World Baseball Classic 23 Everything thread

[Yesopalitha]

The Freedom's Altar Daily
Serving the Capital for Twenty Years

FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED ABOUT THE ASSASSINS
Following Quarterfinal Sweep at the Hands of Milchama, a Look at this Tournament

1. Victor Van Cruz is the Ace.

Look at the games that Melody Johanson started for the Assassins compared to the ones started by Victor Van Cruz. Even if you count the loss at the hands of Milchama, Van Cruz pitched a much better tournament than the "Terror". Melody may pitch for the best team in Yesopalithan baseball in the Irkan City Swarm, but Victor is the better pitcher. Until Melody reclaims her spot, Victor will be considered the ace by the fans.

2. Valentin Sorin is Here to Stay.

The young third baseman really came together in this series, stringing together a lot of key hits and many home runs. With Katherine Smathers and other players of the core getting advanced in age, a new breed of players need to come together, and Sorin will be around for a while. His fielding skills are brilliant, and hitting will only improve.

3. Mohammed Boisse Can Hold His Own.

The only question mark for the Assassins this time around, pitching-wise, was whether Mohammed Boisse could hold up his end of the bargain in taking over for Aaron Dugard. He did fine. His first game against Lycrabon was a narrow loss, but he came around, and did win the decisive game against Michael VII to advance the Assassins to the Quarterfinals. He will continue to get better as well, and the rotation should be stable, except for Melody and Victor perhaps changing places.

4. The Assassins Need a Clutch Hitter.

One thing that they keep lacking is a key hit to see them through in key situations. Valentin isn't quite there yet, so perhaps they can find someone... Until that happens, the Assassins will not advance past the Quarterfinals. Good pitching by itself can only carry a team so far without a bat or two.

5. Why Assassins? Still Won't Know.

They won't reveal the story until the make it to the semifinals. So we wait.

[Milchama]

"Semi-finals here we come!"

"Right back where we started from"

"What does that mean?"

"It means that we tend to choke a lot"

"Fair"

"I mean we shoulda won every WBC up until 7 but we only won 2 of them because we choked the rest away"

"Yeah"

"Then Newmanistan was pretty good"

"Right we coulda been better but we started sending backups, remember that"

"Yep"

"So yeah, we're back in the semis"

"After some dominating performance too"

"Yeah"

"Pretty great stuff"

"I agree"

"You know what it is?"

"Black and Yellow"

"Shut up, actually, especially with all that cardiac Milchama stuff"

"What?"

"Qazox's hosting"

"Yeah that makes a lot of sense. We always did well when they hosted, so no different now"

"So they should host more often"

"Maybe"

"Maybe not"

"I really don't have idea"

"Me neither"

"Well whatever"

"Agreed"

"Anyway, to the semi-finals we go"

"And we'll win"

"And almost make us have a heart attack"

"Yep"

"Come on You Warriors!"

"Let's Go Milchama!"

[Western cuba]

Béisbol en La Mañana

Con Diego y Miguel

Announcer:
Diego:
Miguel:

"Well that didn't go as expected, that game last night wasn't even close".

"Well we did score first at least, so in a way we were winning at one time".

"I suppose, but that was the only bright spot in the game. We didn't do anything with our offense after that run. It was Saugeais's game after that inning and in response they never looked back".

"Kudos to Saugeais I suppose catching us with our pants down. Maybe everyone become too reliant on Ramon Rivero this game after his first two performances this classic. It rarely happens, but it did last night in that Rivero struggled. And in response, we did nothing with the offense. That just can't happen if we want to repeat".

"Well now it's not about repeating, it's about just winning Game 3 tonight. And I've been talking to a lot of fans, and their first response is. Oh my god, Fernan Palomo is pitching! We are screwed! Well that's totally not the truth, he's on the national team for a reason".

"Exactly I'm sort of feed up with people not giving any of the credit to Palomo. He won both of the games he pitched in, so I have no idea why people are criticizing him. Just because you don't get as much press attention as Torres, Rivero, and Fenyak does, well does not make you a bad player".

"Yep, I hate when people are like, Oh the WCBL sucks. People like Alejandro Torres and Mario Vasquez don't play in that league".

"I hear that so much from ignorant fans and I just want to pull there heads off after they say it. The WCBL is a respectable league, in fact two teams have been runner-ups in the BCCC, and we have only entered teams three teams and it has been held six teams!"

