T1B

USA in the finals tomorrow by virtue of a 14-2 blowout vs Cuba last night. Previous game vs Venezuela was a lot closer, with the US winning on the back of an eighth inning grand slam by Trea Turner. Turner had two more HRs against Cuba.

Really looking forward to tonight’s other semifinal game with Mexico vs Japan. Starting for Japan will be 21 year old Rōki Sasaki, considered by many to be the up and coming best pitcher in all of baseball, if he’s not already there. He already has a perfect game in Japanese pro baseball and another with 19 strikeouts, including 13 in a row. In the game following his perfect game he pitched eight perfect innings before being removed. That gave him 52 consecutive outs . He broke Ohtani’s Japanese HS record by throwing 101 mph…in HS. Current fastball is supposed to be 102.5 mph.

Anyway, should be interesting for anyone who follows baseball.


https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/ ... ki-mlb-ace

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rōki_Sasaki

The games have been great across the board. The loose standards for qualifying for a national team are amusing. What do you suppose the criteria was for being on Israel's team--having seen four Woody Allen flicks?

But the downside is the two huge injuries looming over the event--Met's closer Diaz--just signed for $100 million--blows out his knee while celebrating in a standard hugfest celebration on the mound. And Mighty Mouse Altuve breaks a thumb --surgery, two months IR--in a questionable hit-by-pitch. And the payback came in the 8th when the V's pitcher drilled the U.S. player in the back--to load the bases for Turner's slam. Classic.

U.S. v Japan will be great. Especially if ShoTime starts.

The injuries suck, obviously. But like Smoltz was saying, injuries happen. Those guys could just as well have been injured playing in spring training games. The celebration thing was dumb, but that happens a lot as well. You can only protect these guys so much, they need the work. Neither of those guys would probably tell you that they regret participating.

Austin Barnes playing for Mexico.

First batter SO on a 102 mph fastball after a few 92 mph splitters. OK.

Injuring yourself while celebrating is a stupid way to get hurt.

Sincerely,
Goose Gosage

Wow! That was one for the ages. And with Yu Darvish starting the final, the U.S. is in for a gut check. :grin:

Diego in Seattle wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:19 pm Injuring yourself while celebrating is a stupid way to get hurt.

Sincerely,
Goose Gosage

Cody Bellinger has entered the chat.

Oh, Cody's celebratory (effectively career ending) forearm bash sorta set the bar for such Plaxico Burress antics...er..

But what a great game we just enjoyed. Mexico's entire lineup was MLBers. And Japan, wow, what clutch execution and straight up heroics.

Best game I’ve seen in a long time. Great pitching and clutch hitting by both sides. Japan comes from behind twice in the last three innings.

I like listening to John Smoltz. Incredibly knowledgeable, analytical, makes a lot of great observations, and explains them very well.

The Padres had something like 10 players in the tournament, none playing for team USA. One still left, starting pitcher tomorrow for Japan.

Really looking forward to the game tonight. Bummed that Darvish isn’t starting but I don’t care all that much who wins. If it’s anywhere near as good as last night it will be a great game for watch. Hope to see Trout bat against Ohtani.

Great game. Good pitching beats good hitting. And good for Japan and baseball in general. :)

Surely more great Japanese players will come to MLB, and as much as the loss of the enjoyment of their performances might be regretted by the loyal Japanese fan base, I think it's overall a good thing for Japanese baseball. That is, there's only twelve teams in the Japanese league, and in a nation of 120 million, this means a huge backlog of excellent players--who now will get more opportunities to play on the big stage. And the Japanese stars in the MLB will continue to bring honor and proper attention to the homeland's true sport--despite soccer coming on strong.

And Trout, alas, he never had a chance--after ShoTime studying him up close for a few years now.. :wink:

Mikey wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 7:00 am Best game I’ve seen in a long time. Great pitching and clutch hitting by both sides. Japan comes from behind twice in the last three innings.

I like listening to John Smoltz. Incredibly knowledgeable, analytical, makes a lot of great observations, and explains them very well.

The Padres had something like 10 players in the tournament, none playing for team USA. One still left, starting pitcher tomorrow for Japan.

Smoltz did a great job helping me fall asleep fast last night.

What a great ending to the game!

Booger wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 1:28 pm What a great ending to the game!

Well sure, except that of course we dearly wished that Trout had clobbered a game tying homer...right?