World Baseball Classic, Anyone going to any of the games? Options

[edstipe]

Just curious if anybody else is going to be attending any of the World Baseball Classic games. I'm pretty excited to see the U.S. team -- Jeter, ARod, Clemens, Willis, Lee, Griffey, etc. -- as well as to see some of the international players I'd never have a chance to see otherwise. Kind of like going to the All-Star game but with patriotism and an actual meaning to the games. I expect most countries to take the competition very seriously, especially those seeking recognition for the sport in their homeland.

I'm a baseball freak, but I think a lot of people will get excited over this once the games start getting played, especially if any tempers start to flare between/among countries.

I'm going to the Sunday March 12th night game at Anaheim. It will pit the winner of Pool A vs. the winner of Pool B, which I *hope* will be the United States vs. Japan.

Anyone else?

[Soxwsc]

I think fear of injury is way overblown. Players are just as likely to get injured in Spring Training. And since they're at the same time, I agree this time of the year is probably the best option. But then again, I'll be really pissed if Freddy Garcia somehow gets injured playing for Venezuela.

I'm actually interested in seeing how some of these games play out. I'm interested in seeing some of the Japanese players, and how they compare to others in the MLB. I have no idea if this tournament will catch on right away, but I do think it's good for baseball. It gives baseball world-wide recognition, and some people may watch it that have never watched baseball before. But for me, nothing will ever compare to the World Series; to me the WBC will always be on the level of watching the All-Star Game.

http://www.worldbaseballclassic.com/2006/s...evision&sid=wbc

[edstipe]

I think fear of injury is way overblown. Players are just as likely to get injured in Spring Training. And since they're at the same time, I agree this time of the year is probably the best option. But then again, I'll be really pissed if Freddy Garcia somehow gets injured playing for Venezuela.

I'm actually interested in seeing how some of these games play out. I'm interested in seeing some of the Japanese players, and how they compare to others in the MLB. I have no idea if this tournament will catch on right away, but I do think it's good for baseball. It gives baseball world-wide recognition, and some people may watch it that have never watched baseball before. But for me, nothing will ever compare to the World Series; to me the WBC will always be on the level of watching the All-Star Game.

http://www.worldbaseballclassic.com/2006/s...evision&sid=wbc

I wish that was a realistic way to look at the injury issue, but I GUARANTEE you that if even ONE MLB player gets injured during the tournament, it's going to be used as a reason over and over again not to play by players/managers/owners in the next tourney.

Unfortunately, there's no real way around that, although I agree with mcpheezy that injuries after the season would be less significant than during the preseason or All-Star Break.

Unfortunately, having the tournament after the season -- besides all the other issues I already mentioned -- would also be problematic because most players are nursing injuries by that time, especially pitchers who threw a lot of innings during the season. I'm sure a lot of pitchers and pitching coaches would say that an extra tournament after the season could/would do worlds of damage to a pitcher's durability for the following season.

That's why I like the idea of having the tournament during the All-Star Break, and shortening the season by 8 games or so in order for it to still end around the same time, even with the tournament. That's where I see this thing going in the future.

Oh yeah, and I'm dying to see how the Japanese players and style match up against the Americans too -- that's why I bought tickets to the game I did. I only hope there's no first-round upsets in Round 1 Pool A or B!