"That run by the Manta Knights was pretty incredible this year, would of been awesome if they won it. And to think that players from our national team don't even play in the WCBL because of that disastrous two-season lockout not too long ago.".

"That was a bummer, now all of our top players are mostly playing for international teams. The league's making a come back though, and that's good".

"It's awesome, but I'm getting off-topic. What I wanted to say was just because someone like Fredek Fenyak or Alejandro Torres is on the mound doesn't mean were screwed. We still have a very talented group of players. That's why we are ranked number one in the world. Palomo is no Torres, however he is still a great pitcher."

"The media would turn him into a great pitcher if he won tonight against Saugeais".

"Very true, I suppose some big pressure is on Palomo. But he can make it though. If our offense hits the ball like there usually able to, except for last night, Game 3 should be ours".

"And that's when things start to get big and the possibility of a repeat arises".

"Yep, but we need to focus on tonight first."

"And speaking of tonight, today's show is near the end. We'll see you tomorrow Western Cuba, and hopefully with a semi-final berth".

[Saugeais]

"Back to another elimination game, eh?"

"Yeah, Western Cuba has been fighting us just as Qazox did last series. As to be expected from the top ranked team in the world."

"The bullpen coach decided to finally sit Wheelock out for a match due to 'confidence issues', or whatever manager Greg Hanson wants us to believe. I personally think he's not cut out for the national side."

"But he's from Ville-DuPont, and they won the SBO title three times in the last five years. Those five years have had Wheelock on the squad. So why not bring him up?"

"He was in the minors the first year, then barely used the second. And this past year, he was used the least out of all the full time bullpen pitchers. The man's not worth bringing back next Classic."

"Well, I hope you are right. One person I wish to see back next Classic is Marek Atterbury. The man is a double and triple machine!"

"I know what you mean. He almost hit for the cycle yesterday, singling in the first, tripling in the third as well as scoring the run in that inning, and doubling in the 8th inning to drive in Nikolas Siekert to put the score at 4-1. He's a quality player, and that's a fact Bartewick Centurions were able to see."

"Seeing him playing overseas is great for his professional career. It shows what progress the nation is having when it comes to developing star baseball players. I hope that we can develop some good pitching prospects soon, the likes of Nopro and Gagné again."

"Well, we are going to have the aging ace Nopro up for the rubber match, and he ain't pitching like what he was 10 years ago, so I can only hope for the same too.. His 35 year old arm better hold out to push us into the semi finals; I'd like to see this team make one more deep run before they all retire."

"Well we can only hope now an we? You watching the game at the pub again?"

"Why not, it's the best to watch a game, amongst the fellow fans sharing a pint. Ramble on Rangers."

"Let's hope they ramble into the semis. See ya later."

[Qazox]

Since the last two teams that have a game tonight have both RP'd, I'll have their game 3 up shortly. Who will make the semis?

[Qazox]

Series M               Pld   W  L 
1 Darmen                   2   2  0
2 Cotdelapoms              2   0  2

  Series N               Pld   W  L 
1 Milchama                 2   2  0
2 Yesopalitha              2   0  2

  Series O               Pld   W  L 
1 Taeshan                  2   2  0
2 Civil Citizenry          2   0  2

Series P
Saugeais (SAUG)        0 0 0 1 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  6
Western Cuba (WCBA)    1 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  7


  Series P               Pld   W  L 
1 Western Cuba             3   2  1
2 Saugeais                 3   1  2

SEMIFINALS
Series Q: #1 Darmen v. #5 Milchama @ Pheonix Stadium, Qazox City
Series R: #2 Taeshan v. #3 Western Cuba @ Rockport Stadium, Rockport

Remember the semis are a best of 5 series.

[Western cuba]

Béisbol en La Mañana

Con Diego y Miguel

Announcer:
Diego:
Miguel:

"I can tell you one thing Miguel, that game did not seem like an quarter-final match, it felt like we were watching a rematch of last classic's final!"

"Oh it was just simply amazing watching that game yesterday, while it was a nail-biter, it was still a great game to watch. You have to give great credit to Saugeais though, if they haven't had to face us, I think they could of made the final".

"So your saying basically were the team to beat?"

"Hey why not, were number one in the world, defending champs, and I think were the best team as of right now".

