More World Baseball Classic (Asian work ethic)

With the World Baseball Classic now over, and Japan having defended their inaugural WBC championship, I thought I'd revisit it, and add some personal pics.

So I watched the end of the first semifinal game, Korea beating Venezuela 10-2. Also I watched most of Japan beating the US 9-4. The commentators for MLB International, what I watched here in Canada, Gary Thorne and Rick Sutcliffe brought up the point about the Korean work ethic during their semifinal game. I believe I heard the same in regards to the Japanese squad too earlier on at some point.

They said how they Koreans were playing balls off the outfield walls, to see how the ball caroms. Also how they stress the importance of drills, such as practising the 6-4 and 4-6 toss to initiate a DP. They also on numerous occasions note how the Asians play very sound fundamental ball. I admit to not being a big fan of Asian baseball prior to this years WBC, as I am North American, grew up with MLB, and so on, with that said, my appreciation for Asian baseball has grown.

Prior to this, I have heard that the Japanese box score is much more detailed than ours, and also that they have two batting cages going simultaneously for batting practise. With all this in mind one can easily see how the level of baseball in Japan is very high, not to mention Asia in general.

On paper, Venezuela should have been the team to handle Korea, as Korea had just one MLB player on their roster. The same applies to the Japan USA game, although not quite as much, as we know Japan is a strong baseball nation. Japan only had 5 MLB players on their roster.

For those that play baseball, as I do, we can learn a lot from the Asian work ethic. I predict plenty more Asian MLB imports in the near future, including, but definitely not limited to Yu Darvish.

Of note in the final, as the above commentators said, you'd never see a MLB manager leaving a relief pitcher in after allowing the tying run, and then to start the next inning too. Therefore he was credited with the blown save, and a save!

That reminds me how the commentators also said how during any stoppage in play, tv commercials, etc, the Asian teams, I imagine Japan, and Korea at least, the players would get on the field (just off the bench, in foul territory) to warm up, or stay warm. Once that was disallowed, the players would use the dugout to toss the ball. Most players being against the dugout fencing, thus leaving a decent space to stay warm and toss the ball.

So this post ended up being a little longer than I expected, so I'll write a final WBC post that includes a couple pics.

Japan game 2 (Boston Red Sox at Oakland Athletics at Tokya, Japan)

Canadian Rich Harden (Victoria, B.C.) got it done to split the Japan series. Provided he stays healthy this year, looks like he should be a very welcome part of the starting rotation. He only allowed 4 hits over 6 IP, and his only run given up was a home run to Manny Ramirez. As Joe Blanton noted in his latest blog entry, Fun not lost in translation, they'll get you eventually. You referring to pitchers of course.

Emil Brown made up for his baserunning blunder by hitting a three run homer. In hockey terms he'd be credited with the game winning goal, but the game winning run went to Mark Ellis, as he was run number 2 to score for the A's, and that's all they needed.

Both teams return to play today, Friday the 28th, albeit as Spring Training games. Oakland, who 'hosted' the Red Sox in Japan, will play against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park (formerly SBC Park, formerly Pacific Bell Park) Friday and Sunday, and Saturday will be at McAfee Coliseum also against the Giants. The Red Sox will be playing vs the Dodgers, Friday at Dodger Stadium, Saturday at L.A. Memorial Coliseum, and back to Dodger Stadium Sunday to conclude spring training 2008. All away games for Boston. The L.A. Memorial Coliseum game is to mark 50 years since they began play there. They played there from 1958-1961.

From Wikipedia:

In the meantime, the Dodgers played their home games from 1958 to 1961 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a gargantuan football and track-and-field stadium that had been built to host the 1932 Summer Olympics. The Coliseum's dimensions were not optimal for baseball, and the only way to fit a diamond into the oval-shaped stadium was to lay the third-base line along the short axis of the oval, and the first-base line along the long axis. See picture. This resulted in a left-field fence that was only some 250 feet from home plate, and a 40-foot screen was erected to prevent home runs from becoming too easy to hit. Still, the 1958 season saw 182 home runs hit to left field in the Coliseum, while only 3 were hit to center field and 8 to right field. Dodgers outfielder Wally Moon, newly acquired for the 1959 season, became adept at launching lazy fly balls over the screen, which became known as "Moon shots."

Should be quite interesting, Now with added seats, to left field it will be 201 feet, and a 60 foot high screen! Just seeing the above photo reminded me of the fourth incarnation of Polo Grounds, thanks to the oddity of the dimensions. More than 115 000 are expected! Might just have to write a blog entry for that game!

Boston Red Sox at Oakland Athletics at Tokyo

Thought I'd make a post about the opening series taking place in Tokyo, Japan.

So, since the games are in Japan, at 7PM Japan Standard Time, they are take place at 6AM Eastern Daylight Time. I managed to hit snooze way time many times (what else is new), so I got up in time to catch the 9th, and 10th innings.

The hero of the game, Brandon Moss, was not supposed to play, as he replaced J.D. Drew who had lower back stiffness. He pulled a 2-2 pitch just a few feet over the right field wall, off of Oakland's closer Huston Street. He was credited with the blown save (1), and loss (1), as he also gave up a double off of Manny Ramirez that scored two. One being David Ortiz, who received his first intentional walk of what I am sure will be many in 2008.

Oakland probably could have tied the game again, but Emil Brown got a little greedy going for third, and was thrown out trying to stretch a RBI double into a triple with only 1 out. So instead it was 2 down, and no one on base. Despite that, they still almost rallied, as Bobby Crosby, and Jack Hannahan both singled, but the game was over after Kurt Suzuki grounded out to Kevin Youkilis, score it 3-1.

Game two is a mere few hours away. It'll be Jon Lester versus Rich Harden. Go here for complete coverage of "Opening Series Japan 2008".