2023 World Baseball Classic

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

If I recall correctly, Spain had quite a few MLB prospects with wink-wink-nod connections to Spain. GB had a few as well I think. The Czechs, I believe, were a little unique in that the team was all homegrown players.

You think that's bad, take a look at this prospective roster of Italy. Not an official Italiano among them:

[Déjà Bru]

Here are the criteria:

A player is eligible to participate on a World Baseball Classic team if any one of the following criteria is met:

• The player is a citizen of the nation the team represents.
• The player is qualified for citizenship or to hold a passport under the laws of a nation represented by a team, but has not been granted citizenship or been issued a passport; in this case, the player may be made eligible by WBCI upon petition by the player or team.
• The player is a permanent legal resident of the nation or territory the team represents.
• The player was born in the nation or territory the team represents.
• The player has one parent who is, or if deceased was, a citizen of the nation the team represents.
• The player has one parent who was born in the nation or territory the team represents.

This leads to my first criticism of the WBC: At least a certain percentage of a team's players should be native-born. An "Italian" team of all Americans is a bit incongruous.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Apparently, this tournament has expanded from 16 to 20 teams, with all 16 participants in the 2017 WBC granted automatic berths. I wasn't aware of it happening in September and October but this is how the Czech Republic, Great Britain, and Nicaragua made it for the first time and Panama returned for the first time since 2009:

Pool A was the one played in Regensburg. I have never been to Regensburg, and I couldn't muster the motivation to go there then, either.

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

If I recall correctly, Spain had quite a few MLB prospects with wink-wink-nod connections to Spain. GB had a few as well I think. The Czechs, I believe, were a little unique in that the team was all homegrown players.

The Czechs have two players with actual Wikipedia articles (which is the definition of "you matter" that I choose here). And I don't know either of the two.

For comparison: Almost half of the Panamanians have one. Including good old - old - Ruben Tejada.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Pool A was the one played in Regensburg. I have never been to Regensburg, and I couldn't muster the motivation to go there then, either.



The Czechs have two players with actual Wikipedia articles (which is the definition of "you matter" that I choose here). And I don't know either of the two.

For comparison: Almost half of the Panamanians have one. Including good old - old - Ruben Tejada.

Hey, I thought you were slumbering through this thing. I got your attention with good young Pete, didn't I?

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

This leads to my first criticism of the WBC: At least a certain percentage of a team's players should be native-born. An "Italian" team of all Americans is a bit incongruous.

I hear you, but a low % requirement would just be a few token guys, and high % would lead to uncompetitive teams, which I'm sure they are trying to avoid... I mean, like we've discussed in the NFL thread about the NFL itself, it's all about the moolah... That, and part of the reason for wanting, for example, a competitive Italian team is to spark home-country interest in baseball for the long-term. I would assume, anyway.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Hey, I thought you were slumbering through this thing. I got your attention with good young Pete, didn't I?

Who doesn't want a piece of THAT?

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Who doesn't want a piece of THAT?

You know, one cannot unsee such a thing. The hair. The HAIR!

Originally Posted by thehef

I hear you, but a low % requirement would just be a few token guys, and high % would lead to uncompetitive teams, which I'm sure they are trying to avoid... I mean, like we've discussed in the NFL thread about the NFL itself, it's all about the moolah... That, and part of the reason for wanting, for example, a competitive Italian team is to spark home-country interest in baseball for the long-term. I would assume, anyway.

Thanks for that this perspective, particularly the last part. Makes it easier to accept and stop thinking of Team Italy as merely a bunch of pizza-loving Americans.

[monkeyman576]

I wish the tv broadcast wasn't on cable. Who still uses cable anyways?

[Déjà Bru]

I imagine MLB clubs are not happy about the disruption of spring training that this entails.

[Déjà Bru]

You thought I had forgotten about this thread, yes? Wrong! I rescued it just as it was on the edge of falling into the abyss!



The ostensible reason for doing so is this article (of which Eugene submitted another version) about the "scrappy Czech Republic team," apparently the darlings of the tournament, "full of guys with regular jobs, [who] just might win your heart."

Can a Czech Firefighter Compete With M.L.B.’s Biggest Stars?

Gift article; available 14 days; does not count toward your allotment of free articles.

No professionals here. This is one of their pitchers, a full-time firefighter who apparently sees no potential health and performance problems in vaping. He may be pitching against Shohei Ohtani on Saturday.



