This afternoon, Canada is hosting Team USA at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.  It is the first game for both teams at the 2009 World Baseball Classic.  A few months ago, I was really excited for the upcoming ‘Classic’.  But, as the tournament grew near, the less enthusiasm I had.  Why?  More and more players are withdrawing from the tournament.  Some had legitimate excuses, others not so much (Ryan Dempster).   Now it wasn’t just Canadians, but players from all nations.  But for this, I am going to focus mostly on Team Canada.  First, Ryan Dempster signs an enormous deal with the Cubs & decides its better not to play in the tournament.  Than, Jeff Francis(Rockies) opts to have shoulder surgery and is out for the entire 2009 season.  Eric Gagne withdrew because he was trying to make the Brewers.  For more on him, read my previous blog.  Other pitchers of note who are not playing are Rich Harden, and Erik Bedard.  Both are coming back from injuries and I somewhat understand why their not pitching.  But here’s a question.  Why not pitch in the World Baseball Classic?  It gives them an opportunity to face legitimate players in games that matter.  Wouldn’t that help them get ready for the upcoming season?  I’m sure Team Canada Coach Ernie Whitt could put them on a pitch count.  I just find it disappointing that players seem to drop out of the tournament rather easily. 

    To me, it would be an honour to play for my country, in any sport.  An example of a sport where players want to play is hockey.  Every year, the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) has many tournaments where countries square off.  The World Championships and of course the World Junior Championships are two of the bigger tournaments.  Heck, the NHL even shuts down for two weeks to allow the best players in the world to play in the Winter Olympics.  The teams allow their players to risk injury so that they can do the honourary thing and represent their country.  Why can’t baseball do that?  Is it because the players lack commitment to their respective countries?  Or is it Major League Baseball itself?  I think personally, mostly the latter. The media has played a role too.  This tournament should have more hype surrounding it.  An example of this is the game versus Canada & USA. It’s not sold out as of yet.  They will probably end up getting over 40,000 today, but the capacity at Rogers Centre is just over 50,000.

    Another reason for players not being allowed to play is the insurance that countries have to put on them.  Some examples are Vernon Wells (Blue Jays) and Albert Pujols (Cardinals).  Apparently you can not be insured if you spend a certain amount of time on the disabled list.   Wells, missed a good portion of last season with various injuries.  No matter, as he pulled up ‘gimp’ during spring training anyway.  Pujols is a different story.  In the off-season, Albert had surgery to move a nerve in his right elbow.  Therefore, he is not permitted to play in the tournament.  Pujols was disappointed, but understood.  It was good to see that he refused to play against his homeland (Dominican Republic) in an exhibition game with the Cardinals.  Pujols said “It’s all about respect.  I don’t want to play against them.  I don’t feel comfortable with it, and that’s it”. Good for Albert.

An idea to perhaps make the tournament more exciting and accessible for players and fans I having the tournament in perhaps late November/early December. That way, the players don’t have to worry about missing spring training as some players do miss the tournament because they are competing for spots on the major league roster.  Of course there will be critiscm for having the tournament in the winter.  Some negatives would be that people just finished watching the World Series in late October.  True, but this gives most players a month off to rest, but not off too long so that they are ready to play.  Another negative would be that you’re competing against the NFL.  Really?  They only play on Sundays and Mondays (Well, actually, most Saturdays and Thursdays too as of late).

    Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of players that would find it an honour to play for their country.  The 2006 AL MVP Justin Morneau is playing for Team Canada and is excited about playing in this tournament. The bottom line is that I find a lot of the players not really caring about this tournament and what it could stand for. 

    Good luck to Team Canada today, as we try to defeat the Americans for the 2^nd consecutive time (the first was an 8-6 win in 2006).  Today the pitching match up will be a David vs. Goliath type ordeal.  2007 NL Cy Young award winner Jake Peavy squares off against the long forgotten (or never heard of) Mike Johnson.  Johnson last pitched in the majors in 2001 and is currently playing in Korea.  Luckily for him Canada has a potent offense.  Led by Morneau, Jason Bay, Joey Votto and of course catcher Russel Martin.  Unfortunately our pitching is not the same.  Currently, there are no players on a 25 man roster.  Sure, Scotty Richmond played for the Jays last season, but he is not a sure bet to make the squad this year.  But who knows, maybe these guys can pull it off.  Go Canada.  Make our nation proud!

Here is a link to view Team Canada‘s roster:

http://mlb.mlb.com/wbc/2009/rosters/index.jsp?team=can

Thanks for reading and bye for now.