Lee hammers another one in WBC
First baseman Derek Lee did it again today, hammering a two-run home run against Japan. The long ball was Lee’s third of the tournament and couldn’t have come at a better time as it pulled Team USA back into a 3-3 tie with the very competitve Japanese ballclub. I hate to admit it but it looks like D. Lee is starting right were he left off last year. Of course, Pujols has had a pretty good run with the Dominican Republic (.556 batting average along with 4 walks) so hopefully those two will treat us to another great run for the batting title, MVP, and maybe even the Tripple Crown.
Can I just say right now that the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is one of the best developments for baseball in a long time? 
I know George (I hate everything good) Steinbrenner thinks it’s a bad idea and you hear all sorts of comments like “What if someone gets hurt?” PLEASE! The players are going to be playing right now anyway whether it is Spring Training (ST) or the WBC. Now sure, the effort and competition is probably not there in ST but as a fan, wouldn’t you rather watch a game where the players are actually trying? I know I would. As a coach or manager or too rich for my own good owner, I would rather let my players get some “real” practice. For the game itself, letting players represent their countries and playing for pride is a BRILLIANT move.
Bottom line… I just cheered when Lee hit a home run and when Brad Lidge struck someone out, and outside of the WBC that would never happen.
Just kidding, but are you telling me seriously that Japan didn’t get robbed? I mean, maybe I didn’t read Buck’s lips correctly, maybe what he said was “Look, we’ve already been embarassed by the Canadians and if you let that run stand we’ll be more of a laughing stock than the US Hockey team. So you better reverse that call.” 
March 13th, 2006 at 11:28 am
Of course what really won the game for the US was Buck Martinez taking a trip out of the dugout to tell the umpire “Look, we’re the US team and if you let us lose to the Japanese then MLB will make sure you never work again because it’ll be your fault we lose all that TV revenue. So you better reverse that call.” And thus Japan got robbed of the go ahead run.
March 13th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
That, ladies and gentlemen, is my British ex-housemate who apparently is rooting for anyone except Amercia in the WBC lol.
March 13th, 2006 at 2:22 pm
Actually I have no problem with Amercia, Americans on the other hand.
Just kidding, but are you telling me seriously that Japan didn’t get robbed? I mean, maybe I didn’t read Buck’s lips correctly, maybe what he said was “Look, we’ve already been embarassed by the Canadians and if you let that run stand we’ll be more of a laughing stock than the US Hockey team. So you better reverse that call.” 
March 13th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
Oh, don’t get me wrong, it looks like the umps got the call wrong and affected the outcome of the game. When I saw the play happen, I thought he left early, when I watched the first replay I thought he left early and then when they did the slow split screen I thought they got the call wrong.
Its a shame the game came down to that but I think Japan and the US will move forward anyway. It was a great game.
March 16th, 2006 at 10:55 pm
if you are going to pretend to be a cub fan, you are going to need to start by learning to spell Derrek Lee.
thats two Rs. Got it?
March 16th, 2006 at 11:51 pm
Indeed there are two R’s… good catch…. I simply didn’t realize Cubs fans could read.