"So what was your favorite moment of the game last night?".

"That seems like a dumb question Diego, of course you know what was the best and my favorite moment. Why it was Erik Bures walk-off homer in extra innings to win the game for Western Cuba. That may go down as one of the top home runs in Western Cuban history."

"Can't argue with you on that, but our pitching was a mess yesterday".

"One may think that, I think both teams were just making contact. I thought that the Saugeais pitcher we faced was throwing well last night, his name is not coming off the top of my head though. It's just that he was unlucky and we made solid contact with the ball, the same happened with Saugeais's offense. The difference was that we managed one extra run in extra innings".

"This victory has me pumped for our Game 1 match tonight at Rockport Stadium. You know who is pitching right?"

"Why of course, Fredek Fenyak. I feel like a fool for criticizing Fenyak after his defeat to Melatia in match day one, now Fenyak looks easily like the top pitcher in our rotation, and to think he's the oldest".

"Just because your old doesn't mean your losing your ability pitch. I think we both found that out".

"No doubt about that, this is going to be one exciting semi-final matchup. Do you know much about Taeshan?"

"Well I know they won a classic, but that was quite a bit ago. I think it was even a couple of classics before we even made our debut in WBC 15. Now they have seemed to faded away until now, ranked 18th in the world, they now find themselves in the semi-finals. So what do you think about this team?"

"Well it's not going to be an easy match up, but I feel like were going to have less pressure now, because I feel Saugeais is a harder team to beat than Taeshan".

"We don't want our players going in thinking that though, I think that you should play as hard as you would against the best team in the world when your facing a weaker team".

"And I totally agree, I don't want our players to go in with there heads up high all happy that they just knocked off Saugeais, well that isn't enough. I won't be satisfied until we repeat, and I'm just some radio host".

"Well, we will see what the national team brings out tonight. Hopefully it will be a Game 1 win".

"And were nearing the end folks, we will see you guys tomorrow, and maybe a few lucky folks at the game tonight at Rockport Stadium. Later everyone".

[Taeshan]

*First an ooc note with the scorination of the the FSCvTae RoS match i am rewriting the Tae history of this tournament to ignore the Homelands Our series and take FSCvTae as the actual matchup.



"So guess we have Western Cuba in the semi-finals. They are really good, have been strong, but are much newer on the international stage."

"Yeah haven't we played them a bunch before. Didn't they win a World Baseball Classic sometime?"

"Yeah the last one. Runners up in 20.... They started sometime around WBC 15 though."

"Hmm, and they think they are all hot stuff too, don't they?"

"Seems that way."

"This is our big chance to get back into the thick of things. If we made it back to the final, that would ensure our return to the elite."

"We have won 12 straight games."

"I know we have looked really hot lately. Those two early losses seemed to ignite a real fire. No one in our group stood a chance. As the two seed we blew out New south Califas, and Civil Citizenry didn't really stand a chance. Especially with the memory of their sweep of us last time around."

"So do you think we can beat Western Cuba."

"Oh we can, if you guys show up. If you guys play like you did the first two nights, we are screwed. As long as Michealson, Fitzpatrick, Richards and Taylor continue to be hot on the mound we should be able to do it."

"Ok coach."

[Darmen]

Darmen to induct first member into WBC Hall of Fame

The Darmeni Baseball Federation announced today that Tim Prince would become Darmen's first inductee into the World Baseball Classic Hall of Fame. The power hitting shortstop leads Darmen in all-time homeruns, hitting 78 homeruns over his International career. Prince also has a career batting average of .543.

"I'm excited to be Darmen's first Hall of Fame entrant," commented Prince, "I can't wait to get in."

DBF officials announced that Prince's inductment ceremony will take place following Darmen's departure from the WBC playoffs. Currently Darmen has just completed a 2-0 sweep of Cotdelapoms, and will face Milchama in the Semifinals. Should Darmen win their series againt Milchama, a final series against either Taeshan or Western Cuba. When Prince was asked about the chance of an all-Rushmore final, his response was quite upbeat. "That'd be great, I'd love to play against either team. I'm not quite sure we sweep 'em, but we could definately beat them."

