Congratulations Daisuke!

I'll confess that I lost interest after the first round of the WBC. But Japan won it all last night in an apparent nail-biter. Daisuke Matsuzaka was, once again, named the MVP. It's not the most interesting award he's ever received but if he can follow it up with an MLB MVP or even a Cy Young, that would be great.

Everybody Loves Dustin.

Dustin Pedroia got a little write-up in the newest Sports Illustrated for his antics at the WBC. Nothing new but he does seem to have made some new friends.

Jeter:

"It just got a little quieter around here. No, make that a lot quieter. I never really knew him before, just from the All-Star Game a little bit. He's a great guy who keeps everybody loose."

Mark DeRosa:

"He's going to be missed, not just on the field but especially in the clubhouse. He's the one who gets everybody fired up. He picks you up. I know there are days over a season where you're dragging and don't have the energy. He's the kind of guy who shows up every day with a smile and gets on guys. He keeps your energy level up every day. It's great to have a guy like that around."

David Wright:

"He's a great guy who can take it as well as he dishes it out, but he makes sure he dishes it out more. His mouth is always moving. He's like a little dog, nipping at your ankles all the time."

Of course, all of these new friends of his might make it harder for me to enact my plan of making off with him and sitting him on my living room couch so that he could entertain me--like a parrot. But whatever.

The Shoe Didn't Fit.

Team Netherlands unlikely story came to an end last night when they lost 9-3 to Team USA. But it's only the beginning for Red Sox baby pitcher Dennis Neuman.

Said Neuman about the experience:

“It’s pretty good. I feel like I’m a major league pitcher. That’s how it makes me feel, pitching against the major league players.”

Neuman also has a new fan in David Ortiz:

“That one kid (Neuman), he’s got a good arm. I didn’t get to face him. I just saw him pitching, and he’s got a good arm. He’s got explosion on his fastball."

That's got to be an exciting thing to hear and when told Neuman responded:

“Wow, he said that? That’s really nice to hear. That sounds good. It makes me feel good to hear something like that.”

The kid seemed to do well. Hopefully, he has a bright future.

Gaan Oranje!

Fear the Dutch. You might think that they're all tulips, windmills, and wooden shoes but they're a crafty bunch. They've made a country out of what should be the floor of the North Sea. Despite their tiny size and being the butt of jokes made by the Germans and the French since Germany, France, and the Netherlands have existed, they became both wealthy and influential. They ran colonies in the East Indies (Indonesia), the West Indies (Antilles), Africa (South Africa, Ghana), and North America (New York/New Jersey/Connecticut/Delaware). They invented the submarine and fought four wars with the English between 1652 and 1784. They've also tussled with the Portuguese and the French.

But the Dutch baseball team is hard to dislike. The enthusiasm of Team Netherlands is infectious. They seem to be having the time of their lives. As it turns out, Dustin Pedroia isn't the only player to blog about the World Baseball Classic experience. Leon Boyd of Team Netherlands also shares his thoughts with the world here. It's a different and interesting prospective.

Dustin Pedroia: Creator of Uncreative Blog Entry Titles.

Rob Bradford works miracles. Exhibit A: He has gotten Dustin Pedroia to blog for WEEI during the World Baseball Classic. Says Dustin of last night's game in Toronto:

"Second, it is a little known fact that I have never hit an opposite field home run in my life. Not one. So when the ball left the bat not only did I think it was a home run, but I also immediately thought that I was in the process of making my own personal history with my first opposite field bomb. I thought, ‘There it is!’ Then Bobby Abreu catches it at the wall … shoot!"

Just a wild guess on my part but I'm pretty sure that Pedroia didn't actually think "Shoot!"

And about the Yankee Roll Call:

"There were other memorable moments from Sunday night, such a group of fans in center field who were yelling the whole game. At the end they started chanting Derek Jeter’s name, like they do at Yankee Stadium, which gets an acknowledgement from Derek with a wave of the glove. If you’re a Yankee you’re used to it. But then they start chanting my name. I didn’t know what to do. I just turned around a little bit and smiled. I was like, ‘Damn, dudes. It’s late.’ Evidently it was enough because they moved on to the next players."

No! Dustin, no! Don't go into the light.

Long Day.

I managed to roll out of bed shortly after 5:00 this morning (in my effort to reset my alarm clock to go off at 4:45, I somehow managed to set it for 2:45 instead) in order to catch Daisuke Matsuzaka's start. Matsuzaka struggled through the first of his four innings, throwing twenty-nine pitches and giving up a two-run home run. But he kept it together and made it through the next three frames cleanly. He did continue to have an issue with being up 0-2 only to suddenly find himself 3-2. He did throw some really pretty pitches, though. Overall, he gave up four hits and walked only two batters. Opinions on the outing were varied. Francona said:

"He looked okay. He threw a couple good breaking balls. Left a couple over the middle of the plate the first inning. A little shaky first inning, 29-pitch first inning, gave up some hard hits in the second, but they had a baserunning error. Then he settled down and got eight of the last nine guys out."

Matsuzaka, a little more blunt than Francona, labeled his performance as:

"Not good at all. I was so happy to get the three-run lead in the first."

Japan won 14-2 in a mercy-ruled seven inning game. Their next game is Monday at 5:30 AM as they now await the winner of tomorrow morning's Korea v. China game.

