Is it just me or is everyone watching the WBC?
- Thread starter PSUWrestlingFanSince2011
- Start date
I've enjoyed it, but I'm shocked at how tenuous the relationship needs be to a country in order to play it.
Watching baseball is like watching a sundial in action. The ultimate snore was listening to Rosy Roswell and Bob Prince read the game off a ticker tape for away games In the 1950s.. The club was too cheap to take them on the road. "Open the window aunt Minnie, it's a common thru" let you know the batter hit a homerun.
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Based on what I've seen from the spring training games, the new time rules are working and are making the players play the game at a faster pace.
Agreed. I have been to two Spring Training games this year, and the new pitch clock is a huge improvement. I would say it saves about 30-45 minutes of dead time per game.
I think Mike Piazza played for Italy during the first go round.
He's from PA and he isn't even fully Italian.
The rules for all international competitions (Olympics, World Cup, etc) have gotten lax in recent years in terms of country eligibility. If you have like one grandparent from a certain country you are probably eligible for that country.
Only know of the WBC from the sports shows I listen to. From what I gather USA didn't even have our best players playing due to MLB, while for other countries it's a matter of national pride and were as the kids say "try hards" from our perspective. Japan has won 3 out of 5 - great for them. In the states, pretty much just a collective "meh".
totally disagree. We had a power-packed lineup with guys like Trout and Trea Turner (who was a beast).
I think you can argue that we could have fielded a better team (especially pitchers) but you can only have so many players. Single elimination isn't the best for baseball since a lot of it is luck. Even the best teams only have a .650 winning average.
Back to the game, it is clear that Ohtani is the best player in baseball. he is approaching "Ruthian" standards. By that, I mean I don't know of a better baseball player, ever, that is going what he is doing. He is a top five pitcher and hitter. Japan had him DH so he didn't have to field and could warm up in the bullpen in preparation to close the game. I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT. I also read that the Japanese plotted a path from the dugout to the bullpen to see what was the fastest way to get him there in case he had an at bat. They were also prepared to do a double switch to make sure he had enough time to warm up.
And then the last at bat was Ohtani versus Mike Trout. Ten-time All-Star and Three Time AL MVP. Wow!
Amazing Stuff.
just to put a fine point on it. The USA team was:
- Mookie Betts
- Mike Trout
- Paul Goldschmidt
- Nolan Arenado
- Kyle Schwarber
- Trea Turner
- JT Realmuto
- Cedric Mullins
- Tim Anderson
- Bobby Witt
Like I said - I really dgaf about the WBC, or major league baseball for that matter, but the sports shows talk about it so I pick up what I hear and they've been putting out there that the best guys were held back by their MLB franchises and this was especially true with pitching.
Also after a bit of googling it looks like Fox carried the WBC but didn't even put the final on their main network, opting instead for their usual Monday night lineup. If the WBC was such a big deal and an all star lineup, why would they relegate the game(s) to FS1?
Grom Google
How many people watched the WBC championship game?
The record-setting viewership isn't limited to those at home. This year's pool play games drew 1,010,999 fans, up 98% from the previous record of 510,056 set in 2017.15 hours ago
Only the most severe diehards.
I disagree, again.
Baseball is a good drama. I think of watching something like Better Call Saul or Ozark. Football is a Marvel movie or Jack Reacher. There is a lot of action, explosions, and visual effects.
Baseball is so mathematical. Every at-bat is a one-on-one battle between pitcher and batter. If you understand the game, a first pitch stike increases your odds of getting the batter out by over 50%. But if you lay a big fat strike in there, the chances of it coming back at you at a high velocity are high. So pitchers keep track of a player's tendency to take a first strike or swing at it. Batters keep track of the pitcher's tendency to throw a first strike. And then the odds change if the batter if 0-1, 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 2-1 and so on. And then the starter gets tired and begins to lose control of the strike zone. Batters also like to go deep into the pitch count to wear a pitcher down but if the pitcher sees this he just begins to pour strikes over the plate. its just a great game of suspense.
Then, it is possible a batter crushes a ball but right at someone. Or, hits a nub off the end of the bat and gets in infield hit. Concentration and mistakes also come into play.
Its a really great game. I applaud the league's efforts to speed the game up (although 15 seconds may not be enough) and reward speed on the basepaths. Also, this year, teams will have to have two infielders on each side of second base.
I love baseball. nothing like waxing the car listening to Tom Hamilton do the Guardians game on the radio. You and I should meet and watch a game, @Marylovesthelions, I'd make you a fan of baseball in one day.
Baseball to me is the king of all games but I understand why some people don't like it. Different strokes. I don't like soccer, and twenty people telling me how great it is, isn't changing my mind so that's why there's chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.
By the way how does Shrewsberry not have an ice cream flavor? Or does he? Seems so obvious. Guess they'll wait to see if he stays.
By the way how does Shrewsberry not have an ice cream flavor? Or does he? Seems so obvious. Guess they'll wait to see if he stays.
So you don't have the viewership numbers for the championship game then?
And 1 million fans across ~50 games averages out to about 20k in the stands per game, or translated to the MLB average attendance figures for 2022 it would have ranked 21st out of 30 teams.