[Saugeais]

Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony brightens sour Saugeain moods
After getting knocked out in a rematch of last WBC's Final, Saugeais looks upon what they once were at HoF

So it happened again, in two straight World Baseball Classics, Saugeais has been defeated by Western Cuba in almost an exact repeat of the Finals scenario last time. Saugeais fell 5-3 after a 12 inning battle in the first match, but was able to tie up the series after stellar pitching helped keep the Cubans at bay in the 4-1 victory. But once again, in the elimination game, Saugeais could not keep up with the Cubans, bowing out to a walk off home run after another long extra inning classic. "It is tough, and I like, many of my players, hate to be stepping away from the game after something like this," said former manager Greg Hanson. Hanson, who has managed the national team since its foundation 20 years ago. Now 68, Hanson decided to call it a career after being "always the bridesmaid, but never the bride." He led Saugeais to 7 consecutive 2nd round appearances in the Classic, making the Finals twice: this past Classic against Western Cuba, and again in the 19th version, losing to Cassadaigua. "It'll be sad to see the team go. It was going to be much of the same anyway, since most everyone is well into their 30s. The end of an era, you might say."

The two other inductees were:

• Claudé Gagne, the national team's original ace of the staff. He goes into the Hall with 10 Classic wins and 81 strikeouts to his name.
• Jacques Benoit, nicknamed "Bruiser" for his power. He ended his international career with 31 home runs and 97 RBIs.

[Qazox]

RP cutoff for the semifinals. Which two teams will take the first step towards the finals? Scores up shortly.

[Qazox]

Series Q
Milchama (MILC)        0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Darmen (DARM)          0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 X  4

  Series Q             Pld   W  L    Win % 
1 Darmen                 1   1  0    1.000
2 Milchama               1   0  1    0.000


Series R
Western Cuba (WCBA)    0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
Taeshan (TAES)         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2  3

  Series R             Pld   W  L    Win % 
1 Taeshan                1   1  0    1.000
2 Western Cuba           1   0  1    0.000

[Taeshan]

I just thought as per modern standards id make a bunch of memes to represent current trends in Taeshani baseball.












On to the slightly more Apropos rp


"So thats 13 wins in a row. We may actually have a chance to go on."

"As long as we don't lose this series and the third place series im fine."

"Why?"

"You know how many times Taeshan has finished fourth, like four. We made it to the semis so many times tank, and then just say to hell with it in the third place game."

"Oh."

"I don't want to be like that. We should win it all, we are good enough."

"Yeah. If they build it, we will come."

"What the hell are you on about."

"Oh calculus problem."

Incredulous stare...

[Milchama]

"So we finally lost"

"Yeah when we had bases loaded, one run in, and none out I was sure we were going to win"

"I agree"

"Unbelievable, the Cardiac Warriors finally lost"

"It's our first lost in the playoffs"

"Typical"

"What?"

"That it comes in semis"

"True"

"We always lose in the semi-finals"

"It's quite annoying"

"It is"

"Well maybe we can break the curse"

"But sacrificing rubber chickens to Margaret is illegal"

"We could use rubber goats"

"Still illegal"

"Actually you know what's really illegal?"

"What?"

"The chant"

"The chant that they say during the ceremony, so instead of saying the whole chant and everything, let's just sacrifice the rubber chicken"

"You know, sometimes I think we're lucky to work at a rubber chicken factory"

"I agree"

"So let's do it"

"Ok then"

"Margaret accept this rubber chicken and grant us victory!"

"Please!"

*Cuts off head"

"I miss the chanting"

"Me too"

"Oh well what can you do"

"Win the World Baseball Classic"

"Come on You Warriors!"

"Let's Go Milchama!"

[Western cuba]

Béisbol en La Mañana

Con Diego y Miguel

Announcer:
Diego:
Miguel:

"Well I want to keep today's segment nice and short. I want to get to Rockport early to tailgate with the fans".

"Don't blame you, there wasn't much to party about after last night. Why did we have to blow that game?"

"We can't blame Fenyak, he had an outstanding seven games of pitching last night, Taeshan couldn't hit nothing off him. And well we couldn't hit nothing off Taeshan in the game either."

"No offense, and the poor decision by Kaspar to take Fenyak out after seven innings is what screwed us over in Game 1".

"I had no idea what Kaspar was thinking last night, probably the every baseball fan did too. You don't pull a pitcher when he is on a hot streak, Fenyak stuck out the last two batters in that inning".

