Baseball Days Numbered,

Around the world Baseball is more popular than football.

If current trends continue in Asia, baseball may someday supplant soccer as Top Dog.

Sorry Football Nazis, but baseball is a thinking man's game and requires more skill than football.

Hitting a Major League Curve-ball is considered the most difficult thing to accomplish in sports.

I love baseball, football, B-ball.

If you want to bash a sport please take RUGBY...now that's an Ugly Duckling !!!

There is no way soccer will ever overtake baseball in the USA. The USA will soon realize that the game is now worldwide and in 4 years they will formulate a plan to become to become a power again. The present problems are the MLB teams will not allow their star players to play out of position. Thus no way Manager Davey
Johnson could get Rollins and Jeter in the infield at the same time. They will have to do what USA basketball has done and form the teams years in advance of the Olympics and get young players who want to represent America. They need to stress defense first and try to get pitchers like Tim Lincecum,CC Sabathia,Steven Strasburg(SDSU), to play for Team USA and get better middle relief pitchers. They play few games and only need 3-4 aces on your team. Since the WBC is only every 4 years they could play the games later in march closer to opening day for MLB baseball.

I'd like to see the world football classic. America's real game. That would be comedy. America has resigned baseball to the #3 spot. Soon to be #4 behind soccer, though it pains me to say it. Nobody cares as much as they did 25 years ago. Baseball's time is unfortunately coming to an end.

so are we saying that the US players were told the night before they would be playing in the wbc? give me a break if this is played after the world series #1 excuse, it's been a long season the players are tired #2 the world series just ended they let it all out during the series there is an emotional letdown. Read an article on any of these players and you will read how they stay in great shape during the off-season with their tremendous work-outs. So stop the whining and give credit where credit is due. You people complaining are starting to sound like allen iverson whining about having to practice!!!!!

There would be more players from Japan in MLB however they must play a certain amount of years before they can leave the country. MLB is now dominated by players from Domincan Republic,Puerto Rico,Venezuela and Japan. In a few years watch more Korean players to be in the major leagues. The level of play in Japan has risen the past few years. The 3 starters for Japan Matsuzaka,Darvish and Iwakuma would be the top 3 pitcher if they played for the dodgers.

The asians squads are playing their best players, we are not. We have rusty ballplayers who are coming off months of vacationing. It is still Americas game, I dont think anyone inlcuding the chinos believe they could beat our best. We should have our World Series winners play in WBC, How do you think Japan or Korea could have done against the Philies?

Phillips gets paid to say stupid stuff because the network he is employed by has ididots running it...great decision to let that rube Selig run on about nothing for an eternity. This format was never conceived to accomplish what it advertises. Take away the smoke and mirrors and all MLB gets is another pay-day. If all of these players from other countries have so much game, why aren't they all playing in the "show"?

Isn't this about prep sports? We get little enough attention and space in your pages as it is. How about giving our teams, our kids, our cities, and your readers the priority we deserve. Isn't that the mantra of the Singleton papers...local, local, local?

Correct me if I am wrong but didn't MLB use to send an all star team to Japan that use to wipe the floor with the Japanese teams? Like the other bloggers have stated add a CC Sabathia and other true all stars to the lineup and USA kicks the crap out of everyone. This reminds me of the olympic teams that use to be made up of college players going to the olympics. The true all-stars arent there.

This is same problem the USA Olympic Basketball team has had, until recently when they won the gold medal! You can't get a bunch of All-Stars and expect to win all the countrys of the world.It goes to show you, a good team that has been playing together for several seasons, is going to beat a team of USA All-Stars, that has probably practice as a unit for several months. Maybe next year the team will gather earlier and practice hard and win the WBC!

