World Baseball Classic 15: Everything thread

[Cassadaigua]

Jennifer’s Space

Most of us went to the game between Newmanistan and Dancougar last night as naturally it provided us a good opportunity to watch the teams before we played one of them, but really we just did it because we wanted to watch the game. It was, in a way, sad to see the Dancougar players go because they don’t have a home to go back too. They will figure something out and there seems to be a pretty strong outpouring of compassion from around the world for them. Newmanistan won that game, and that will mean we will play the same team we defeated for the championship last time. Neither of us have completely the same roster, and I think the Rockets have more of the same personnel then we do, so they will be hungry to knock us out. I agree with The Rocket Report on one thing; that we are meeting too early. That sucks if you are the loser, but if you win the series, then you have overcome a big rival which is something that should catapult you into other series. Our nation doesn’t really have a rivalry with Newmanistan, the last Classic went by peacefully, and so have other meetings in other sports. We especially respect them in baseball since they are also a team of women. The winner gets Tocrowkia or Qazox. In total, there are a lot of WBC championships in our half of the bracket and just one in the other half.

Speaking of Tocrowkia, we have now found out what has happened to our missing fans and it ain’t pretty. I’m sure you have seen the news clips as it has been all over Cassadaigua. Exorcizing a curse? Oh boy. Well, this just wants us to beat those Nordics even more, although it is not the fault of any of their baseball players and that we can’t look past Newmanistan. But yeah, I want them to beat Qazox, because I want to play them again. It’s really sad that this has had to happen. Hopefully Babbage police are hot on their trail. Since we were able to take Bloodbath Valley out in two games, we have been able to reset our pitching staff a bit. Stacey Franklin got two more needed days off, and since the Rockets are going with Kaitlyn Ahearn, we will not do any skipping over in our rotation and will pitch Stacey in the first game, and then look to Samantha Thatcher in the second game. Brianna Bates will pitch game three if we need it, and the one thing I agree with Rockets fans about is that we more then likely will need it. We hope you enjoy the series, and if you can’t make it out here, then be sure to catch us on TV!

[Sarzonia]

John Morgan admitted after the match that he had never been as nervous for a start as he was before the elimination match against Tarrentum.

"Everything about it. Elimination game. First start since my suspension. Everything has me feeling nervous." He even admitted to vomiting before the match, something he kept from manager Khalil Dennis.

He was understandably shaky in the early going, allowing four runs in five innings, but he pitched just well enough to give Sarzonia the momentum it would need to defeat Tarrentum 10-4 and win the octofinal series two games to one.

Sarzonia's next series is against Toiletdonia, which flushed Secristan out of the World Baseball Classic with a 5-3 victory to take that series two games to one. Brian Edwards will start Game 1 for the Stars, and Dennis said the result of Game 1 would determine which starter would pitch Game 2.

"If we win Game 1, Ken Sutcliffe gets the start," he said. "If we lose, Brad Baxter gets the start." Dennis said he knew Baxter would pitch on three-days rest if that happened, but said, "we need our best people out there in an elimination match."

In other results of interest to Sarzonians, Qazox defeated Delaclava two games to one and will face top seeded Tocrowkia. Newmanistan officially closed the book on Dancougar with a two games to one series victory over the Black Wings. The latter result saw bench coach Geoff Yancey pause for several moments before walking away from the podium.

"It's hard to believe that a nation with that much tradition and history is gone," third baseman Kate Schmidt said. As for Qazox, she said rooting for Tocrowkia was "strange, but necessary.

"Ray Cyst is an asshole, plain and simple," she said. "I want to see him wallow in his fucking misery."

[Qazox]

QBS.com/WBC XV Coverage

Atkins goes the distance, Qazox to face Tocrowkia next.

BOX SCORE

Qazox     300 100 010 - 5 10 0
Delaclava 010 010 000 - 2  8 0

Jeanne Atkins went 9 innings, scattering only 7 hits as Qazox advanced to the quarterfinals witha 5-2 victory over Delaclava.

For the 3rd straight game, Qazox' offense jumped on the Delaclavan starter, as the first four batters reached, as the first three, Thomas Brown, Diane Riggles and Dyana Garski who all each singled; all scored on Jason Tyson's bases-clearing double to left. Denton Wolfe then managed to get the next three batters to flyout to close the inning. In the bottom of the 2nd, Jim Jeffries slammed a solo shot to dead center to make it 3-1.