That? That was a lot of fun. The Dutch play some really good baseball. Who knew? I started the game rooting for both teams. I switched sides, cheering for whichever team happened to be hitting; but by the third inning, I was firmly behind Team Netherlands. Then Pedro Martinez came out and I was rooting for stasis--Pedro doesn't give up any runs and the Dominicans don't score any either. Pedro looked good. In the eighth inning baby pitcher Dennis Neuman did an impressive job for Team Netherlands. He threw eighteen pitches, ten of them strikes. He walked one batter but got two fly-outs and a strike out. As for David Ortiz, he went 0 for 2 (both ground outs) with two walks (one intentional). The guys at ESPN, who often don't know what they're talking about, said that he had been penciled in at first but was DHing instead because he had a sore shoulder. But since no one else who might actually know has said anything about it, I'll ignore it. Tomorrow Team Dominican Republic will attempt to atone for today's loss with a win against Panama at 4:30 PM.

Lastly, in what was not a well-played game at all, Team USA chipped and bloodied their fingernails as they clung to their lead to beat Team Canada 6-5. Batting lead off, Dustin Pedroia went one for five; his one hit was a double. Kevin Youkilis (who seems to be going back to the goatee) went one for two, with two walks; his one hit was a home run. He did strike out with the bases loaded. But he also scored three times in the game. On the other side, Jason Bay played center field and didn't seem to make a half-bad job of it. At the plate he was 0 for 2 with three walks and a strike out.

World News.

As a result of iffy pitching, Team Dominican Republic fell to the Orioles 6-1 this afternoon. Johnny Cueto gave up a three-run home run in the first inning from which his team was unable to recover. He did manage to give them an additional two innings without causing further damage. He was replaced by dear old Pedro Martinez. From the box score it didn't look good for Petey, he gave up a couple of doubles and a single in his first inning. But Sports Illustrated says it wasn't too terrible: a gift double, an RBI double, and an RBI single. He then got three fly outs to end the inning. When he came back out for the fifth inning, he walked the lead off batter but got two strike outs and another fly out. Besides being team cheerleader, David Ortiz contributed two hits (both singles) from his four at bats. He also hit a long fly ball for an out.

Team Canada didn't fare any better against the Phillies, losing 9-2. As was generally suspected, Canada will be at the mercy of their pitching for this tournament. With Adam Stern playing center (and doing nicely at the plate, he was 3 for 5 with an RBI), Jason Bay was moved back to left field. He didn't have any more success at the plate, however. He ended up 0 for 2, with a walk. But no strike outs, so that's good.

Neither Kevin Youkilis nor Dustin Pedroia made it into today's Team USA 6-5 loss to Toronto. And, although Puerto Rico beat Tampa 2-1, Javier Lopez has yet to see any action.

Around the World.

Team Dominican Republic played an exhibiton game this afternoon against the Florida Marlins, which they won 10-1. David Ortiz went 1 for 3, with 1 RBI as the result of a pinch hit single in the fifth inning. I normally don't feel bad for Alex Rodriguez but this statement:

"It's nice for me to come in and try to jell as much as I can. So far, so good."

made me laugh. Translation: "I could do a little jig, they don't hate me yet. It's awesome."

Unfortunataly for Rodriguez, the Yankees, and Hanley Ramirez (who greatly enjoys the protection afforded him by Rodriguez' presence in the lineup), this evening the Yankees shipped Alex off the Colorado to have a cyst in his hip examined which may preclude him from playing in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Team USA beat the Yankees 6-5. Dustin Pedroia went 1 for 4, with a strike out and a walk. He was also caught stealing. Kevin Youkilis went 1 for 3, with 2 RBI. He was also on the receiving end of a Derek Jeter balletic spin-throw that didn't quite make it all the way to first base and took a funny hop when it bounced back up to him. And as a result, Youkilis couldn't quite come up with it, much to Michael Kay's delight. Youkilis did manage to have a "what the hell?" kind of look on his face, though.

Team Canada was also in action today. They beat Toronto 6-4. Playing centerfield, Jason Bay went 0 for 1, with a strike out and two walks. He also scored a run.

Positive News.

Daisuke Matsuzaka's second outing of the spring was quite a bit more successful than the first. Earlier today Matsuzaka threw three innings against the Yomiuri Giants, allowing no runs and only one hit. Of his thirty-two pitches, twenty were strikes and he walked only two. If this is what he meant by pushing himself (thirty-two pitches in three innings), then I'll take it. At that pace he'd regularly last nine innings. Of course, he'd be walking six batters per game-which wouldn't be too hot.

Use the Force.

Momentarily forgetting he's actually playing in Japan, Daisuke Matsuzaka contemplates the likelihood that his Godzilla impression will frighten the Aussies into submission.

Yesterday, Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched one and two-thirds innings in an exhibition game against Team Australia and was less than successful. In his first inning he struck out three but also allowed two hits (one of them a double.) In his second inning, he gave up two runs on three hits before he was given the hook.

Said Matsuzaka:

"As you could see, I have more than one or two problems. I want to reduce as many problems as possible. My fastball was the only positive I had. I will try to move up one stage, technically and mentally."

I don't like it. If he's really having issues, then he should be taking it slowly and focusing on fixing those issues, not trying to push himself to the next level.

Also:

"I threw with both strong and weak force."

I have no idea what that means.

Baseball!

The World Baseball Classic does have something going for it: it brings us (almost) real baseball early. Team Dominican Republic held it's first practice today and there's photographic proof of David Ortiz's participation:

Albert Pujols wonder how someone who is, at least nominally, a first baseman could have such a shiny glove.

Cause for concern? Or a really big wedgie? (It's nothing to worry about, according to the caption he hadn't taken to the batting cage yet.)

Underwear fixed and all is well.

Celebration all around.

Even the fans are happy for him.