First ever WBC USA game thread! 3/7/2006

[TOBTTReds]

:usa: :usa: :usa: :usa:

Here are the lineups from Marc:

Team USA
Johnny Damon, LF
Derek Jeter, SS
Ken Griffey Jr., CF :griffey:
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Mark Teixeira, DH
Derrek Lee, 1B
Brian Schneider, C
Randy Winn, RF
Chase Utley, 2B
Jake Peavy, RHP

Team Mexico
Karim Garcia, CF
Jorge Cantu, 2B
Vinny Castilla, 3B
Erubiel Durazo, DH
Luis Alfonso Garcia, LF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Geronimo Gil, C
Mario Valenzuela, RF
Juan Castro, SS
Rodrigo Lopez, RHP

USA!:party: :usa: :usa: :usa: :usa: :usa: :usa:

[pedro]

is this going to be on TV?

[TOBTTReds]

ESPN at 4pm following Venezuala vs. Dominican @ 1

[TOBTTReds]

Notice the #8 hitter for Mexico!

[KronoRed]

Interesting lineup construction

[OnBaseMachine]

Why are Randy Winn and Brian Schneider hitting ahead of Chase Utley? Is Bob Boone managing Team USA? ;)

[Heath]

What kinda team puts Chipper Jones on the bench?

Sheesh... :rolleyes:

;)


Why are Randy Winn and Brian Schneider hitting ahead of Chase Utley? Is Bob Boone managing Team USA? ;)

Well, Buck Martinez is managing Team USA - it's a former catcher turned manager syndrome. ;)

[JinAZ]

With any luck, I'll be there tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn't sell out before I buy my ticket at the gate. -JinAZ

[Heath]

With any luck, I'll be there tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn't sell out before I buy my ticket at the gate. -JinAZ

Businessman's special at the BOB errr..Chase Field tomorrow.

[Gainesville Red]

I'm excited about this. I had a good time watching Japan/Korea a couple nights/mornings ago. Should be fun. Griff's gonna go OFF!

[KronoRed]

I love JR but I wouldn't have him 3rd.

[Super_Barry11]

I'm skipping my last class tomorrow to watch it, since softball practice is cancelled for tomorrow... :thumbup:

[SirFelixCat]

GB Tivo!!! :thumbup:

[cumberlandreds]

I am just hoping for Griffey to come out of this healthy. I've been scared to death he will pop a hamstring during this tournament.:scared:

[TOBTTReds]

FYI, game on ESPN2, not ESPN like previously stated. I'll be hitting up the nearest bar to watch in HD. Flannigan's at UD!

[VI_RedsFan]

I love JR but I wouldn't have him 3rd.

He isn't 3rd. He's clean-up. ;)

[Reds1]

Juan Castro! Wow! If we can't win this game we need to go home. Nice to see Griff there. I'm excited to watch.

[cumberlandreds]

Juan Castro! Wow! If we can't win this game we need to go home. Nice to see Griff there. I'm excited to watch.

If Miley were managing Castro would be batting second.:)

[TOBTTReds]

Lead off hit for Karim Garcia, but Cantu GIDP, Castillo GO to Jeter! 3 outs

Damon
Jeter
Griffey due up!

[smith288]

Worldbaseball classic is being broadcast from their website. My video isnt working but I can hear it

[dougdirt]

You bet Narron likes this at bat by Griffey....11 pitches so far.

[Matt700wlw]

Griffey walks

[Gainesville Red]

Nice AB.

[Super_Barry11]

That was some at-bat by Griffey!! This is so exciting!!! :D

(Definitely worth skipping my class for!!) :)

[TOBTTReds]

Griffey had a great AB. Fouled off about 6 pitches or so then walks. End of 1. 0-0

[guttle11]

Way to work the count, ARod.

[Gallen5862]

Did anyone see the pitch limits for the first Two rounds? They said a pitcher could exceed the count to finish an at bat.

[guttle11]

65 then 80 then 95 for the semi's and finals, I believe.

[Gallen5862]

Thanks for the info Guttle11. Lee was glad we got the dp to make up for his error.

[TOBTTReds]

Griffey up 2 on, 2 out 0-0 3rd inning....shallow pop to left.

[Reds Fanatic]

Junior flies out to left. 0-0 after 3.

[Gallen5862]

Junior pops up to end the 3rd inning.

[Reds Fanatic]

1st pitching change for the US as Mike Timlin replaces Jake Peavy who only threw 23 pitches in 3 innings.

[Super_Barry11]

Elmer Dessens warming up in the bullpen for Mexico.

[Reds Fanatic]

Lee homers to right. 1-0 US bottom of the 4th.

[Gallen5862]

I missed the homerun. Where was it hit to and was it a no doubter?

[fielder's choice]

Right center field into the 1st or 2nd row.

[Reds Fanatic]

Elmer Dessens is now pitching for Mexico.

[Gallen5862]

Thanks for info fielders choice.

[TOBTTReds]

Todd Jones (our favorite) comes in and gives up 2 hits. Got a double play. 2 out man on 1st. Jones was throwing pipe balls, and Vinny Castilla was missin until a single through the box.

1-0 USA mid 7

[paintmered]

Chipper goes deep. 2-0 gringos.

[realreds1]

I love watching this... so much energy in the ballpark today.

Gotta love Mexican fans. When their teams play, they friggin' get into it.

[Gallen5862]

:usa: Way to go Chipper Jones.