In the 4th, Garski hit a HR to right to make it 4-1 and once again Jefferies cut the lead back down to 2 with another shot in the bottom of the 5th. In the 8th, back-to-back doubles with 2 out by Chad Savoy and George Rabbinski made it 5-2 Qazox.

With Qazox' bullpen having been used so often this tournmey so far, Atkins waived off any attempt by David Dell to remove her from the game. In the 9th, with 1 out, Delaclava had runners on 1st and 3rd with Carlos Ruiz coming in to bat for the ptcher. Atkins once again refused to leave and got Ruiz to ground into the series-ending 4-6-3 double play.

The WBC 15 WIKI PAGE!

[Tocrowkia]

NordicNation.net

World Baseball Classic 15 coverage

The Nordics have swept away the Warriors and move onto the next round against a familiar opponent in Qazox, having played that team in the two previous classics. In that time the Nordics are 4-0 against them, but still aren't taking their next opponent lightly. "We're very familiar with that team and we're very confident when we play them." Paul Rudolf said on the matter. "We've beaten them every time we've played them in the past two years, we know what to look for in their pitches and how to approach their hitters. Even so don't think we're going to get too comfy, because it's the playoffs. We have alot to make up for after last year."

Sofie Behm will start game 1.

[Toiletdonia]

Secristan 200 100 000 - 3
Toiletdonia 040 001 00X - 5 (Toiletdonia win series 2-1)

Jancotta: Woo! We beat the Millionaires!

Spurone: Were going to the next round!

Moss: Damn! That's bad.

Jancotta: What the win?

Moss: No I didn't win anything on my scratch card!

Spurone: Damn it that's not good.

Jancotta: But were already getting paid £2,000,000!

Moss: I know but it could have been £3,000,000.

Jancotta: But anyway we beat the Millionaires!

Spurone: Now I think we're forgetting something.

Jancotta: I can't think what.

Spurone: Me neither.

Moss: Wait a second it is my wedding!

Spurone: Yeah it is!

Moss: We need to let the guest in!

*They open the door.*

Guest: We've been outside for 3 days!

Guest 2: We had to eat what we found in the bin!

Spurone: But didn't you have money and a hotel down the street?

Guest: Yeah but that's not the point!

Spurone: Sorry come in for the wedding.

In the garden...

Priest: Thank you all for coming! Today 2 people will be joined in the eyes of Voodoo queen Valluka! Who kills all who stand against her!

Moss: *Whispering* Why did we get a voodoo priest?

Spurone: Sorry I'm voodoo and Methodist.

Priest: Do you Moss take Spurone to be you husband in the eyes of death!!!!!!!! In illness and in death and in the volcano which you will be thrown in after the wedding!

Moss: Er no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spurone: Damn this stupid tradition!

Priest: Fine use another church but Valluka hates you now!

[Quintessence of Dust]

Here are our lineups for the quarterfinal series against the Zebras. Game #3 assumes that the Zebras will follow their rotation and use Bargmavis; if they return to Loomis, the standard lineup applies.

Game 1           Game 2        Game 3
1. Masami CF     Masami CF     Momoko 2B
2. Emily LF      Sakiko LF     Natalia RF
3. Huang SS      Natalia RF    Radosav C
4. Natalia RF    Momoko 2B     Sakiko LF
5. Momoko 2B     Emily DH      Huang SS
6. Anna 1B       Amanda 3B     Amanda 3B
7. Amanda 3B     Huang SS      Karen CF
8. George P      Anna 1B       Django P
9. Radosav C     Radosav C     Anna 1B

P.               Arthur

[The Babbage Islands]

Quarterfinals: Game 1 (2-out-of-3)

The published line scores reflect how the scorinator arrives at final scores. The final scores and number of innings shown are official. No nation's RP will be penalised for using, or for not using, the generated line scores.

Host stadiums

At Callahan & Babcock Arena, Bloomfield

Toiletdonia           102 001 101 - 6
Sarzonia              300 118 00X - 13 (Sarzonia lead series 1-0)

At Babbage Exploration Field, Virginia City

Quintessence of Dust  020 001 010 - 4
Zwangzug              100 401 10X - 7 (Zwangzug lead series 1-0)

At The Ball Park, West Scoville

Cassadaigua           010 100 001 - 3
Newmanistan           310 000 10X - 5 (Newmanistan lead series 1-0)

At Fresh-Fizz Field, Armagh

Qazox                 001 000 000 - 1
Tocrowkia             000 001 01X - 2 (Tocrowkia lead series 1-0)

[Tarrentum]

We humbly submit the following to the host nation for the World Baseball Classic 15, The Babbage Islands. Knowing full well that this may have not been done before, we put forth Dessea Vallena (2B) for consideration as WBC 15 Overall MVP. Her hitting statistics (we do not keep track of individual fielding statistics) throughout the 15 games that the Tarrentum National Baseball Team (Falcons) participated in during the tournament are as follows.
A bolded stat means that Vallena was the team leader.

