World Baseball Classic. You had me at "Play ball."

I'm currently sitting on my couch watching Panama and Dominican Republic fight to stay alive in the World Baseball Classic. I listen to talk radio and know that nobody is really excited for this event, which is essentially a poor man's World Cup. I like watching it though. Winning this championship should be more important to teams than winning the Olympics as Major League Baseball actually supports the tournament so MLB players are on virtually every roster. The best players from each country participate (for the most part) so the event is competitive and it maintains the Olympic spirit as there is a great bit of nationalistic pride at stake. That and I have been missing baseball a lot.

Yesterday I was able to catch most of the contest between the Dominican Republic and Netherlands. The game was supposed to be a blowout as the Domican team sports a number of MLB household names such as Big Papi, Hanley Ramirez, Miguel Tejada, and Jose Reyes. Netherlands on the other hand was a collection of non-MLB players, career minor leaguers, and washed-up Major League vets. The best hitter on their roster is Randall Simon who famously played tee-ball with a woman's (ERRR, woman in a sausage costume's) head during a traditional Milwaukee Brewers' Sausage Race. The Netherlands scored 3 runs in the 1st inning en route to a 3-2 win over the Dominican, a win that was described as being one of the greatest upsets of all time. Hyperbole? Yes, but it was fun to watch them celebrate like it was the World Series. The best part was that the starting pitcher for the Netherlands was Major League washout Sidney Ponson. He pitched well and it was mentioned that he's using it as an audition of sorts for Major League teams. Ponson was one of the better pitchers in the league years ago but ate his way out of the league and has been dominating the dive bar circuit ever since.

The US polished off the Canadians yesterday and play Venezuela later today to advance to the second round (first round are double elimination pools). I will be watching and posting (I'm sure) as the tournament progresses.

-PSon