The Mets are off today as 15 of their regulars leave PSL to join their respective teams for the World Baseball Classic. Beginning on Thursday the classic will play its first round of games with a 4 pool double elimination format. The US is in Pool C alongside Canada, Italy, and Venezuela and is being hosted by Canada.
For Americans this entire ‘Classic’ is a joke. We’re just coming off another exciting NFL season, and for the first time in months are thinking about baseball again. With 7 months of baseball ahead of us to watch having a two and a half week tournament to watch while March madness is going on will prove to be barely a distraction.
The tournament is designed to make baseball more of a global sport, and to show the MLB in a more prominent light in South America, Asia, and Europe. Nothing more than a business marketing plan its hard to imagine the players could possibly care about the tournament.
The Caribbean World Series played earlier this year proves to be much more exciting, and more involving for the players. Additionally the eligibility for players is a joke, A-Rod who three years ago played for the US, and this year is playing for the Dominican Republic. Three years ago Mike Piazza played for Italy, having been born to American parents in Norristown Pa.
One can only believe the reason Johan Santana’s elbow is sore is due to the fact that he rushed back to quick from off season knee surgery in an attempt to play in the WBC. Let’s hope this doesn’t end up hurting the Mets this year, and that none of the 15 players making the trip get any lasting injuries either.
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