"And then he put in Rodriquez..."

"I can tell you one thing that I'm one-hundred percent sure of. Rodriquez won't be returning as a reliever next classic, he has simply cost us too many games this classic. Along with most of the relieving core almost blowing many games".

"Seems like that has been our weakest link throughout this classic, us only scoring one run last night was rare. That normally doesn't happen, credit to the Taeshan pitcher, and thanks to my terrible memory, I have forgotten who it was".

"Speaking of rare, what is with all these extra inning games we have been in so far. Both games we won against Saugeais went to extras, and now we lost to Taeshan in the 10th".

"I don't know, I don't mind it either. I love nail-biters, of course though I hate it when were the team losing, and it sucked last night. I can say this classic has been a great one so far".

"Wouldn't be great though, to win the classic in one of the birthplaces of baseball?"


"I'm sure that would be the dream of every player on the national team, and really every player and boy in Western Cuba".

"Well we still have a chance, were not in as deep as a pit as it may seem. The semi-finals is a five-game series, so another loss does not eliminate us".

"We need to win three straight though, with Alejandro Torres out for the rest of the classic, were limited to only four pitchers in the rotation. I'll rather close this out in Game 4 without needing our ace to pitch again".

"You have a very good point there. Even if we win Game 5 and make it to the finals. We start off without Fredek Fenyak pitching, as of right now he is the heart and soul of this team."

"I'm starting to feel a little stupid for knocking down on Fenyak so much at the beginning of this classic. We go from saying he shouldn't be on the team, to saying he is the heart of soul of it".

"And we were totally wrong, we were ignorant about Fenyak. It stinks losing that game last night, at least it's not a loss on Fenyak's account".

"A lose is a lose though, it still stings no matter what. It doesn't matter if we only lost by a run, or we lost by ten. In the end, we lost".

"Well Maradona has a huge task tonight, we have not seen him at his full potential all classic. Tonight would be a great night to do so. I've expecting a big game out of him tonight".

"All of us are, and were nearing the end of today's show. Do you know what there cooking outside the stadium right now?"

"I've heard they a bunch of food, like pastelitos and cuban sandwiches".

"Sounds awesome, we will see you tomorrow Western Cuba".

[Western cuba]

Béisbol en La Mañana

Con Diego y Miguel

Announcer:
Diego:
Miguel:

"Well I want to keep today's segment nice and short. I want to get to Rockport early to tailgate with the fans".

"Don't blame you, there wasn't much to party about after last night. Why did we have to blow that game?"

"We can't blame Fenyak, he had an outstanding seven games of pitching last night, Taeshan couldn't hit nothing off him. And well we couldn't hit nothing off Taeshan in the game either."

"No offense, and the poor decision by Kaspar to take Fenyak out after seven innings is what screwed us over in Game 1".

"I had no idea what Kaspar was thinking last night, probably the every baseball fan did too. You don't pull a pitcher when he is on a hot streak, Fenyak stuck out the last two batters in that inning".

"And then he put in Rodriquez..."

"I can tell you one thing that I'm one-hundred percent sure of. Rodriquez won't be returning as a reliever next classic, he has simply cost us too many games this classic. Along with most of the relieving core almost blowing many games".

"Seems like that has been our weakest link throughout this classic, us only scoring one run last night was rare. That normally doesn't happen, credit to the Taeshan pitcher, and thanks to my terrible memory, I have forgotten who it was".

"Speaking of rare, what is with all these extra inning games we have been in so far. Both games we won against Saugeais went to extras, and now we lost to Taeshan in the 10th".

"I don't know, I don't mind it either. I love nail-biters, of course though I hate it when were the team losing, and it sucked last night. I can say this classic has been a great one so far".

"Wouldn't be great though, to win the classic in one of the birthplaces of baseball?"


"I'm sure that would be the dream of every player on the national team, and really every player and boy in Western Cuba".

"Well we still have a chance, were not in as deep as a pit as it may seem. The semi-finals is a five-game series, so another loss does not eliminate us".

"We need to win three straight though, with Alejandro Torres out for the rest of the classic, were limited to only four pitchers in the rotation. I'll rather close this out in Game 4 without needing our ace to pitch again".

"You have a very good point there. Even if we win Game 5 and make it to the finals. We start off without Fredek Fenyak pitching, as of right now he is the heart and soul of this team."

