Let's Play Ball!

On Friday and Saturday, the World Baseball Classic kicked off for the first time in three years as countries dug up long lost rivalries and put them onto the baseball diamond. The 2009 WBC couldn't have asked for a better opening weekend for their tournament. I've heard multiple people say they are glad to finally see baseball on television, perhaps a sign that summer is soon around the corner. Baseball is only a couple days into its "season" the WBC has seen a major upset, deemed the biggest international upset ever, and a favorite cling on to a win in an back-and-forth game that pitted rival neighbor countries against one another.

In the game tabbed as the greatest international upset ever, David beating Goliath, Appalachian State beating Michigan..the Netherlands team, made up of mostly no-name players defeated the heavily favored Dominican Republic team 3-2. The Dominican Republic team was loaded full of MLB All-Stars, including Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, David Ortiz and many others. They came into the tournament the heavy favorites to win the WBC title and hit a major road bump in the Netherlands. The amazing part of the game was that the Netherlands only could muster up 3 hits, all in the infield. They only had four balls get out of the infield, all for outs. Everyone had already given a first-round pass to the Dominicans, with the first go around being double elimination. Now, the Dominicans have to avoid a loss in their next two games, in order to make it to Miami for the second round of the WBC.

The second game of the day featured two border countries with an unspoken hate for one another. In a thriller that went down to the final out, the United States defeated Canada 6-5 in a game that featured 5 home runs. The United States team, filled with MLB talent such as Derek Jeter, Dustin Pedroia, Jake Peavy and many more, came in with high expectations. But an equally talented Canadian team wasn't ready to back down to the Americans, especially with the game in Toronto. The game teetered back and forth, with Canada leading several times during the game, but leaving behind runner after runner with the chance to come back. The pitching staff for the U.S. bent but never broke to the Canadian lineup and improved to 1-0 in their Pool and need just one more win to move onto the second round of the WBC, where they met their match three years ago.

For those with a baseball void in their life, the WBC is a perfect escape until April 6th, when the MLB season kicks off. This tournament will be full of interest and intrigue, due to the match ups that are going to be created. Like the games today that pitted hated rivals against one another, it makes the intensity jump up a notch as the games get closer. The intensity of the game today between the U.S. and Canada had a World Series feel to it and already had me believing the baseball hype. Welcome back baseball!