Do the right thing
This photo has now been emailed to me by 3 different people. I have no idea the origins (so if it's yours, let me know!). All I know is it was taken this Halloween. Lenny as Indiana Jones and Bronson as Kid Rock. You're welcome.
I grudgingly admit that I enjoyed the WBC first time around. I went in kicking and screaming. Didn’t see the point of it, didn’t want to have it, blamed Bud Selig for another money-making venture that didn’t take the fans or players truly into consideration…I hated the entire idea of it all.
Then it started and I got quite into it. No surprise really, I love baseball…this is baseball and you get to see players you don’t normally watch. Fun for all.
Until my favorite player spent the better parts of the regular season either on the disabled list or just fighting through his dead arm – and my opinion of the tournament began to sour again. (Granted, he busted his ass in 2005, pitching more than he ever had in his career, and I’m sure that also had a lot to do with it.)
This year we’re already being told Daisuke Matsuzaka and Dustin Pedroia are both going to play in the WBC. – Matsuzaka for Japan and Pedroia for the USA – and I choose to agree with our manager when he says, in regard to players in WBC, he’s all right with position players playing but not pitchers:
“But just you look at it, regardless of whose team, these guys are not ready to compete. That’s why when they get to that third inning or whatever, the first count of the day, we take them out of the game. If they want to throw more we take them down to the bullpen where it’s a controlled environment. Now all of a sudden they have two on base and two out and it makes you nervous.”
Tito is nervous at the idea of his pitchers participating in the WBC. And now we all get to be “nervous” about Daisuke (as if we aren’t usually nervous about him already).
But fear not fans! There is one pitcher we don’t have to worry about: Joshua Patrick Beckett. According to MLB.com:
The Boston Globe has confirmed that Beckett will pass on the international tournament in order to fully heal from an oblique injury suffered toward the end of the 2008 season and ensure that he’s ready for Opening Day.
The Red Sox would have advised Beckett to skip the tournament, since compared to pitchers, they feel that position players can better deal with the rigors of playing in a tournament before the season begins, as evidenced by Mike Timlin’s difficulties in 2006.
Poor Mike Timlin. He will always be held up as the reason why no pitcher should play in the WBC. Such a legacy.
Anyway, both Beckett and Mike Lowell have decided that it’s better to rest up than it is to play in the WBC. I’d love for Matsuzaka and Pedroia to make the same decision, but who am I to judge?
In NON WBC-related news, Old friend Lenny Dinardo has signed a minor-league deal with the Kansas City Royals. Well, KC is closer to Cincinnati than Oakland is. Still no word on where Kyle Snyder will be landing in 2009. I still have hopes for a Lenny/Kyle/Bronson bullpen at some point in my lifetime!
A storm is coming, it’s 36 degrees out (feels like 29 according to weather.com) and I have baseball on the brain. February, truly, can’t get here soon enough.
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Red Sox Chick/Toeing the Rubber 
Hey! I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and decided to stop creeping and start participating! Onto participation:
I am going to admit I did heave an enormous sigh of relief when I saw the Beckett would be opting out. Probably on the same page as most people! I was excited for Pedroia when he got asked (he seems to be piling up a lot of “honors”, yes?) and then realized I was also pouting for completely selfish reasons (what about the season?!!?). Bright side?? At least I can multi-task….
P.S. You could come be a Sox fan over here… the weather is standing at 52° with a high of 60°! Comes with a price though: far away from Fenway = pain.
Ah, the WBC… I dislike it immensely. The issue about the ill effects on players is not conjecture; it’s reality. Sure, Man Mountain Mike was a principal example of that. But then again, so was Jason Varitek, or so it was suggested.
The notion of MLB going global, is intensifying, especially as we are in the midst of the technology that can stream live broadcasts no matter where they emanate from. Audiences in those countries where the players come from, be it Asia, North, Central and South America, or where ever, happy to see their stars compete for their respective countries.
Geez, that whole idea of wishing to see your country compete for glory was once called the Olympic Games. But seeing that it was only every four years, and then dropped entirely, how fortuitous for AirBud and his agenda.
The problem with globalization of baseball is that it requires teams to play against one another, especially if they’re in the same league. Going global means expansion of the league, the season, as well as myriad hassles associated with playoffs, All Star Games and the whole bloody affair, right down to officiating crews and AirBud’s bosses, the MLBPA.
Okay, 86 the WBC and let’s get back to baseball… real baseball!
That pic of Bronson as Kid Rock is great! I had to look twice. I’m a huge Kid fan…! Guilty pleasure, sorry… 😉
Anyhow — I too am not a huge WBC enthusiast. I’m so very ready for baseball, our baseball to start. I’m with Tru on it all, whole heartedly. He/she (sorry Tru, don’t know who you are!) said it far better than I ever could.
Rebecca, I’m a guy…
And, the IOC voted during the games in China to drop baseball and softball from 2012 Olympics. There has ben a long standing disagreement between the IOC and MLB. MLB did not wish for their players to participate, while the IOC also took MLB to task for their lax drug policies.
The interesting thing here, though, is while baseball has been dropped from the 2012 games, no other sport received enough votes to become a replacement. And, to muddy the water further, the IOC is supposed to vote again on the issue of baseball, but with the emergence of the WBC, baseball in the Olympics is viewed as damned near dead.
IMHO, MLB has served up a huge plate of self interest, and the WBC’s revenues are the main course.
Im sorry. I am not for WBC. period.
LOVE the pic!!! Lenny is really adorable in that fedora. And Bronson … well Im just speechless
Cyn, the picture is fantastic! As for the WBC, I like the concept but hate the fact our guys are participating, especially Daisuke. Pedie could probably play 365 days a year and be fine.
I don’t even want to know where that picture came from. You have no shame!
DB
I had to do a double take on Bronson as Kid Rock. Well all right I admit I did about a twenty take. That’s a great picture.
I have not been a fan of the WBC. I knew that Daisuke would more than likely participate and I wasn’t looking forward to it. So can we convince C.C. and A.J. to participate?
“Going global means expansion of the league, the season, as well as myriad hassles associated with playoffs, All Star Games and the whole bloody affair, right down to officiating crews and AirBud’s bosses, the MLBPA.”
Ayuh. But you also can’t put the toothpaste back once it’s out of the tube. Major leagiue baseball is looking to expand it’s base globally, and that is not going to change anytime soon, despite the protestations of injuries and what not. Baseball players are going to be asked more and more to participate in venues which will increase the likelihood of raising the profile of the game overseas.
The question right now is, is the WBC the best venue for that?
Lisa, what up? Long time no yip yap…
Answer to your question is simple; the WBC is the only venue. Baseball took other options away by, IMHO, purposely avoiding the Olympics.