"I'm starting to feel a little stupid for knocking down on Fenyak so much at the beginning of this classic. We go from saying he shouldn't be on the team, to saying he is the heart of soul of it".

"And we were totally wrong, we were ignorant about Fenyak. It stinks losing that game last night, at least it's not a loss on Fenyak's account".

"A lose is a lose though, it still stings no matter what. It doesn't matter if we only lost by a run, or we lost by ten. In the end, we lost".

"Well Maradona has a huge task tonight, we have not seen him at his full potential all classic. Tonight would be a great night to do so. I've expecting a big game out of him tonight".

"All of us are, and were nearing the end of today's show. Do you know what there cooking outside the stadium right now?"

"I've heard they a bunch of food, like pastelitos and cuban sandwiches".

"Sounds awesome, we will see you tomorrow Western Cuba".

[Qazox]

RP cutoff a bit earlier than I expected. Tommorrow night's cutoff will be at 11:59pm.

Game 2 scores up shortly.

[Qazox]

Series Q
Darmen (DARM)          3 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0  6
Milchama (MILC)        2 3 3 0 1 0 0 1 X 10


  Series Q             Pld   W  L    Win % 
1 Darmen                 2   1  1    0.500
  Milchama               2   1  1    0.500

Series R
Taeshan (TAES)         0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Western Cuba (WCBA)    0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  4


  Series R             Pld   W  L    Win % 
1 Taeshan                2   1  1    0.500
  Western Cuba           2   1  1    0.500

[Qazox]

Guess no one noticed Game two... will you all notice Game 3, where 2 teams will be one win away from the final?

Game 3 scores up shortly.

[Qazox]

Series Q
Milchama (MILC)        0 2 0 0 2 1 0 1 1  7
Darmen (DARM)          0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 0  5


  Series Q             Pld   W  L    Win % 
1 Milchama               3   2  1    0.667
2 Darmen                 3   1  2    0.333

Series R
Western Cuba (WCBA)    1 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0  5
Taeshan (TAES)         0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  2


  Series R             Pld   W  L    Win % 
1 Western Cuba           3   2  1    0.667
2 Taeshan                3   1  2    0.333

[Milchama]

"Those Cardiac Warriors!"

"Another crazy late win"

"Seriously, Stevenson is just clutch"

"Another late single, stolen base, then she scores on an infield single!?"

"How crazy is that?"

"It's insane"

"She just keeps on doing that"

"Well really Milchama just keeps on doing that"

"It's like we're the Orioles or something"

"Who are they?"

"Don't worry about it"

"Ok, anyway those Warriors"

"You know those games where it's tied late and you figure that the manager is stupid for thinking that the game is going 9 innings"

"Sure"

"I didn't think Keegon was stupid this time, I knew Milchama would find a way to win"

"Yeah, granted it's not like he had different relievers set up or anything"

"No but Havort was knocked out early"

"True"

"And that did tax the bullpen"

"Yep, Volcrom did have to pitch 3 innings there"

"He was excellent"

"That he was"

"Still what a WBC"

"Agreed"

"And now we're one win away from the finals"

"Let's do this!"

"Come on You Warriors!"

"Let's Go Milchama!"

[Taeshan]

"Well that is a stunning turn of events."

"Yeah the whole right side of our infield getting hurt in one game."

"And then losing a second in a row."

"Ugh we really need them back."

"Bleacher and Fisher really are the heart and soul of the team."

"It was such a good run until these two games. If we could just win tomorrow, we force a game five, and anything could happen."

"On any given sunday."

"On any given day really."

"We are after all Taeshan."

"And as the memes say..."

"If you think your gonna beat Taeshan, your gonna have a bad time."

"Oh yeah baby. Not a Good time, a bad one."

[Qazox]

RP cutoff for Game 4. Will the finals start tommorrow night or will there be a Game 5 (or two)?

Scores up ASAP.