AB	H	R	BB	BA	SB	CS	HR	RBI	1B	2B	3B	OBP	SLG	OPS	ISO	SecA
71	46	13	1	.648	11*	1	7	21	20	11	5	.653	1.197	1.850	.521	.704

^{*Tied for Team Lead}

---

For due consideration for the Breakout Player of the Classic Award, we submit SP Brodi Jacobo.
A bolded stat means that Jacobo was the team leader (among starting pitchers).

IP	W	L	ERA	ER	UER	H	BB	K	WHIP	XBH%	H/9	SO/9
26.6	3	0	3.38	10*	0	30	3	36	1.24	10.58%	10.2	12.2

^{*Tied for Team Lead}

The TNBC, along with all of Tarrentum, look forward to the Award Announcements at the end of the tournament.


For the Glory of Tarrentum,

[signature]
Rudolfio Dessperra
TNBC High Commissioner

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS TAKE OPENER

West Scoville, The Babbage Islands- Game one to Newmanistan. In a series that pits the finalists from the last WBC, especially in this early stage, neither team really wanted to be forced into a situation where they needed to win two in a row. It was a pretty good mix of Rocket and Dagan fans in the West Scoville, with both nations having a large amount of home supporters making the trip, and the fact that Babbage Island locals are probably neutral when it comes to a game between us. At the game were a couple of well known football players, enjoying a day off from both World Cup qualifying and domestic play and the tabloids are loving it. Jeremy McAllister, Jr and Shannon Myers were sitting side by side for the entire game, and they seem to be very happy with the others company. One photographer captured an image with Jeremy having his arm around Shannon’s neck in what seemed to be an embrace. Whether it was out of love, or Junior trying to console the Dagan World Cup blogger after Kristen Wheeler’s 7th inning HR at the time extended the Rockets lead to three is a moot point. These two seem to have something for one another, and perhaps this can explain Junior’s struggle in World Cup qualifying, even though he’s done well in the last few games. But that’s all a story for another thread, isn’t it? Of course, Jeremy as always under the microsope.

The same cannot be said for young Kaitlyn Ahearn. In fact, you can go ahead and call her the Rockets most underrated pitcher on this staff. In World Baseball Classic 14, she pitched ahead of Courtney Ratigan and Jessica Brasfield in the rotation, but was placed behind then by Christina Sanders for this Classic in the belief that the two youngsters had improved enough to the point where they could take on the role. Ahearn never complained or uttered a bad word about it, and instead let her pitching do the talking. While Ratigan and Brasfield had been a bit inconsistent, Ahearn had not. Kaitlyn, you see, had two complete game victories during qualifying. Still, and unlike her brash teammates, Kaitlyn is extremely modest, as before the game she told us that, “Who pitches a game before me or a game after me is fine with me. When my coach tells me you will pitch on this day, that’s what I prepare for and up to that point, I want nothing but success for my teammates.” A Stacey Keisler she is not when it comes to quotes, but she was sharp on this day against the defending champions. After retiring the Dagans in order in the top of the first, Newmanistan got three on the board right away for their pitcher. Stacie Meadows led the inning off with a double, and score on a Danielle Scott single. Two outs ended up scoring Scott, but Newmanistan was not quite done. Kristen Wheeler would single, and then a Courtney Weinman double put the third run on the board. An inning later, the team responded to Jennifer Branston’s RBI double with another run of their own. Jessica Sorenson led the inning off with a single, then later scored on a Danielle Scott single to restore the three run cushion at 4-1. From there, and with the exception of the Dagans getting one run on two hits in the fourth, Ahearn was unstoppable and she would strike nine Dagans out on the day in her complete game victory. As we alluded to previously, Newmanistan got a seventh inning HR from Kristen Wheeler, and Cassadaigua got a homer from Rachel Weston in the ninth but they would could no closer.

