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 then turned around and beat up that angry neighbor by beating China 10-1. Then came the real battle of pool A where Korea faced off against host Japan. Both teams were 2-0 and guaranteed advancement, but Korea would get bragging rights by besting Japan 3-2.
Round 2 began for Korea with a matchup against Mexico. After winning 2-1, they followed it with a 7-3 victory over the United States. With a 2-0 record, Korea had the chance to stay perfect and possibly eliminate Japan in their rematch at the close of pool 1 play. They pulled off another close win, prevailing 2-1 and remaining the only perfect team as they went on to the finals. They marked their 2nd victory over Japan by planting their flag in the pitchers mound after the game, which was possibly the worst thing they could have done...
All WBC pitcher Chan Ho Park has a nice chart, but hard to justify with a control of just 2.
Byung-Hyun should stick to the bullpen. Charts like that are questionable for 4 control pitchers, so forget about 3.
Sun-Woo Kim could have a control of 7 and I'd still pass on him with that kind of chart.
How did Korea get to the final bracket with this kind of rotation? Great control but lots of baserunners allowed and homer potential against him.
Probably his worst decision was to plant the Korean flag on the pitchers mound after their round 2 victory over Japan, infuriating Japanese stars like Ichiro Suzuki and possibly providing them incentive to get revenge in the semi-finals.
Japan
Samurai Japan was looked on as a big favorite for this competition. Not just because of the talent of their players, but they were also coming off their season and well conditioned as opposed to in America where they were trying to get into shape for the start of theirs. With such expectations, it was no surprise that they destroyed China and Taiwan 18-2 and 14-3 in mercy rule shortened games. With advancement achieved, their 3-2 loss to Korea was unfortunate, but nothing to panic about.
Panic began to set in after they dropped the round 2 opener 4-3 to the United States. They beat Mexico 6-1 to stay alive but when Korea beat them again, they were in trouble. At 1-2, Japan needed Mexico to upset the US to have a chance at avoiding elimination. When Mexico indeed won and put all 3 teams at 1-2, it fell to the tie breaker to decide who would follow Korea to the final bracket. With a 2.55 RA/9, Japan won the controversial tie-breaker and had a matchup with Korea yet again, this time with a trip to the finals on the line.
Powered by a couple homers and a 5 run 7th inning, Japan got the last laugh against Korea 6-0 and went to the finals. The team that beat Japan twice prior could only kick rocks and settle for a 3rd place finish. With three losses and a lower winning percentage, Japan was given the "visitor" spot in their finals game against Cuba. The Cubans had also been runner up in both their pools, but had upset the Dominican Republic to reach the finals.
Japan exploded for 4 runs in the 1st inning, and slowly kept pace ahead of the Cuban offense, capping off a 10-6 win and claiming the first ever WBC championship.
Otsuka may not have the best control for a Closer, but his chart will be less stressful for when he gets the advantage compared to others.
All WBC outfielder Ichiro Suzuki continued to show off his Hall of Fame ability in international competition. His great on-base, speed and solid defense should make up for the fact that his chart is absent of most power.
