The Globe & Mail’s Jeff Blair on the possibility of future editions of the World Baseball Classic taking a markedly different form than the inaugural version.
One idea that has picked up steam in the last week is the possibility that the next event – and there will be one – will be split up, with Rounds 1 and 2 starting a week later in spring training and the semi-final and final being played during the All-Star break in July.
Baseball is sensitive to over-shadowing what it refers to as its jewel events, of which the All-Star Game is most assuredly one. But think about the impact of having the top four teams from the WBC playing over a two or three-day span, perhaps even in the same city that hosts the All-Star Game.
Donald Fehr, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, seems favourably disposed to the idea and the matter might be dealt with more substantially in negotiations on a new collective agreement. The current agreement expires in December and Fehr said there have already been informal talks.
“I don’t think this is the type of thing where we’ll have a formal announcement of formal talks, like the United Auto Workers calling a news conference or something like that,” Fehr said Sunday, before the U.S. played Japan at Angels Stadium of Anaheim.
Fehr also acknowledged that the next step in the expansion of the game will be the playing of regular-season games in Europe.
“Right now, baseball is a sport of the Americas and the Pacific Rim,” Fehr said. “We’ve talked about trying to do something over there from time to time, as far back as the 1990s.”
Fehr said that travel issues will remain one of the stumbling blocks, particularly when it comes to staging international games. But he quickly said there was one much more over-riding point:
“You can’t sell your product unless you show it,” he said. “If we’re interested in getting into Europe, we’ll have to play in Europe. We’ll have to let Europeans see it for themselves.”
Indeed, wait ’til they get a load of David Weathers. It’ll be like love at first sight.
An Associated Press item from earlier today indicates the San Francisco Giants are still planning to commemorate Barry Bonds’ passing Babe Ruth on the All-Time Home Run list, if and when such an event occurs. They just haven’t determined how they’ll celebrate.
It seems to this observer that it would only be fitting to have someone on hand for the occasion who provided valuable inspiration to the Sultan Of Surly during the historic chase.
Anyone have Big Mac’s phone number?
Split it up between midseason and immediately postseason, or do the whole thing postseason. The only thing that made the first round games seem a little less “real” was some unavoidable spring sloppiness. This would also let them lose the pitch count restrictions in the first round.
“And hire some real umpires” probably goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway.
agreed on all counts, though some teams have been sloppier than others early on.
The pitch count restrictions , while not having turned the games into a farce the way I feared, are still an unwelcome variation on the rules. I’d have no problem with managers voluntarily abiding by a pitch count,
Daniel Cabrera looks ready to start the season right this minute.
I still maintain that if this tournament is meant to have any greater importance than the all-star game, all parties involved will have to get used to the idea that workload, injuries, etc. can impact the regular season. And much like soccer’s world cup. it would hopefully be understood that the international competition has it’s own sort of cachet (and can also be a useful showcase for those who are totally payday-centric)