[OnBaseMachine]

I love watching this... so much energy in the ballpark today.

Gotta love Mexican fans. When their teams play, they friggin' get into it.

Me too. I've got to admit, Selig nailed it. This has been very interesting and fun to watch. I love the passion that all of the fans have been showing for their respective countries.

[paintmered]

Lidge comes in and gets the save for the Americans.

2-0 final. U.S. wins.

[pedro]

Me too. I've got to admit, Selig nailed it. This has been very interesting and fun to watch. I love the passion that all of the fans have been showing for their respective countries.


except in japan where there was nobody there. but i agree, this beats the crap out of watching ST games.

[kxblue]

Didn't Japan-Korea draw 40,0000 in Tokyo with Korea upsetting Japan?

[blumj]

Some of the games not involving the Japanese team didn't draw big crowds in Tokyo, but that should be expected when some of the teams are playing so far away from their fanbases. Some of the geography, and probably politics, is prohibitive for fans to be there. In some cases, the tv audience would be much more revealing.

[KronoRed]

I watched till the 4th..I enjoyed it, did beat a lamo spring training game.

[JinAZ]

I just got back from the Mexico/USA WBC game. It was a blast. I've never been to a playoff game or an Olympic event, and I'd guess this was something of a cross between the two. I arrived at the ballpark around noon to buy my ticket, and spent a half hour or so wandering around watching the spectacle. The Mexican fans were out in force, wearing Jerseys and huge pained sombreros and wielding Mexican flags and noisemakers. There was a lot of spontaneous cheering/screaming…great atmosphere.

My ticket was in the upper deck, more or less behind home plate. I was about 6 rows back, and there was a good number of people around me (though the game was clearly not a sellout). Just before the playing of the national anthems, they had a moment of silence for Kirby Puckett. It was eerily quiet given how loud everyone had been moments earlier. After about 15 seconds, someone (in poor form) started screaming "USA!!", but right afterwards I clearly heard some yell out "We love you Kirbie!!" Special moment.

The player introductions were fun. The Mexicans clearly worship Vinny Castilla; the only player who got anything close to that sort of reception was Fernando Valenzuela, although they gave Estaban Loiza a pretty good cheer. It seems that no one knows who Oliver Perez is, however, as he got as much cheering from the crowd as Mexico's equipment manager.

The game started with a very questionable scoring decision when Chase Utley booted a routine grounder, but afterwards settled down into a good pitchers' duel. Sort of. Team USA honestly looked pretty rusty, with Jeter's error (and Chase's apparent…misplay at least), very few good swings, and lots of first pitch hitting (nothing like flying out on the first pitch of the game Johnny D). The best at-bat of the game was by Griffey in the first inning, when he saw 11 pitches in drawing the walk. But unless Mexico's pitching was mind-boggling good (I think it's solid, but not great), USA is going to have to get their bats going in order to compete.

USA's pitching was very solid. Wheeler might have been struggling a little bit with two well-hit balls given up to Gil and Valenzuela (Valenzuela had looked positively overmatched in his previous at-bat). But ultimately, it seemed like the game came down to Mexico's very weak offense. Castilla and Durazo are ok hitters, but aside from that there's really nothing there. Against USA's pitching they didn't really seem to stand a chance. Still, if their pitching can continue to do what they did today, I like Mexico to beat out Canada and advance to round 2.

One that I didn't really like about the game was that USA was playing the game like an all-star game. 5 of the 9 starters were swapped out in the 6th & 7th innings, and the pitchers swapped out every inning. If we'd already advanced, or it was a blow out, that'd be one thing. But one of the keys to making this classic a success (and having a second one in 4 years), I'd argue, is to play the games to win, not just to give everyone a chance to get some playing time. Anything less makes it feel cheapened.

In terms of the fans at the game, I think the USA fans outnumbered the Mexicans by 2 or 3 to one, but the Mexicans were clearly the louder of the two groups. Sure, the USA people could cheer when queued at particular moments (the two HR's for example), but it was the Mexican fans who kept the stadium humming as the innings wore on. They were normally audible, were loud with each USA out recorded, and were positively bezerk when A-Rod struck out. :) Most of the Mexicans seemed relatively upbeat on the way out, and they should be given how well their team played today. There were a few USA fans who were hooting and hollering after the victory (Yankee fans mostly), but most of us seemed to understand how narrow this victory really was, especially considering how heavily we were favored. Hopefully the boys will pick it up a notch for tomorrow's game at Canada. I'm looking forward to attending that one too.

I have a photo gallery online at snapfish with pics from the game: http://tinyurl.com/lroze

-JinAZ

[OnBaseMachine]

Will the WBC be held every two years or is it four? I thought it was two.

[Reds Fanatic]

Will the WBC be held every two years or is it four? I thought it was two. The next one would be in 2009 and then every 4 years after that.

[Chip R]

Did anyone else hear the ESPN announcer say that Al Leiter "knows how to compete"? :lol:

[redsfan30]

I was impressed with Junior's defense and range in the game yesterday.

[JinAZ]

I was impressed with Junior's defense and range in the game yesterday.

He wasn't really challenged all that much though. The most difficult play was that shot to deep left-center off of Valenzuela(? don't have my score card in front of me), but he didn't really have to break into a full run to get over there. Jr reads the ball very well, plays the ball well off the wall, etc...he just doesn't have the speed he once had. -jinAZ