Here is why, perhaps, they are darlings:

If not the firefighter on that mound, then perhaps it will be the team’s public relations manager or a real estate agent or a schoolteacher. All of those jobs, and more, are represented on the Czech team, which, despite its mostly amateur status, qualified for the global baseball tournament for the first time and has established itself as Europe’s second-best national team. And the nation has done it organically, with players actually from the country, rather than mercenary pros brought in from abroad.

To get to the WBC, they "eliminated a Spanish team of mostly Caribbean players from the U.S. minor leagues. Six came from Venezuela, five from the Dominican Republic, four from Cuba and another was born in Buffalo. Only one was born in Spain."

I can see from that aspect why some people are blasé about the World Baseball Classic. But I will tune in to follow Czechoslovakia and perhaps a few other teams like them.

[BBGiovanni]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

You think that's bad, take a look at this prospective roster of Italy. Not an official Italiano among them:

How do you know? Anyone descended from an Italian citizen* is an Italian by operation of law jure sanguinis so long as their ancestor didn't renounce their Italian citizenship first. My dad and all but one of his siblings were all born before my grandfather became a US citizen, so I and most of my cousins and all their offspring are Italian citizens (although only I and one other cousin have done the paperwork to be registered in Italia and get passports).

The bigger problem with that roster is who is on it. Or, not on it given the breadth of the qualifications. I guess Nimmo doesn't want to risk his very expensive neck any more? And this is my every 4 year reminder to curse Chris Denorfia for being literally unable to throw the ball to second base and costing Team Italia multiple games all by himself in 2013.

*It's Italian law, there are about a trillion "special cases" including the people that have to sue the government under EU law to get their status recognized

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by BBGiovanni

How do you know? Anyone descended from an Italian citizen* is an Italian by operation of law jure sanguinis so long as their ancestor didn't renounce their Italian citizenship first. My dad and all but one of his siblings were all born before my grandfather became a US citizen, so I and most of my cousins and all their offspring are Italian citizens (although only I and one other cousin have done the paperwork to be registered in Italia and get passports).

The rule of thumb for me would be birthplace. That way, we don't have one country taking advantage of such flexible citizenship status laws. Most teams, even worse, are just taking ancestry or even cultural affiliation as permissable standards. One person from Spain, the rest from the Caribbean comprising a "Spanish" national team. Really?

[BBGiovanni]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

The rule of thumb for me would be birthplace. That way, we don't have one country taking advantage of such flexible citizenship status laws. Most teams, even worse, are just taking ancestry or even cultural affiliation as permissable standards. One person from Spain, the rest from the Caribbean comprising a "Spanish" national team. Really?

There's pretty much nowhere to go with this line other than who is or isn't a "real American" or "real Italian", and I won't. But you do you.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by BBGiovanni

There's pretty much nowhere to go with this line other than who is or isn't a "real American" or "real Italian", and I won't. But you do you.

I am doing me and as I said (but I will now add "IMO"), the best rule of thumb is birthplace, regardless of whether people think of themselves as American or Italian first, or reverse, or both.

Seven generations ago, my ancestor Johann Georg stepped on the shores of America, having arrived here from his birthplace in Saxony. Does that mean I would be entitled to play for Germany? (If I had the talent, that is.) Or is it more important and significant that I was born in the United States and I otherwise and overwhelmingly consider myself American?

You're right, this line can't go any further but when I look at Italy's roster above, it looks like a bunch of carpetbagging, opportunistic Americans.

[nutt]

Less than 40 minutes before the first game!!!

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by nutt

Less than 40 minutes before the first game!!!

Woof, though. Until March 11 is there not a game being televised at other than 10PM-11PM / 5AM-6AM EST.

[andyhdz]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Woof, though. Until March 11 is there not a game being televised at other than 10PM-11PM / 5AM-6AM EST.

8pm on the west coast. Perfect

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Woof, though. Until March 11 is there not a game being televised at other than 10PM-11PM / 5AM-6AM EST.

Beats not having a game being televised at all though - which is me. They're not on MLB.tv, perhaps for obvious reasons, so I'm out.

[monkeyman576]

Point Spread over or under 10 runs for Cuba/Netherlands?

[monkeyman576]

What the line is only 1.5? Is that a joke?