. >>



Most World Series winners are not going to be all Americans. We definately had the talent to win but the pitching for whatever reason was awful. I really liked the WBC. I hope we get more of our top players in it the next time. Would also be nice if ESPN put all the American games on ESPN or ESPN2. >>



Our pitchers are fine they are just not ready to pitch in the first few weeks of March... that's why we have Spring Training to get guys ready to pitch. All the other big teams their players are pitching and playing games while our pitchers taking down time and gearing up for the year.

If the WBC was in July I think our pitchers would fair much better. No way Oswalt gets rocked by Japan's hitters after he has pitched for a few months.

If MLB wants to do this right they'll have to take about 2 weeks off during the year and play the classic in July for the Americans to have a shot.

richtree

I personally started to lose interest in the game yesterday when Japan was playing Korea for the title but it was cool to listen to Morgan, Miller, and Selig talk (phillips too, i guess)

Selig is very involved and does understand both the busniess and sports sside of it all,

Selig is good to listen to and don't shy away from questions.

I think Selig is good, I just wish he took some blame for the steroid era, and would defend Mark, Sosa, and Bonds, just alittle bit, because baseballl was dying and MLB basically allowed Steroid use without any penalty for 10 years but isn't taking the blame.

WBC is ok, but it needs to be centralized. ALL GAMES MUST BE PLAYED AT ONE LOCATION, SAY SAN JUAN, OR MEXICO CITY, ETC.

THEN THEY MUST PLAY THE GAMES BACK 2 BACK 2 BACK AND GET A COMMITTMENT FROM PLAYERS AND OWNERS.

Dboneesq

Here you go. Maybe a SADAHARA OH inside?

mtcards

As stated earlier, Team USA does not field its best players. Most either have a migrane or do not want to put the extra effort into getting in playing shape so early in the year. Many foreign players play year round, either in winter ball or their own leagues and actually WANT to win and not just do it for publicity.

Also as stated, take the winning world series team and play a seven game series against the WBC winner, play it in October after the world series and the World series team would win against them EVERY time.

Edited to add: Its the same as USA Basketball. A team of "me first" players from the USA now cannot dominate an actual "Team" from other countries anymore, plus, on the last couple of "Team USA" Basketball teams, did we really have the top players there either?

matthewbschultz83

<< <i>Here you go. Maybe a SADAHARA OH inside?

>>



Napoleon, like anyone can even know that.

ndleo

Yu Darvish is going to get a lot of coin from the Yankees next year. His breaking stuff is major league ready.

julen23

bruce leroy?

matthewbschultz83

<< <i>Yu Darvish is going to get a lot of coin from the Yankees next year. His breaking stuff is major league ready. >>



First off he can't leave until he's pitched 7 years in Japan and eligible for free agency, secondly he has pubicly stated he wants to win 200 games in Japan.

Jeff85fan

I think its a bit arrogant to suggest that the world series winner would beat the Japenese team every time. It's one thing to want your country to do well, but to throw out a blanket statement like that seems a bit broad and uninformed.

A lot of the missteps weren't the players' faults, it was the manager's, hands down. He made a number of key mistakes in lineup positioning and his inability to manage properly again cost the US a chance at a title game. He was the manager of the Olympic team that he held out Stephen Strasburg in an attempt to get to the next game. The guy flat out cannot manage at the major league level, and he's entrusted with the US national team time and again? I don't get it.

Dboneesq

<< <i>The guy flat out cannot manage at the major league level, and he's entrusted with the US national team time and again? I don't get it. >>



Is this a terrible career managerial record?
Year League Team Age G W L WP Finish
+----+-----------+--------+---+-----+----+----+------+------+
1984 NL East NewYorkM 41 162 90 72 .556 2
1985 NL East NewYorkM 42 162 98 64 .605 2
1986 NL East NewYorkM 43 162 108 54 .667 WS 1
1987 NL East NewYorkM 44 162 92 70 .568 2
1988 NL East NewYorkM 45 160 100 60 .625 1
1989 NL East NewYorkM 46 162 87 75 .537 2
1990 NL East NewYorkM 47 42 20 22 .476 2

1993 NL West Cincnnti 50 118 53 65 .449 5
1994 NL Cent Cincnnti 51 115 66 48 .579 1
1995 NL Cent Cincnnti 52 144 85 59 .590 1

1996 AL East Bltmore 53 164 88 74 .543 2
1997 AL East Bltmore 54 162 98 64 .605 1

1999 NL West LosAngls 56 162 77 85 .475 3
2000 NL West LosAngls 57 162 86 76 .531 2
+----+-----------+--------+---+-----+----+----+------+------+
Bltmore 326 186 138 .574
Cincnnti 377 204 172 .543
LosAngls 324 163 161 .503
NewYorkM 1012 595 417 .588
+----+-----------+--------+---+-----+----+----+------+------+
TOTAL 2039 1148 888 .564

Awards

1997 AL Manager of the Year

matthewbschultz83

<< <i>I think its a bit arrogant to suggest that the world series winner would beat the Japenese team every time. It's one thing to want your country to do well, but to throw out a blanket statement like that seems a bit broad and uninformed.

