So, on March 12th, Bob Davidson tries to kneecap Team Japan. Japan then trips on itself to fall to the Koreans. Blind Bob is at it again, overturning a Mexican home run. But fate would not have it so, thanks to a mediocre showing by Team USA and a lot of Mexican heart.

Zoom ahead to March 20th, and the trophy is decidedly handed to Japan after a short tournament.

Matsuzaka Daisuke dominated for 4 innings, closely followed by a Watanabe Shunsuke who’s subjected to 342 errors, of which he comitted 163.4 of.

Meanwhile, a lineup powered by a Ichiro-Matsunaka-Tamura MOTO, supported by a clutch Fukudome Kosuke, put together all the singles needed to get anywhere. And team speed doesn’t hurt either.

Team Japan subjected its opponents to a full assault, 1 through 9. They’ll jack that home run off your favorite Korean submariner, or make it so your manager is disappointed in you after twoinfield singles and a walk.

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Team Japan meets Team Korea for the last time this WBC.

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The below post contains important Dr. Naka translations from Ichiro's original Japanese. (This webpage is referenced in the Wikipedia entry on Ichiro.  Footnote 4.)

You will probably also enjoy Dr. Naka's translations and commentary on Ichiro's offseason "anti-Hargrove" interview.  Here is part 1.   Parts 2 and 3 can be found in the sidebar, under VIDEO & MEDIA.  

There is also interesting and unique Ichiro material in the sidebar when you click the red, white and blue profile of Ichiro hitting.

Finally, we invite you to browse our library of Players of the Day (POTD's) which contain our info-taining analysis of many pro baseball players that are of interest in Seattle and Japan.

Enjoy Dr. Naka's article below. — Jeff a/k/a Dr. Detecto 

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Team Korea is on fire and I admire their play.
Lots of clutch hitting, and they play just as hard.

They remind me a lot of the Angels, White Sox and Marlins of recent World Series fame.

Japan can still move on with a Mexico victory, thanks to RA/9
And I’m definitely cheering for a Mexican win.
But with that long shot, I’ll go on and write a requiem for Team Japan.

I present to you a completely non-scientific view of Team Japan’s performance.

Odds & Ends

- Could Nishioka Tsuyoshi be the next superstar?

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It's time for the biggest showdown between Japan and Korea in ages.

The two powerhouses will take to the field at Angel Stadium for the duel of the fates tonight at 7 PM PST.

Korea sends San Diego Padre Chan Ho Park to the mound while Japan counters with Chiba Lotte Marines Ace Watanabe Shunske.

For some reason, I have a good feeling about this.

Unfortunately, ESPN is tape delaying it till 1 AM for no good reason.

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Final Four games:

Korea (85%)* vs Japan (60%) (USA 40%)

Dominican (70%) (Ven 30%) vs Puerto Rico-Cuba winner (pick ‘em)

* Edit - thanks to slim for the precise numbers in comment 2.  Korea could be eliminated if they lose to Japan AND allow 8+ runs.  This could still set up a USA-Japan semifinal.

Assuming Mexico goes 0-3, then it’s USA-Japan if Japan beats Korea 8-x or more, or it’s Japan-Korea if Japan wins by 5-4 or less.

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IceX suggested a ’roundtable’ … for those authors who haven’t yet figured out how to sign on at the new URL now’s a good time… then you can add to this post.  (Or use the comments area like the rest of us!)

All you have to do is click on Login, and on the Wordpress login screen, key in the user name "Joe Shlabotnik" (case sensitive) or whatever and then "Lost your password". It will then be emailed to you.

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=== Bjorn Borg "Champions" Dept. ===

Borg, when he hit about 35, looked back on his Glory Days and said wistfully, "you think about what it would be like, to again be young and a champion."  The quote stuck with us.   Did you ever think about the subtle difference between (a) being the theoretically best, and (b) being a champion?

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Non-soccer fans may be just catching on:  the Pool X system of qualifying does a surprisingly good job of weeding the best teams. 

The World Cup uses it in early rounds, and it has the merit of (usually) allowing a powerhouse team one "accident" each round.  If you don’t finish in the top *two* of a 4-team round robin, it’s your own fault.  It quickly and "accurately" weeds a big field down to a workable tournament.

The last four teams will play single-elim, yes – just like the NCAA tourney and the NFL playoffs and the soccer World Cup and Wimbledon.  If it is unfamiliar and therefore unwelcome … just imagine the baseball games as a Game 7 of a World Series.  There, that’s better.

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