Classic World Baseball

It's spring training, and being a Dodger fan, the excitement ramped up an extra notch once Manny decided to seal the deal.  And the Dodgers have a new home in Camelback Ranch, which looks beautiful, and from all I've heard from others who've been, sounds like a great place to take in a spring game. 

But this baseball fan is amped up for another reason.  I'm all-out excited about the World Baseball Classic going on now.  There have been some clunkers out there (like the blowouts of China by Korea and Japan), but there have been some really great games.  Russell J. Martin, Jason Bay, Justin Morneau and Matt Stairs of Canada almost toppled the US in Toronto, a great game I found it hard to pull myself away from (so I didn't).  The Netherlands' upset of the Dominican Republic was a shocker.  And Italy's upset of Canada yesterday in Toronto was a surprise itself, all they'd have to do to get in is beat Venezuela, no small task, but Venezuela's had their troubles so far.

It's too bad that the WBC has to disrupt ST, causing many MLB managers to be wary of letting their players play for their countries.  But I have to say, now I have something to look forward to every 4 years.  Hopefully, if the sport is reinstated by the Olympic Committee, there'll be some way for the MLB to take a break to let the best ballplayers represent their country in world play on the ultimate stage.  But for now, I'm happy to "settle" for the WBC.