Welcome back everyone. I was going to have a long excuse written up explaining why I haven’t been writing at all over the last five weeks. But I decided against it. Let’s just call it my winter hibernation. But it’s over now. So welcome back.

Since we last met, a lot of stuff has happened that’s worthy of writing about. Don’t believe me (or just not caught up)? Here’s a quick rundown of all the memorable events since February 3, 2009:

Pay close attention to number nine. Also, pay no attention to the many, many things that I forgot to mention in that list. This is the second go-around for the World Baseball Classic (or as the cool kids are calling it, the WBC). The first time around, the Japanese had their way with the rest of the world and stood atop the baseball world (Japanese citizens, with their renewed sense of accomplishment, have since shamed themselves greatly. Especially this guy).

            Perhaps more importantly, the US team finished a dismal eighth. Japan, Cuba, South Korea, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Venezuela all finished ahead of the US. American’s everywhere should be ashamed of that performance. To get beat at the game this country invented, and by teams like Venezuela (has Venezuela done anything better than American before?) was a huge eye opener. You might expect Japan, the DR, and Puerto Rico to do well and maybe even beat the US, but coming in eighth was appalling.

            I’m sure you’ve heard the story since then. The American’s didn’t take it seriously in ’06, but now they’re back to win it. They treated it more as a beauty pageant three years ago, with everyone lobbying for playing time to show off, but now the US is ready to play like a team.

            No one knows at this point if they really are better than they were in 2006. The US team has already locked up a spot in the next stage of pool play, but they did the same thing the last time around. They have just as much talent this year, if not more, but talent was never their problem. The real problem facing the US team was their lack of intensity.

            The American team consists entirely of players from major league teams, many of which have been All-Stars, World Series champions, or a marquee free agent at one point during their career. The DR is widely considered the next most talented team in the tournament, with big names like David Ortiz, Jose Reyes, and the immortal Pedro Martinez.

            But then you have teams that have nearly no major leaguers; teams like the Netherlands, or Korea, or Cuba. And yet these teams that consist of nobodies, are able to come into world’s most talented baseball tournament and take over like Barack Obama took over every black person’s dreams the night before his inauguration. So how is this possible? The answer is intensity.

            Everyone who plays in this tournament knows that each game is really a glorified exhibition game, and that nothing is really at stake. But the same can be said about any baseball or international tournament. Sure, the Olympics give you medals, and there’s a big trophy with your name on it if you win the World Series, but the real reward for winning each of these is the intrinsic value behind the trophy. An Olympic gold medal is renowned worldwide and winning one symbolizes that you’re the best at what you do. The same goes for the World Series trophy. The team that wins it isn’t really the best team in the world, just the best of the 30 teams that participate.

            Players who participate in the WBC but are playing for big money contracts in the major leagues have to consider the risks that they take by playing in the WBC. Many times, players will opt out of the WBC because it puts their livelihood during the regular season at risk. When there’s millions of dollars on the line, it’s an easy to see why players might choose not to participate, or to just go through the motions during the tournament. You still show up, but maybe you don’t give it your all because, really, it is just an exhibition tournament. Makes sense, right?

            Now consider this: What if you’re not a major leaguer, and you don’t have a fat paycheck riding on your performance with another team in August and September. And what if this was the last serious baseball you’d see until next winter; instead of the first live action you’ve seen since last fall. And to top it off, what if you came from a country that didn’t have a rich baseball heritage. A country like, say… the Netherlands?

            It’s starting to make more and more sense why we see the assumed Goliaths  (the DR) of the tournament get knocked off by the so-called Davids (the Dutch) of the tournament. To the guys from lesser baseball countries, with no major league contract in sight, this tournament is all they have to play for. To them, this WBC is their once chance to showcase their stuff in front of millions of people and, though I’m sure they’d like to catch a scout’s eye here or there, it’s more a chance for them to bring some pride to their country. Since baseball was removed from the summer games, this is their Olympics.

            Gene Hackman has a line in The Replacements where he says to all the replacement players, “There is no tomorrow for you. That makes you very all very dangerous people.” Players from teams like Italy, the Netherlands, and Korea are all very dangerous people because there is no tomorrow for them. Once the WBC is over, it’s over for them. Sure they have there are leagues in other countries that play ball during the summer, but it doesn’t compare to MLB action or anything they’ve seen in this tournament. But for teams stacked with major leaguers, they still have plenty to look forward to, and worry about. They still have the chance to win a World Series title, or an All-Star spot, or a ridiculous long-term contract in which they’re sure to underperform in the later years of that contract. Why should any big leaguer bust their balls just to be able to say that he won a tournament that has a history dating back three whole years?

            It’s a bit surprising to see that the US not only wants to participate in the WBC, but also was one of the biggest players in getting the tournament off the ground. For them, there’s really no upside to the tournament. Sure, it helps to promote the game of baseball and that’s good for everyone, but it’s really a no-win situation for the US team. The US, which is expected to come out on top every time, can only meet but never exceed their expectations. If they win it all, ho hum it’s what was expected of them. If they lose, it’s a huge disappointment and the US looks bad, yet again, on an international stage.

It’d be like if LeBron James agreed to play in a 1-1 tournament with 20 random ballers from Rucker Park, and they’d call it the Rucker Park Classic. Even though it’s unlikely for him to lose, he’s allowing himself the opportunity to embarrass himself by losing to some scrub off the streets, and the guys from Rucker Park have nothing to lose because no one expects him to win. That’s what the WBC was for the US team back in 2006.

            So in 2006, the unthinkable happen. The US was embarrassed, on their own turf no less. 2009 is about redemption. Already we’ve seen a team that had 100-1 odds on winning the tournament beat and eliminate the team that had some of the best odds of winning the tournament. The US knows they’ll need to play real baseball to beat the other teams out there. They know they can’t lolligag around the outfield like it’s a spring training game in Ft. Lauderdale. The rest world has come to play, and every team wants to be able to come home and say they took down the world’s best.

            The WBC has a lot of things going against it. Major leaguers don’t really want to participate. The logistics are difficult and always seem to favor the US, which can upset other countries. There are the silly pitch count and mercy rule limitations. There are a lot of reasons not to like the tournament. But a funny thing happens when you finally start watching the games. You see guys out there busting their humps to make plays. Someone legs out an infield single. Someone else goes all out in center for a fly ball in the gap. A guy goes in hard and second to take out a runner. And then you realize. To at least some of these guys, this is real baseball. People really want to win this thing, even if it’s not the American’s who are the ones trying the hardest out there. Either way, here’s one guy who’s pulling for a kid named Juan Carlos Sulbaran to help pull of the best Cinderella story since George Mason.

            It’s good to be back.

            -Subway Scriptures