A lot of the missteps weren't the players' faults, it was the manager's, hands down. He made a number of key mistakes in lineup positioning and his inability to manage properly again cost the US a chance at a title game. He was the manager of the Olympic team that he held out Stephen Strasburg in an attempt to get to the next game. The guy flat out cannot manage at the major league level, and he's entrusted with the US national team time and again? I don't get it. >>



I don't think its arrogant at all, I think its a fact. Lets say Boston wins the World Series and they go play the winner of the Japaneese baseball season. Dice-K would pitch for Boston against Japan in my format. If the Japaneese team had Americans on it they would play for Japan. Take the best team from each league, Cuban, Puerto Rico, DR, Japan, Korea, US, anyone else who wants to play. If there are players not on a team from that country you still play for your team. If that was the case the winner of Major League Baseball would beat any country and I firmly stand by that.

billwaltonsbeard

Does this mean I have to start collecting Argentinian basketball cards too?

VitoCo1972

<< <i>

<< <i>I think its a bit arrogant to suggest that the world series winner would beat the Japenese team every time. It's one thing to want your country to do well, but to throw out a blanket statement like that seems a bit broad and uninformed.

A lot of the missteps weren't the players' faults, it was the manager's, hands down. He made a number of key mistakes in lineup positioning and his inability to manage properly again cost the US a chance at a title game. He was the manager of the Olympic team that he held out Stephen Strasburg in an attempt to get to the next game. The guy flat out cannot manage at the major league level, and he's entrusted with the US national team time and again? I don't get it. >>



I don't think its arrogant at all, I think its a fact. Lets say Boston wins the World Series and they go play the winner of the Japaneese baseball season. Dice-K would pitch for Boston against Japan in my format. If the Japaneese team had Americans on it they would play for Japan. Take the best team from each league, Cuban, Puerto Rico, DR, Japan, Korea, US, anyone else who wants to play. If there are players not on a team from that country you still play for your team. If that was the case the winner of Major League Baseball would beat any country and I firmly stand by that. >>



See, as much as soccer haters love to dispel that game (and I was once one of them) soccer has a couple great/superior things going for it...

- You always know which country has the worlds best players because of World Cup and other international Competitions (CONCACAF Gold Cup etc.)

- You always know which is the best club team in the world because of the club team world championships (UEFA Champions League etc. that lead to the Club World Championships)

The difference really is that the whole world doesn't play baseball. The WBC needs to be played after the season when star players can nurse injuries for two months after. The whole thing could be over before Thanksgiving. I'm sure it's the players union that is against this, but I'm not sure why. Plus, the pitch count rules in the preliminary rounds are stupid.

I like the WBC, but it really makes no sense in its current incarnation.

#1 - 16 teams is too many. They don't play high level baseball in Australia/Italy etc. It needs to be 8 teams (USA, Canada, Japan, Korea, Dominican, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico)

#2 - Puerto Rico is a US Territory. When they vote for president, they vote for the President of the United States. Why they are on a separate team is frankly stupid.

#3 - It must be played after the season. training can start during the playoffs and as guys get eliminated they can join their teams

Anyway, those are my ramblings

MeteoriteGuy

#4 - They need cheerleaders.

metrotheme

Did people make these similar arguments when the Negro League teams used to beat the MLB teams?

ndleo

<< <i>Did people make these similar arguments when the Negro League teams used to beat the MLB teams? >>



Great point.

Gonblott

Baseball will always be American sport

matthewbschultz83

Look all I'm saying is the tournament is not conducive to the Americans winning. I also don't like 1 game take all format and double elimination. I realize it would take longer and there is no good time to play it, but there should be 3 or 5 game series. In my opinion that is the only way to determine the best team. Anybody can beat anyone on a given day. I don't think you play this at the All-Star break, because I don't want a 2 week (or longer) stop down to my MLB season. If you play after the World Series what about all the players from the teams that didn't even make the playoffs? That would be a month layoff, do you really think a lot of those players want to get back into shape or maintain their game form for another month to play in the WBC. Most of these guys are banged up at the end of the season and need the rest.

Thats why I think the best scenario would be have the world series winning team take on the winning teams from the other country's league. The problem there is when Boston plays the Japan, Dice-K would be pitching against his native team.