And so the quest for supreme incontrovertible international and interplanetary baseball domination continues in the form of round 2 of the World Baseball Classic. Only 8 teams remain.
In POOL 1, as it’s referred to by experts like myself, being played in Tokyo, Japan– Japan, Chinese Tapei, Cuba, and the Netherlands will be competing in traditional Mongolian Wrestling Challenges and the Scandinavian Barrel Toss. Winner advances.
And in POOL 2, held in exotic Miami, Florida, Team USA, Italy, Puerto Rico, and the Domincan Republic will be put through various rites of passage ceremonies if they wish to be welcomed into adulthood including spending two weeks in solitude in the gator infested swamps of South Florida, and, in the Jewish version, nearly as deadly, they will each deliver the week’s Torah portion according to the Mayan calendar.
And then, AND ONLY THEN, they will play baseball.
If the 2nd round is at all like the 1st, we will see highlights only the Wild World of International Tournament Baseball can provide. And, finally, the scientific community, the elderly, all babies, most animals, and the conservative right will unify if for a brief moment in awe and support of this wondrous event.
So far, we have seen…
fights…
Walk-offs, upsets, and sac flies, all in one…
And lots of home-runs– even Grand Slams…
So join me on this wild-ride through the untamed final frontier of international baseball where Americans, Italians, Dominicans, Japanese, the Dutch, and squirrels everywhere battle for the right to call themselves… the Kings of International Baseball.
The 2013 WBC.
Boom!