America May Strike Out at the World Baseball Classic
Baseball is America’s game but it traditionally does some really odd things. For me, one of those oddities is calling the U.S.-Canadian championship a World Series. If it were truly that, we’d include other countries in a round of playoffs that would truly represent something international, perhaps like World Cup Soccer. That would probably be good for baseball as well. It’s struggling as a spectator sport.
In its infinite wisdom, Major League Baseball is introducing the Inaugural World Baseball Classic next year, a March celebration of baseball as it’s played and enjoyed throughout the world. It's scheduled to begin on March 3 in Tokyo and end in San Diego three weeks later. National teams will compete from the United States, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, China, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Panama, Italy, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Australia and Netherlands. Holland? Who knew those wooden-shoes played baseball? Sixteen teams.
Oops, make that fifteen. The Treasur…