OK, that’s an unfortunate exaggeration. But even with the USA comfortably ahead in Sunday night’s elimination clash with the Netherlands (Adam Dunn just a ball that might return to earth by Opening Day), Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan isn’t quite ready to let manager Davey Johnson off the hook. “Until the United States starts treating the games as something more than exhibitions, the American public will continue to ignore it, and rightfully so” insists Passan, and he’s 100% correct. We need Jimmy Rollins to let everyone know who-is-the-country-to-beat.
What™s inconceivable and inexplicable and downright insulting to anyone who wants the WBC to succeed was Team USA manager Davey Johnson™s explanation of why he continued to let his starting pitcher, Jake Peavy, rot away any chance for a win with pitch after ugly pitch that the Puerto Ricans sprayed to every corner of Dolphin Stadium.
œJust basically let him get a little more work, Johnson said.
Really.
OK, just to go over this one time: The WBC bills itself as a tournament to determine the world™s best team and spread the game™s allure (and, yeah, maybe fatten Major League Baseball™s wallet). It expects fans to take such notions seriously. They do, even though a double-pronged reticence within MLB “ players and management alike “ prevents many of the best players in the world from participating. Still, the games in the first round win support for their intensity and quality, especially this early in spring. And how does the manager for the most visible team, the one with the most major league stars, repay such commitment from those who bought tickets and watched on TV and sponsored the event figuring it more than a glorified spring training game?
He makes sure Jake Peavy hits a pitch count.
Fifty-two, by the way.