MLB Showdown Obsession

 As the first WBC, the process had to deal with a few growing pains. As mentioned previously, the semi-finals had the same two opponents facing each other from the previous pools before they winners finally faced new opposition. So while the Dominican Republic proved themselves better than Cuba in the 2nd round, they still had to beat them one more time, which made it bitter for them when Cuba finally prevailed and this time without other games to play as a safety net. The same controversy would happen with Japan and South Korea. South Korea Most just refer to them as Korea, mainly because if North Korea were allowed to field a team even South Africa would have blown them out of the water...though North Koreans wouldn't know and instead get propaganda saying that NK blew out USA, Japan and Korea in all 5 inning mercy rule 20-0 games. Anyway, Korea kicked off the competition with a 2-0 win over Taiwan, another country dealing with an angry neighbor who wants them destroyed. Korea th...

 The rules changed again in 1968. The BBWAA was officially returned to annual voting instead of just every other year and special exceptions. Also, the run-off provision was eliminated, so if no one gets the 75% on the first try, it becomes a "wait til next year" situation. No run-off would have been needed as Ducky Medwick was voted in while the Veterans Committee added two more names to the class of '68.

 One of the favorites going into the competition, the Dominican Republic took no prisoners as they rocked Venezuela 11-5, then shut down Italy 8-3. They faced Australia on the final day with advancement already assured. The Australians gave them trouble, but the DR prevailed 6-4 and swept the pool 3-0. In round 2 they ran into Puerto Rico, who checked them 7-1. After that humbling loss, they turned around and beat Cuba 7-3 to set up an elimination game between them and a revenge seeking Venezuela. Unlike the round 1 battle, this one was a nail biter, but the Dominican Republic prevailed 2-1 to win pool 2 and advance to the finals bracket. Instead of swapping opponents for the semi-finals, the 2006 WBC had the winners of pools 1 and 2 face the runner-up of the same pool in the elimination semi-finals. So thus, pool 2 winner Dominican Republic faced off against the team they beat to win the pool in Cuba, as opposed to pool 1 runner-up Japan. After 6 innings, the Dominican Republic le...

 In 1967 that dirty term was brought up again: run-off. The BBWAA met and voted and no one met the requirement to be immortalized, so they took the top 31 and voted again and came up with a winner. The Veterans Committee meanwhile settled on two names of their own to send to Cooperstown. Also inducted: Branch Rickey (Pioneer/Executive) Developed what became the modern Minor League system, as well as other innovations like the full time spring training facility, batting cages, pitching machines and batting helmets.

 This may be a tired point, but Puerto Rico technically isn't a country. They're a territory of the United States that we just kinda let do their own thing and pretend to be their own country. As unstoppable as a combined forces team would be, PR are a formidable force all on their own. The pool C host proved this by sweeping by the competition in round 1; 2-1 over Panama, 8-3 over Netherlands, and a 7 inning mercy rule 12-2 win over Cuba. The winning streak continued in round 2 with a 7-1 victory over the Dominican Republic. The good times came to a screeching halt when they were next stunned in a 6-0 defeat against Venezuela. In a must-win final game of round 2, Puerto Rico got eliminated, falling 4-3 in a revenge victory for Cuba. The Mets team and farm system feature a large selection of Puerto Rican talent, so get ready for a lot of one team. Beltran was entering his sophomore year in Queens and his card shows just how in his prime he still was. Cabrera is almost tolerable...