MLB Showdown Obsession

 The United States have a unique pressure when it comes to WBC play. They know they're home to the most elite baseball league. MLB is the destination for fame and fortune. So while 2013 was only the third iteration of the competition, people in the States were concerned that the US of A haven't already claimed a title or at least made the finals. With MLB being the elite league of baseball, that comes as a double edged sword, since many of the players in said league would rather concern themselves with their regular jobs and not so much for the WBC; Big contracts are awarded based on MLB success, not WBC. But, America being America, they wouldn't settle for the excuse that they don't have *all* the best players in their country participating like everyone else were enjoying. So, looking to put their lackluster results of the past behind them, they rolled into 2013 looking to finally raise the gold. Instead, they were humbled 5-2 in their opening game against Mexico. Ita...

 Venezuela was a 2nd round team in 2006, but took a big step forward in '09 when they powered their way to the semi-finals. The odds of a return trip was against them as 2013 began, with them in the same opening pool as Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. Falling 9-3 to DR and 6-3 to PR sealed their fate as both those countries were destined for a very deep run, but Venezuela could at least assure their spot in the next WBC if they could avoid a last place finish. In a fight for pride, Venezuela beat Spain in their final game 11-6 to at least avoid having to requalify. Prado should find a role on your team with that great defensive coverage with solid defensive numbers all around. The on base is a solid 9 and the chart doesn't aggravate. Alvarez may not be big on the strikeouts, but the control and chart hold up for a control pitcher. If you have a trustworthy defense in the field, you can feel comfortable pitching Henderson here. Elvis Andrus is a very classical type of Shorts...

 Welcome to 2026. I know a month has already gone by, but Showdown's announce date was February 4, 2000, so as it's "birthday" the year doesn't truly start until now. I figure here is as good a place as any to give a peek behind the curtain to the goings on for the plans for this place. I do a crappy job of promoting the X / Twitter page where I often give commentary, not gonna lie, but here I can give a 30,000 foot overview of my plans without the tweet restrictions. Currently, we are in the midst of my WBC series and the plan is to continue with the 2013 sets in their entirety leading up to this years competition. From there I'll be setting up for April, where once again I've planned a 30-sets-in-30-days. Last year was a lot of fun and this time I won't constrain myself as much. This year will be a simpler theme with more flexibility: just represent every team with some form of accomplishment, be it a pennant, title, playoff appearance, pennant run ...

 If there is one consistent source of controversy for the World Baseball Classic from year to year, it is without a doubt their attempts at finding a satisfying tiebreaker procedure. It seems every time a country gets eliminated because of some confusing math. For 2013, if there was a 3 way tie, the math remained crazy: Team's Quality Balance or TQB. First you take total runs scored divided by total inning batted. Then you take runs against and divide that by innings pitched. Then take the first number and subtract the next number and you have your TQB. It looks like this: (RS / IB) - (RA / IP) = TQB So you take the numbers of each team against the other teams they're tied with and determine the ranking for the tie breaker. Still confused? So was everyone in the WBC. There is an easy way to help teams understand what they have to do to avoid losing the tie breaker: Win big, avoid blowout losses, never stop scoring. With that understanding, you see a breakaway from typical games...