No doubt about it, America does not have the monopoly on baseball talent. Every time I've seen the elite Korean and Japanese teams play, with the equivalent of their professional all star teams, they are just as good or better than our American guys. Hurts to say it, but it is true. Aside from the fact that the Asian teams have raw talent, they play the game the right way. They play stellar defense. They play little ball, go the other way, put the ball in play consistently,etc. They pitch to contact down in the zone. They hate to lose or perform badly worse than our guys do. We have to tip our hats to them, and it is an example of the greatnesss of baseball; not just the biggest and strongest teams can be the best.

the big problem being a int.agent, is our kids dont give a dame about the game.to busy playing x-box. parents stop buying your kids tv games. take them to the park hit them ground balls. play catch.get to no your kid its a great time for some one on one ,be the parent take control.. and for the coment baseball is passing us buy,,not true at all..korean, japan china ,taiwan these kids have to go in the army before there 22 years of age,,so if there picked to play on the national teams, most of the kids dont have to do there army service time..so dont you think as americans kids knowing at 22 your going to the service.or play baseball we might work are butts off ,you should see how long these countrys work there players.most of the korean pitchers arms have had surgery buy the time there 22, no joke.they run about 5 miles a day, we run 5 miles a week if lucky..they have great work habits..plus mlb has been building baseball academys all over the world . why because of the money it brings in mlb, start taking care of usa players watch us are youth kick some butts

Timing Is Everything

All MLB players look rusty and out of sync.

Any true baseball fan knows REAL season doesn't begin until after All Star break.

It's a long, long season and most MLB players pace themselves accordingly.

But, it's still nice to see so much interest in baseball, particularly in Asia.

Let's see is MLB can capitalize on this potential cash cow...ala FIFA.

Area players are doing great, and TC has hired their new coach and your here blogging about Japan vs Korea. Do you duty and get us local information por favor

If you played this tournament after the World Series then bigger named USA players would be playing. Pitching would be stronger. This is no way a true measuring tool of what USA baseball is all about. USA teams are in spring training during this tournament and the slightest injury and their respected team is pulling them and not allowing them to play in this tournament. The MLB season is too important for players to risk injury. Play this after the WS and the USA would romp these Asain teams without a doubt.

Area players are doing great, and TC has hired their new coach and your here blogging about Japan vs Korea. Do you duty and get us local information por favor

Korean and Japanese leagues start their spring training in January. Nuff said. Anyone who has played baseball would understand how that makes a difference.

You have to figure Steve Phillips is really huffing his spot on ESPN's WBC broadcasts when he suggests anything less than a US domination if real nationalized All-Star teams ever played. Maybe the rarefied air of the Dodger Stadium broadcast booth has caused him to take leave of his senses. Maybe its just sitting next to Joe Morgan.

Try this one on for size Steve:

Mix the few pitching super stars already signed up with the Likes of CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Ben Sheets, Mike Mussina and throw in Brandon Webb, Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay, Scott Baker and Glenn Perkins for good measure. Whose that pulling up outside? Oh, I forgot Tim Licecum.

Keep Rollins and Jeter, put Joe Mauer behind the plate, hide Dunn's glove, he's only a DH. Chipper Jones can work 3B with David Wright and Lance Berkman can work the other corner with Youklis, keep Dustin Pedroia around so everyone's honest. How many Outfielders do you want to carry? Grady Sizemore in CF and hook up Ryan Ludwick, Matt Holiday, and Carlos Quentin. Subs? Longoria, Ryan Howard, Milton “the Monster” Bradley, and Brian McCann can spell Mauer.

Without a big league season, Joe Torre and Mike Scioscia would be otherwise unemployed so let them run the team.

Someone needs to tell Steve the real problem with the USA-WBC offering is all the guys I named are already engaged with their day jobs.

Steve,
The World Baseball Classic is hardly an accurate picture of the strength of each country.
We all know pitching is the name of the game, and important pitchers like Peavy and Oswalt geared up for only 3 or 4 innings right now. How can you listen to what Steve Phillips says? He's the same guy who traded Scott Kazmir to the Rays for Victor Zambrano when he was GM of the Mets. Phillips is a better talker than he is evaluator of major league talent.