2013 World Baseball Classic Thread

[25 Nuggets]

Just got back home and turned on the TV as the fight was winding down. I didn't see any of the game prior so I don't know if there were any beanings earlier in the game but from the best that I can tell....

Top of the 9th Canada up 9-3. Orioles catcher Chris Robinson leads off the inning by laying down a very nice bunt single for Canada. The Mexican pitcher, apparently, took offense and beaned the next Canadian squarely in the mid to upper back.

Of course, since run differential could end up playing a role in whether or not any of these teams advance (and remember Canada was "mercy ruled" by Italy yesterday) Robinson's actions were in no way out of order. There is no such thing as running up the score in the WBC first round. I guess the pitcher from Mexico forgot about that.

So if the US can manage to straight up beat Italy and Canada they will advance. If Italy pulls off the upset, and in turn goes 3-0 in the first round, USA will still not be out of it. But, they'd have to beat Canada and probably by a certain amount of runs of which we don't yet know at this time. If the US beats Italy tonight, it'll be USA/Canada tomorrow with the winner advancing.

It started way back in the 1st inning when the guy who bunted (Chris Robinson) slid hard into second base, late, to break up a double play. I believe he may have been the original target for being plunked. When he bunted, the third baseman told the pitcher to nail the next guy.

This has got to be a nightmare for major league clubs fearing for injury. I say that while brawls are never good, it's nice to see these teams take the games so seriously when certain talking heads are pooh-poohing the international game. It got chippy at the Puerto Rico - Venezuela game too.

[crissfan172]

I can't believe the USA's A team is losing to the USA's B team.

[SteveA]

So the announcers keep talking about Mexico still having a chance, but I don't get it.

If the US loses tonight, then beats Canada, you would have:

Italy 3-0

US, Canada, and Mexico all 1-2

According to the tiebreaker rules at ,

Scenario 3

Three Federation Teams with the lowest winning percentage tied for Pool Runner-Up designation.

The three Federation Teams shall be ranked in order of TQB to determine the Pool Runner-Up. In the event two or three Federation Teams remain tied for Pool Runner-Up after determining TQB, such tie(s) shall be broken as follows [blah blah blah this is very unlikely]

And TQB is defined as

the sum of runs scored divided by the number of innings played on offense, minus the number of runs allowed, divided by the number of innings played on defense (RS/IPO)-(RA/IPD)=TQB)). For purposes of determining TQB only the scores from the games between the tied teams are to be used in the calculation.

If the games all go 9 innings, this is basically just run differential (since everything is divided by the same denominator of 9). If a home team doesn't bat in the 9th or a game is mercy-rule-shortened or rain-shortend, that changes the equation a little, but it would only matter if run differential is close.

OK, so you would have a 3 way tie between US/Mex/Canada. Only scores from games between the tied teams would be used in the calculation.

So Mexico is done. They won a 9 inning game from US 5-2, and lost a 9 inning game to Canada 10-3. So their TQR is (5+3)/18 - (2+10)/18 =--0.222. Or, to put it simply, their run differential is -4 right now since all their games were 9 innings.

Canada's run differential among the potentially tied teams is +7, their TQR is 0.777.

Our run differential among the potentially tied teams is -3, our TQR is -0.333.

If the US were to beat Canada tomorrow by enough to get Canada's TQR below -0.22, our TQR would get better, and it would be better than Mexico's.

So basically I believe Mexico has been eliminated, even though the MLBN talking heads say they still have a chance. What do I have wrong?

And of course the main point all this is that this is a STUPID tiebreaker.

[SteveA]

I can't believe the USA's A team is losing to the USA's B team.

Big at bat here!

[section18]

Adam Jones leads off an inning and scores the tie run on a Brandon Phillips hit. They load the bases and 3B David Wright of the Mets hits a grand slam and the U.S. leads Italy 6-2 in the 6th inning. Jones bats second in the 6th inning and singles sharply to left and steals second. He tags from 2B on a deep fly to center and moves over to 3B and is stranded.

[isestrex]

Adam Jones leads off an inning and scores the tie run on a Brandon Phillips hit. They load the bases and 3B David Wright of the Mets hits a grand slam and the U.S. leads Italy 6-2 in the 6th inning. Jones bats second in the 6th inning and singles sharply to left and steals second. He tags from 2B on a deep fly to center and moves over to 3B and is stranded.

Yeah he looked great. It's interesting that he would steal there. I think he sees himself more as a complimentary player (hitting 8th) and thus feels like he has more a duty to get on base and steal rather than simply drive in runs. I wonder if he approaches these WBC differently that he approaches hitting 4th for the Orioles...

[section18]

Good question. I would say the answer is YES. Torre batting him 8th is probably an ego jolt to him and should make it easier for Buck if he decides to move him around or bat him 5th in the future. If we land a power hitting right handed bat for the middle of the order he may have to move there. He should bat 3rd in my opinion but not 4th. If he hits 25 - 30 HR's that's good enough. Hitting 4th makes him swing for the fences too much IMO.

I think our top 5 hitters should be in the following order;

Markakis

McLouth

Jones

Davis

Wieters

The remaining 4 could be

Reimold (if healthy)

Machado

Hardy

Roberts

Markakis is a key hitter in our lineup and he played great leading off last year. i would not mess with him. Hardy will probably not be dropped lower than 7th ahead of Machado because Buck will not want to hurt his ego but should be 8th in my opinion.

AJ is up again in the 8th and strikes out on guess what? A down and away pitch.

[section18]

U.S.A. holds on to win 6-2 over Italy and will face Canada on Sunday. David Wright with the grand slam is the player of the game. Very nice win tonight.

[Gurgi]

Very important win. Maybe now the USA will relax and pound Canada.

[25 Nuggets]

We'll see. Jameson Taillon is going for Canada against Derek Holland.

BTW, kudos to Puerto Rico for beating Venezuela and advancing to the next round. Don't sleep on them, they could make it to San Francisco.

[crissfan172]

So...uh...I think Japan must have been saving their offense.

[Orioles4Life21]

Can't wait to watch the US today! I went to bed at like 8 last night and missed the game haha. In other news, Japan is CRUSHING The Netherlands 10-0 in the 5th! Looks like Japan will be in the semis again and Cuba will play The Netherlands tomorrow for a spot in San Fran.

[OFFNY]

.

ROSS DETWILER O(vs. ITALY, 3/09)

IP:O 4

H:o. 1

R:O. 0

BB:. 1

SO:. 3

Pitches: 51 (36 Strikes, 15 Balls)

2013 ERA: 0.00 [World Baseball Classic]

[Orioles0615]

Adam jones!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[notyourbuddy]

Hit'n'run with runners on 1st and 2nd :eektf: as Adam Jones takes it to the gap. Gutsy call by the manager.