Finally, after a three year hiatus, the Classic is back! I was excited when the inaugural Classic played out with Japan beating Cuba in a thrilling final to take the first Classic trophy. I was finally glad that baseball took the time to incorporate this tournament as a staple much like the soccer World Cup as been since the 1930’s. Although the baseball talent pool significantly thins out after the 16 team assemble here, there is hope that a tournament like this can bring out interest around the world for the game as they look to increase the number of participants for the next Classic. This year teams are the same that came together last time in ’06, the venues in which they are playing this time are slightly different. Let’s look at this year groups:
Pool A- (playing in Tokyo, Japan)
China
Japan
South Korea
Taipei
Pool B- (playing in Mexico City, Mexico)
Mexico
Cuba
South Africa
Australia
Pool C- (playing in Toronto, Canada)
Canada
Venezuela
USA
Italy
Pool D- (playing in San Juan, Puerto Rico)
Puerto Rico
Dominican Republic
Panama
Netherlands
The rest of the tournament will be played out in the cities of Miami, San Diego and the final in Los Angeles. If I have to decide which team is going to win it all this time, I have to be bias and choose Venezuela. The beauty of a tournament like this though, is that every single team (well, almost) has a chance to win this thing. It’s hard to predict. So let’s kick back and relax and watch as this tournament gets under way tonight from the Tokyodome. May the best team win!
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You know Jake Peavy is pitching against Canada. I'm from San Diego, so I gotta root for that!
ReplyDeleteI think both the US and Venezuela will go on to the next round on that pool. I just hope that the US dont throw Astros Roy Oswalt to pitch against my country when they meet. It would be torture for me! =)
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