The three run first inning did Cassadaigua in, and coach Christina Sanders couldn’t have been happier then that. “I’m glad we got the early runs off of Stacey Franklin. We’ve been following her and noticing how she’d been pitching hurt a little bit. She’s a champion, so she still did a great job despite that but they pushed her back a few days, and that was a sign to us that maybe she wasn’t 100% yet. You don’t want a pitcher like that to get in a rhythm, because then they dominate you on adrenaline alone. Jumping out early kept that from happening.” While most of us in Newmanistan predicted this to be a three game series, we will now be hoping his will not be the case. It’ll be a battle of the aces, Sarah Brayton and Samantha Thatcher and it’s must-see baseball, for sure.

[Sarzonia]

Despite Sarzonia's Game 1 victory in the quarterfinal series against Toiletdonia, manager Khalil Dennis was among those observers who had one burning question.

What is wrong with Sarzonian pitching?

A pitching staff that usually could be counted on to shut down opposing bats has had a rough go of it in this World Baseball Classic. Fourth starter Brian Edwards couldn't get out of the sixth after he gave up a solo home run, forcing the bullpen to get 10 outs. He still got the win as Sarzonia defeated Toiletdonia 13-6 because the Stars were leading 5-4 to that point.

But the credit goes to an offence that has been mashing the ball. The Stars put up an eight spot in the bottom of the sixth as Kate Schmidt hit two home runs in the inning. She hit a solo shot to lead off the frame and a three-run bomb later in the inning.

"I was just seeing the ball well," Schmidt said. She went four-for-five with a booming double and a bloop single to right. "I wasn't even thinking of [hitting for the cycle]," she said when she was asked if she was worried about missing a triple from that feat. "I just wanted us to win the game."

"Our pitching staff has got to get better," Dennis, a Hall-of-Fame pitcher in his native Delaclava said. "We can't keep relying on [switch-pitcher Alan] Tisdale, even with two arms." Tisdale threw 2 1/3 innings lefthanded and got the first out of the ninth inning right handed before turning things over to Jay Ballard and Kenny Spencer.

With the Stars taking a one-game-to-none series lead, Dennis said fifth starter Ken Sutcliffe would start tonight with a trip to the semifinals in the balance. He said having Brad Baxter available for a potential Game 3 was the reason for the decision.

"We want to make sure we can throw our best starter out there if it's win or go home," he said.

Hitting coach and former Stars first baseman Hank Everly laughed when asked about the team's batting prowess despite playing without the designated hitter most of the World Baseball Classic.

"I guess our pitchers have been our hidden secret," he joked. Turning serious, he said, "Khalil has always wanted our pitchers to handle the bats as well as pitch. All our pitchers spend as much time in the batting cage as our position players do.

"Guys like Brad Baxter are natural athletes and can handle the bat. Other guys, not so much."

[Quintessence of Dust]

TalkBaseball.qd

A website. For talking. About baseball.

LIVEBLAG: Quintessence of Dust "@" Zwangzug
Posted by MetaNarrativesFTL

T1.0: Eckhart winds up, wait, ARGH HE'S FALLING OFF THE MOUND! oh, no, that's just his wind-up and the pitch is rather good, actually, and Masami is late on her swing. Eckhart with the pitch and OH MY QOD HE'S GOING TO FALL OVER!! oops, no, that really is how he pitches, and again, it works well, and it's a broken bat grounder to the mound, Masami will not beat out the throw.

T1.1: Emily up to bat. Eckhart pitches, COLLAPSES IN PAIN! no, hang on, he's fine, and the pop fly is snagged at second base.

T1.2: Up to bat is Huang Li, batting left. Eckhart's action is going to take some getting used to. Ball. Fouled off. A rare swish outside the zone. Collared that one, drive across the field, it's heading toward the short fence, could be gone, it's over Pratt's head - hits the top, and bounces down into the corner, Li is heading round and will head to third - Pratt with the throw and a nice slide by Li to evade the tag from Mercer. Triple! And Quintessence of Dust put a runner onto third.
...
Swing and a miss for strike three, and Natalia leaves the runner on. Just a 13 pitch first inning by Eckhart, and with four swinging strikes he's obviously getting a lot of break on his pitches early on. Or else the batters are just mesmerised by his action.

