My family has been a baseball family as long as I can remember. Last fall, when I heard about the World Baseball Classic tournament featuring teams from the top baseball-playing countries around the world, I was pretty excited.Since Hideo Nomo made a big splash with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995, my mother has been rooting for Japanese stars as Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui.
In December, I bought my mother two three-game ticket scripts for the second round series March 12-16 in Anaheim Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Six games would be played in round robin format with the two top teams from Pool A and Pool B. Pool A featured four Asian countries: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China. Pool B is mostly North American teams: USA, Canada, Mexico, and South Africa.
There were two different ticket script options of three games each, and based on news reports and blogger accounts, Japan was likely to win Pool A and USA was the heavy favorite to win Pool B.
So I bought the ticket scripts that featured three games with the Pool A Champion, expecting my mother would be able to see three games with the Japanese national team. I would go to the Sunday game, against the Pool B Champion, and two other friends of my mother's would go with her to the Monday and Wednesday night games (against the Pool B and Pool A runners-up).
And then it all fell apart.
In first-round play, Japan easily dominated the Taiwanese and Chinese teams, but in last Saturday's game against South Korea, the Korean team came from behind to win 3-2. The Japanese team finished with a 2-1 record, the South Koreans perfect at 3-0.
Thus my mother will be seeing three games next week with the South Korean team, although the Wednesday game will be against Japan.
Today, the US team, with such superstars as Roger Clemens, Derek Jeter, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Johnny Damon, fell to the Canadian team, 8-6. Even if USA manages to beat the anemic South African team tomorrow, with a Canadian win against Mexico, Canada will be the Pool B champion and USA will be the runner-up.
So instead of seeing USA and Japan play in next Sunday's night game, in all likelihood my mother and I will be treated to South Korea versus Canada.
To be fair to the Japanese team, when they took the field last Saturday against South Korea, they were already guaranteed a spot in the second round. The only thing they had to play for was national pride, since teams start with a 0-0 record in the second round.
The US team doesn't have an excuse. If they don't manage to beat South Africa on Friday, they are going home. It would be a disgrace greater than America's national baseball team failing to qualify for the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.
UPDATE: The US team won its game on Friday, taking out their frustration on South Africa with a 17-0 victory. They advance to the second round, despite an identical 2-1 record as the Canadian team, thanks to rules for teams tied in the standings which favor teams allowing fewer runs to their opponents.
Mexico won Pool B, by virtue of 9-1 victory over Canada on Thursday. It seems that the mathematical model "If A>B and if B>C, then A>C" does not apply to sports opponents, especially in baseball. Rather than Canada being the best team in the pool, the best explanation may be that Canada had a "Miracle on Ice" moment against the favored American team.
