Comments on: Mets Matters: Marcum, Feliciano, Hawkins Will Work In “B” Game; More WBC Nonsense

By: van

van — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:02:51 +0000

or the new NHL olympics idea. every 4 years, shorten the season by 10 games, cancel the ASG, and spend the 1st 2 weeks of July having the WBC while MLB goes on a break.

Only way I can see to have the players actually in playing shape

side benefit, you can play games in the US in all those empty stadiums!

and yes, I know that it won’t happen (due to $$ issues), but logistically, it makes the most sense.

By: Alex68

Alex68 — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:15:38 +0000

Lmao, it is fine… BTW, hamels was shelled by the dominican team… 8 runs allow. good thing it was not a regular game!

By: srt

srt — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:05:17 +0000

So I see….
I haven’t seen a schedule and I guess I just assumed since Wright is already there, and you gave the lineup today, it was the first of the real games. My bad…..lol.

By: Alex68

Alex68 — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:03:50 +0000

Lol, they play friday SRT. that’s when the USA group stars.. i think 3:00 pm is the game…

By: srt

srt — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:02:22 +0000

Ah….never mind. I see this is an exhibition game today.

By: srt

srt — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:59:09 +0000

Here it is – must have seen it today:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/03/05/r-a-dickey-to-start-wbc-opener-for-torre-team-usa/

By: srt

srt — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:55:21 +0000

Interesting as I saw a mention yesterday that Torre had selected RA Dickey as his starting pitcher in the WBC. Wonder what changed?

By: MetMongrel

MetMongrel — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:52:53 +0000

If I were Ricky Bones, why wouldn’t I want to have some fun and potentially win some games with the Puerto Rico sqaud. There’s no fun to be had in Mets-ville this year.

By: Heybatter

Heybatter — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:02:30 +0000

If you go by how much money they are making, other than pitchers, the USA team couldn’t get much better!

By: TRS86

TRS86 — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:32:42 +0000

I agree, you only have a few options. Pull the old Olympics idea and play it with amateurs or play it immediately following the season and make it mandatory unless you can provide a medical doc to say you are unfit.

By: Alex68

Alex68 — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:29:56 +0000

For those intersting:

Today’s USA lineup vs CWS, 3ET:
Rollins SS
Phillips 2B
Braun DH
Mauer C
Stanton RF
Tex 1B
Wright 3B
Jones CF
Victorino LF

Holland is the Starting Pitcher

By: Met Maniac

Met Maniac — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:27:41 +0000

Here’s a better question. Is the bullpen important? Because I read that under Alderson it’s seen the worst two year stretch of ERA/WHIP in team history. Why don’t they give all the relievers a break too while Bones is gone. SMH

By: Alex68

Alex68 — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:26:47 +0000

You can say the same thing about the dominican team no??? I agree with you to a certain point. i think the timing is bad for players, i think it should be done right after the WS or during the WS, that way all players are still fresh from baseball related activities, most of the players are out of shape when it begins. Japan has won it twice because by the time they play the WBC, they’re in baseball shape already

By: ray sadecki

ray sadecki — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:25:28 +0000

John, Is bullpen coach really that important a position? I think there are too many coaches anyway. I like the WBC myself and its a small sacrifice IMO. It sounds like your health is much improved, Delcos and thats good to know. Your contributions here are more than welcome, friend.

By: Javi

Javi — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:18:52 +0000

All this opposition to the WBC is the reason why Team USA hasn’t come close to winning it the last two tournaments. Players should be jumping at the opportunity to represent their country in a competition like this and not giving these lame excuses about why they’re not showing up. the big story for Team USA this year is about all the star players who AREN’T playing rather than the people who are playing for their country. There was an article on ESPN from Jim Bowden that I totally agree with. He argues that just like it’s mandatory for a healthy player to go to the All Star Game, it should mandatory for players to go play for their country in the WBC. If the USA sent all their best players, we would probably win the tournament. Baseball is supposed to me America’s pastime and yet these other countries are embarrassing us on the global stage because they all care and are passionate about representing their countries!
These international games are played at a higher level than spring training exhibitions so they’re a better way of seeing what a player can do than meaningless Grapefruit and Cactus league games.

By: Donal

Donal — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:40:47 +0000

“I realize this is about marketing the sport globally, but I am waiting for a team with enough guts to call out Major League Baseball and say: “Enough, our priority is getting ourselves ready to play and not to sell T-Shirts abroad.’’”

Teams have been doing that. The deal was carefully negotiated to give teams control over their personnel.

By: Midas Touch

Midas Touch — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:30:18 +0000

I can see a character with the name Bones in a post Apocalyptic thriller. “Hey Bones, leave the gun, grab the can of gasoline.”

By: VitaminCM

VitaminCM — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:19:51 +0000

On an unrelated side note: Ricky Bones replaces Razor Shines for the title of “Best Coach Name EVER”.