B1.0: George Jones to pitch, originally scheduled for Game #3 against Yafor 2, but given the ball today instead. Kersten batting for the Zebras. Fastball pitch, and cleanly hit, driven - all the way back! A leadoff shot by the second baseman to clear that short leftfield wall that was the bane of the Yaforite staff, and now proving tricky for Jones. Pratt to bat next. Another first pitch swing, another drive to left field - Pratt batting left handed however - this one doesn't look like it has the distance though, and snagged near the warning track by Emily Sanderson, good running catch.
...
B1.2: And after the first three batters all put their first pitches in play, a rather more typical at bat for Arzaga, taking nine pitches before grounding out to Jones. Zebras lead, 1-0.

T2.0: Momoko Koumura at bat. She looked good in the field in Game #1 against the Yaforites and hit a homer as the DH in Game #2 - she's scheduled to start on defence in all three games of this series, so we can only assume there's been a full recovery on that knee. Ball. Strike on the corner, Koumura doesn't agree, informs the umpire that he is wrong and can go drown in a ditch of his own blood, charming. Groundball, and running hard, might just beat out the throw. Good hustle there from Momoko, and certainly her baserunning is a valuable asset that that injury jeopardised, so good to see her running groundballs aggressively.

Anna Alaja, back in the lineup after sitting out the Yaforite series. Very susceptible to left handed pitching, but scheduled to start even if the Zebras play Bargmavis - so perhaps that's because they're teammates, and Zhou wants to keep his only Republican batter in the lineup. Who knows. High foul ball behind the plate. Ball. Swing a miss, 1-2 count. Cursory glances at first from Eckhart - I'd like to see his pickoff action - but no move from Koumura. Good hit, it's past Kersten, and that could be a double, Koumura slides in to Turner and he can't put the tag on. Anna Alaja with her 12th hit of the World Baseball Classic, pushing her average back above .300, and driving in an equalising run.
...
T2.2: And strikeout number three already, Eckhart proving a sterner obstacle than Cieger. Still a runner on second, Grubensek to bat. Called strike. Ball. Swinging strike. Line drive to short, past short, and it's into shallow centre, Scircle in pursuit still, but Alaja will score here, to give Quintessence of Dust the lead. Grubensek a player who seems to relish batting in the World Baseball Classic, and once again he's hitting much better here than in the domestic season. Back to the top of the order, Masami with her second at bat of the day. Tags a grounder towards Kersten, who will throw to Scircle for the forceout.
...
B2.2: Two outs, Turner on second, Scircle to bat. Strike. Ball. Looks like a hit, it will get past Momoko, but she puts in a good dive, and Turner will not risk the throw to home. Possibly could have been more aggressive with his baserunning, as her arm has never been very highly rated, and that means two runners on with Eckhart, the pitcher, to bat.
...
Another ball to 3-1, and Jones in danger of giving an easy walk to load the bases. This one's a strike, and Scircle heading for second - plows through the infield dirt, close call, but safe. Scircle and Amanda Jonsdottir very similar as players, both quick defensively, disappointing on the basepaths - but no complaints there, and quite a valuable steal - worth a +0.041 bump on the Wally the Win Expectancy Worm chart. Foul ball, still 3-2 count. Swing a miss, and Jones is relieved to sit down Eckhart, finally, and leave two runners on, with Zwangzug possibly letting a chance to score slide there.
...
T3.1: Yet another swinging strike. Driven hard by Li, this time to the right, and a brilliant play by Kersten! Diving catch to his right to rob Li of a certain hit.
...
B3.0: ...and he slides into second, Kersten can do no run so far. Two hits, a home run, a stolen base, and a web gem at the top of this inning. Jones to Pratt, takes the pitch for a strike, Kersten going again, hard throw to third - and out, this time! Gina Croes looks unhappy with that decision, but a good throw by Grubensek. He's thrown out 4 of 12 stealers this WBC, so perhaps batting better and fielding worse than at the domestic level.

B3.1: Pratt connects on that one, between first and second, and it will be a hit - and of course, there is no Kersten to score now.
...
T4.0: Ball. Hit! Momoko goes 2 for 2, and the line drive clears Throop in centre field, another single. Anna up to bat. Swings at her first pitch, hard grounder to Scircle, and Momoko won't beat the throw, Kersten relays to first for the double play!

