Typically I don’t like to consolidate topics too much, but in the interest of never having the time I’d like to have in order to write, as the kids say today, LFG.
So, by the time I got to stealing finding the time to write something, Korea has already been eliminated. Again. This is the third straight WBC in which Korea has crashed out in the opening round, after making it into the final four in 2006 and played in the championship game in 2009.
I’m part of a KBO group on Facebook, which has been interesting throughout the years, because after years of following MLB and being a part of baseball communities on the internet, it’s kind of like going back in time following the KBO, because there are a lot of complain-y fans there that most MLB fans usually work the kinks out of themselves before not taking everything so seriously.
But all the same, it’s been kind of refreshing to see the fanbase and fandom of baseball in Korea, and the KBO is definitely fun in its own right, and over the last few months, it’s been exciting witnessing the preparation of Team Korea as they embarked on another World Baseball Classic.
However, as much excitement there was in the build-up, the execution was completely lackluster. In a tournament as small as the WBC, losing the first game is basically the kiss of death in the round robin tournament, and that’s precisely what Korea did, by losing to Australia of all countries. Frankly, Korea should’ve been the #2 team in their group, considering they were in with the likes of Japan, China, the Czech Republic as well as Australia.
Unsurprisingly, Japan mopped the floor with Korea in the second game, because Japan takes baseball more seriously than any country on the planet and it shows, and after immediately starting the tournament 0-2, Korea’s chances were pretty much over. They took care of business by beating the Czechs, but after Australia beat them days later, Korea was mathematically eliminated.
Even this morning’s 22-run bukkake-ing of China doesn’t change the fact that Korean baseball just isn’t what it used to be in comparison to 15-20 years ago, and I feel like I’m seeing a pattern of Korean sports over the last decade or so, where they seem to save their best for when it doesn’t really matter anymore, or just fall short
- 2017 WBC: Korea defeats Taiwan after they’re eliminated
- 2018 World Cup: Korea defeats Germany after they’re eliminated
- 2020 Olympic baseball: Korea goes 3-1, loses three straight to not medal
- 2022 World Cup: Korea eliminated after getting blown out by Brazil, 5-1
Regardless, with Korea getting bounced already, that kind of frees me from having to care much more about the WBC beyond this post. But here are some other quick takes on the WBC before I proceed to go on and try to live my life without feeling obligated to care:
Americans still prioritize money over nationalistic pride: this is never more prevalent than seeing Mexico tee off on an indy-league caliber Team USA pitching squad en route to an 11-5 circle jerk over the Americans.
Frankly, a replacement-level lineup of hitters but a competent pitching staff trumps an all-star lineup of hitters but a pitching staff made up of scrubs, most of the time. I mean, just look at every MLB playoff series, where it’s usually the team with the better pitching performances usually ends up winning.
I get that Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom don’t want to risk blowing out their arms after the mega money deals they’re on. But I would still wager that any one of them throwing 65% effort bullpen sessions to the lineups of Mexico, Canada, Colombia and Great Britain would still be better than trotting Lance Lynn to the hill. Seriously, looking at their pitching staff, I can barely identify half of the guys on the squad, and I’m willing to bet that if I punched their names into Baseball-Reference, more of their seasons will have time split with the minor leagues than not.
Shohei Ohtani is probably going to be the highest paid player in baseball for five minutes next year when he hits free agency, before someone else immediately takes that title from him, but that’s not stopping him from repping Japan where he’s already hitting homers and striking out batters. There’s no sugar coating it, Japan cares more about nationalistic pride than everyone else, and it shows.
I’m not even sure how America won in 2017, other than Tanner Roark going gangbusters on Japan in the semis, but in a one-and-done tournament, even the top dogs like Japan can get upset too.
What the fuck are all these horrible uniforms? This article pretty much is in sync with my opinions, except for the obvious fact that Korea, in spite of their inept play, still win in the uniform department, and should be #1 instead of fucking Cuba.
Seriously though, it certainly has been something seeing the national aesthetics of all the countries in the tournament, and even if I don’t have any opinions on any of their talent or play style, I definitely have opinions on the aesthetics of everyone’s uniforms.
For the most part, of the 20 teams in the tournament, there’s a whole lot of eh, they’re fine. Fairly basic, forgettable kits, but really it’s better to be vanilla than remembered for being ridiculous. Team USA, the Czech Republic, Italy, Mexico, Cuba, the Netherlands, they all fall into this category; basic, bland, some more different than others, although I’m pretty sure Mexico is recycling the same kits all the way back from 2006.
But really the stars of the tournament are the uniforms that are just bad, whether it’s just plain bad, wtf bad, or entertainingly bad:
- Colombia basically repurposed those weird Boston Red Sox uniforms that were for some reason yellow.
- Canada’s laughably small “Canada” wordmark basically exemplifies Canadian politeness and how they don’t want to be too loud and impolite, especially in contrast to just how fucking loud and large the logos of Panama and Cuba are.
- Venezuela’s uniforms look like they’re missing a Presidente beer logo away from being straight out of Winter League
- Puerto Rico’s ocean design is fucking dreadful, and I guess is a metaphor for a nation as talent rich as PR is, just can’t seem to get their shit together in international ball and their hopes sink
- And then we have Great Britain, which I saw some Twitter remark that said it best about how they opened a Word doc, typed “Great Britain” in Arial Black, printed it on the jerseys and called it a day, which is fairly accurate except for the fact that they used Gotham Black but not everyone can be a font savant like me. Surely, there’s some actual baseball team in GB that they could’ve just worn their jerseys in a national tournament, like how the Mighty Ducks just wore their team kits in The Mighty Ducks 2 against Iceland.
And with that, concludes all the fucks left I really have to give about the World Baseball Classic. Maybe one day when I’m not so swamped in fatherhood, my love for baseball will bubble back up to a higher priority to where I’d be more excited about it. Or when Korea decides to stop sucking in international play again, and start playing baseball like they play eSports.
