PhoulBallz.com

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. ...

Hey, you remember Eric Junge, don't you? He was the guy who the Phillies acquired after the 2001 season from the Dodgers for Omar Daal. Well, Junge, a Bucknell graduate, hasn't pitched in the Major Leagues since he was with the Phillies in 2003, but he's still a professional pitcher. As a member of the Phillies, Junge made his Major League debut on September 11th, 2002. Three days later he earned his first big league win in a game against the Pirates in Philadelphia. Less than a week later, also at home, Junge got his only other decision in the Majors, a win against the Braves, in a game that Tom Glavine lost. Junge appeared in 6 games for the Phillies in 2003, all in relief. In 10 games in the minors in 2003, Junge posted a 3.06 ERA. In 2004, at three different levels in the minors for the Phillies, Junge posted a 0-6 record over 16 games (12 starts) with an 8.59 ERA. After dealing with injuries and struggling on the mound that season, Junge was granted free agency. Junge ...

The Chinese Taipei team is out of the World Baseball Classic. Chinese Taipei was voted out of the WBC this week by confused phans who didn't grasp why Taiwan, just couldn't go by the name Taiwan in the world of sports. To avoid confusion and fan unrest, WBC officials and Phillies blog magnates have found a new team to play in The Classic. Lost Island will field a team for the first time in organized sports. Lost's head coach Jacob will rely on slick fielding Korean import Jin-Soo Kwon, veteran pitcher John Locke, slugging thirdbaseman James "Sawyer" Ford and slugging outfielder Sayid Jarrah to compete with the likes of China, Korea and Japan in the Group A bracket. Lost Island's Department of Heuristics And Research on Material Applications is said to have played a major role it getting this team its place in the WBC line up. Lost Island will make history in multiple ways, other than being the first replacement team. Speedy infielder Kate Austen is slated to ...