[Qazox]

Series Q
Darmen (DARM)          0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Milchama (MILC)        0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  1


  Series Q             Pld   W  L    Win % 
1 Milchama               4   3  1    0.750
2 Darmen                 4   1  3    0.250

Series R
Taeshan (TAES)         0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Western Cuba (WCBA)    0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 X  4


  Series R             Pld   W  L    Win % 
1 Western Cuba           4   3  1    0.750
2 Taeshan                4   1  3    0.250

3rd place series: #2 Taeshan v. #1 Darmen @ Ganja Vodka Stadium, Fromburg (Best of 5)

Championship: #5 Milchama v. #3 Western Cuba @ SaxerDome, SaxerVilla (Best of 7)

[Western cuba]

Béisbol en La Mañana

Con Diego y Miguel

Announcer:
Diego:
Miguel:

"Wow look at that, three finals appearances in the last four classics. Is Western Cuba becoming a powerhouse?"

"Becoming? We are a powerhouse Miguel. We don't have the legacy that Az-cz, Newmanistan, Qazox, Cassadaigua, and even Milchama and Zwangzug yet, but were getting there. And winning WBC 23 will certainly cement that".

"So what did you think of Palomo last night? Was it a clutch performance by him?"

"Of course, while it wasn't a perfect game, it seemed pretty close to perfect. The only reason Taeshan scored was due to two foolish errors in the sixth".

"Which reminds us what we need to correct in order to win a championship. If we fix our fielding and relieving problems, then we got ourselves a championship".

"And it's going to be an exciting one. A seven game series, and against one of the biggest names in baseball".

"Yep, the warriors. Two-time champs, but it's been a while. In fact the Warriors haven't won since WBC V, where they won two straight classics. They haven't found the same success since, and haven't reached the finals since WBC VIII. So it's been quite a brought for Milchama".

"If we play like we did last night though, except for those errors in the sixth, then we shouldn't have a problem winning a championship".

"It's even better since we got to have Fenyak pitch tonight, he could of had to pitch if Taeshan forced us into a Game 5. So it's great that we get to start off against Milchama with our ace".

"Know what's interesting, I'm pretty sure Fenyak is the only pitcher in the rotation that was in WBC 20 when we lost to Lycrabon in the finals. It's all new since".

"Wow, if that's true, it shows how long Fenyak has been with the national team. He has had quite a career. It would be amazing to close it out with two straight WBC titles, I wouldn't doubt it if he secured a hall of fame spot".

"Speaking of Hall of Fame spots, I'm pretty sure we qualify for at least four. It might be more though, nobody has been inducted yet, or even debated about".

"Well it's a tough choice, the talent is just getting better, and there was so much good talent before. If Fenyak wins another championship, he will be surely a lock. But then you got players like Philip Castro, and then you have two great managers like Jose Peterson and Ivan Kasper."

"Peterson brought baseball back to Western Cuba, but I doubt he will make the Hall of Fame. Never winning a title under manager will cost you that. Kasper, well when he retires, he will have a great chance".

"I have the feeling he is here to stay though. Unless he decided to go to a club team, any baseball team in the world would be foolish not to make an attempt to hire him".

"He would certainly find a job with the Manta Knights, runner-ups for the BCCC. But I think he's going to stay with the national team".

"Unless they fire him".

"And that would be an outrage! Why in the world would you fire a manager when he takes you to the finals in two straight classics, and possible two straight championships!"

"And I hope they don't, they would be fools to. But speaking of managers, I wonder if Jose Peterson will sign with a club".

"Well he announced his retirement from managing, but I doubt that will continue for long. Just like Kasper, he will be in pretty high demand, not as high as Kasper would be though".

"I've been locking at past match-ups against Milchama in the past and we haven't had much, but there is one notable one, and it was a big one".

"What would that be?"

"I'm surprised you don't know, in fact I was surprised I didn't either. It turned out we faced them last classic in the quarter-finals. And we won on Game 3 in a best out of 3 series".

"Well that makes an interesting final match up. And I just remembered, we were originally paired with Milchama in the group stage for this classic".

"Yeah, but that was because the computers that drew the groups was all messed up."

"Well yes, but I suppose we were originally going to face them".

"True, but now we get to see them in the finals. Which is way better than them facing each other in groups. So before we go, what's your prediction for the finals?"

"Well, it's going to be no sweep for Western Cuba, and Milchama won't make it easy for us. However I think we should be able to close it out in six games and win another championship".

"I was thinking about the same, but we may actually be able to close it out in five. That's if our relievers play well though."

Agreed, but were at the end of the show folks, we will see you guys tomorrow, and maybe some of you lucky folks at the stadium tonight. Later everyone."