Skip to main content

WBC Gets Rolling, Familiar Names Set to Compete

The tournament held every four years to crown the world champions of baseball is back. In the World Baseball Classic, a combined 16 national teams play in four separate pools to earn bids in future rounds, all with hopes of vying against the most elite teams in order to earn the top title in the sport. Team Japan has won the first two titles, with the inaugural WBC being held back in 2006.

By local time standards, the worldwide tournament kicked off on Saturday, with Australia taking on Chinese Taipei in Taichung, Taiwan in Pool B action. Other teams in Pool B include Korea and the Netherlands.  Games will continue through March 19th, when the finals are slated to be held in San Francisco, CA.

Pool A also begins on Saturday and features China, Brazil, Cuba and Japan. Those games are set to be played in Fukuoka, Japan.

Pool C, set to be played in San Juan, Puerto Rico beginning on Thursday, features, Spain, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and, of course, Puerto Rico.

Pool D, which will be played in Arizona beginning Thursday, will have the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Italy competing against one another.

Semifinal rounds are scheduled for Tokyo, Japan, with two teams each that advance from Pools A and B, and Miami, FL, with two teams each that advance from Pools C and D.

Team USA will include Phils shortstop Jimmy Rollins on the playing roster. Among the club's coaches are former Phillies All-Star and manager Larry Bowa and former Phillie Dale Murphy, who will coach first base for the Americans.  Former Phils outfielder Shane Victorino will also be on the U.S. roster.

Team Canada will feature plenty of Phillies, including outfielder Tyson Gillies, infielder Pete Orr, right-handed relief pitcher Phillippe Aumont and lefty hurler Jay Johnson. Additionally, catcher John Suomi, who has played with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs in each of the past three seasons, was added to the Canadian roster this week as a replacement.  Former Phillies pitcher Scott Mathieson is also with Team Canada.

The Australian team includes Phillies minor leaguer Tim Kennelly, who switched from utility man to pitcher last season, as well as former Phils infielder Brad Harman and outfielder Chris Snelling, who was once a member of the Phils as well.

Right-handed pitcher Rodrigo Lopez and catcher Sebastian Valle will be the Phillies that represent Mexico. And to wrap up the Phils playing in the WBC, veteran lefty hurler Cesar Jimenez will represent Venezuela, while 18-year-old infielder Lucas Rojo will play for Brazil.

Team Puerto Rico will feature former Phils pitchers J.C. Romero and Nelson Figueroa.  Italy will include pitcher Jason Grilli, infielder Nick Punto and utility man Mike Costanzo, who all spent time in the Phils organization.

Phillies first base coach Juan Samuel, a three-time big league All-Star, is slated to join the Dominican team as a coach, while Phils minor league catching coordinator Ernie Whitt, who is a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, will manage Team Canada. Whitt had a 15-year big league career, playing with Baltimore, Boston, Toronto and Atlanta.

You can catch broadcasts of this year's Classic on MLB Network as well as on ESPN Deportes.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...

5th spot, Wall, Old timers, Links

The race for the Phillies' fifth starter spot is still on. While it's not fully fair to compare Grapefruit League stats, when some of the pitchers have had "B game" and scrimmage outings mixed in, Kyle Kendrick and Carlos Carrasco look to be falling behind Chan Ho Park and "Jay" Happ. Happ added to his solid Grapefruit League stats (2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP in 4 games) today against the Rays. Pitching coach Rich Dubee had been displeased with Kendrick even before he surrendered 8 earned runs in 3 innings of work yesterday against the Braves. Park has been working on improving his change up, with (Coach) Jamie Moyer. Park noticed Moyer's location control on his change, so he sought out Moyer to teach him the grip and positioning of the ball. Moyer, of course, feels good about helping anyone on the Phils' staff. Park has been coached by greats like Nolan Ryan with the Rangers and Sandy Koufax with the Dodgers, so Moyer is in great company. Park is working h...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...