T4.2: ...Anna has grounded into five double plays this Classic, which is many as all the other regular starters put together. Foul ball. Ball, to take the count to 3-2. Swinging strike, and another K for Eckhart. Amanda's 10th strikeout of the WBC, and her second of this game. Still 2-1, going into the bottom of the fourth.
...
B4.1: Fouled off again. Throop taking her time here. Too low, 2-2. Foul ball. Line drive, into left centre, and that will be a single. First pitch swing by Turner, and it's into right, and his second hit of the game. Throop could stretch it out to third, runners on the corners now. Ball to Scircle. Another hit, and Throop will score. Turner moves onto third, scores level.
...
B4.2: Ball. Fouled off. Put a charge on that one, and it's gone! Kersten's second round-tripper of the day, and it gives Zwangzug a huge jump. Wally the Win Expectancy Worm almost breaks his back on that one, from .572 to .870, and suddenly it's looking very bleak for Quintessence of Dust. It's also looking very bleak for George Jones, who departs after just 3.2 innings pitched, having given up 5 earned runs, two of them on homers by Jamie Kersten, nine hits, four strikeouts, no walks in total. Herbie Black, in to pitch relief...

...and Pratt drops a bunt down the third base line, Amanda is in quickly but it won't be quick enough, and a great bunt hit puts Pratt on first, Zwangug still going here in the fourth. Ball. Foul ball. Ball. Fouled off. Ball. And - sharp move to first, and Pratt is picked off to end the inning!
...
T5.1: ...strike, and Lai is sat down. That's Eckhart's seventh K today, and Lai is batting .036 this Classic. No, we didn't get our decimal point mixed up.
...
B5.1: Chikafuji throws a ball. Ball. Strike, looked high. Ball. Having real trouble finding the zone so far. Weak groundball, and that will force Arzaga out at second, but he nails Koumura with the slide and there's no throw to first. She gets up very slowly, and lets the departing Arzaga know she didn't appreciate that. Zhou watching with concern, but she looks to be moving ok.
...
B5.2: And that's ball four. Under half his pitches for strikes so far as Chikafuji walks Throop, and Turner, who's 2 for 2, to bat with runners on. Zwangzug lead 5-2 in the fifth. Swings at the pitch, looping foul down the first base line, but Anna will chase it down and make the play.

T6.0: Emily to leadoff the sixth. Ball. Ball. Strike. Ripped to deep right centre, and it could be gone. Home run! Her third longball of this Classic for Quintessence of Dust's all time leader, and she overtakes Natalia in the slugging column too. 5-3, and Wally takes a nose dive.
...
T6.1: It looks like to me like Momoko Koumura's day is over, because there are some animated conversations in the dugout as Toebacca the Wookiee walks out to bat. Evidently that collision at second did for her knee once more. Very disappointing. They don't have any reserve infielders left - I'm not sure why they had Lai pinch hit, but it's going to mean, I would expect, having Toebacca play third, Amanda shift over to short, and Huang shift to second. Amanda did start at short in WBC11, of course, and Huang at second in WBC14, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. Toebacca takes a ball. "Ah rasc rcworawaro aooo waoo scro akrarcao!!" he bellows.
...
B6.0: And the players take the field as I predicted, Huang-Toey-Amanda at 4-5-6. That breaks Huang Li's streak, having played every single inning at shortstop thus far this Classic. With 55 plate appearances and 26 assists she also leads the team in those categories. Very indefatigable, seemingly, unlike her mercurial middle infield partner, who is presumably off in the treatment room now. Still Chikafuji on the mound. Scircle tags a grounder down the third base line, and there is immediate action for Toebacca.
...
B6.1: Eckhart has a swing, and drive out to right! Well, this one could go, Natalia's in pursuit but I think it'll clear the fence, and the pitcher celebrates as he rounds the bases, a home run for Eckhart which surely puts the game beyond Quintessence of Dust, who are now 6-3 down. The third home run of the day as the Zebras show off some slightly uncharacteristic power in the BEF.
...
T7.0: That's all the way down past a sprawling Mercer, away from Pratt, and running up the warning track, as third basewoman/shortstop/Olympic field hockey medalist/decent fry cook Amanda Jonsdottir streaks round for extra bases...
...
And it has not been much of a Classic for Nea, with 4 strikeouts in 6 at bats as a pinch hitter.
...
T7.2: And Masami Tamagotchi strikes out for a second time as Eckhart collects Ks number 9, 10 and 11 to leave Amanda stranded.

B7.0: Into the attack is Tal Isaachar. Ball to Mercer. Hit well to left centre, and it will fall in for a hit. Not an auspicious start for the starter turned reliever.
...
And another hit, Arzarga driving the ball down the right field line, rolling all the way into the corner and he is round to second, Anna with the relay throw but it is way late and Mercer will score easily to take it to 7-3.
...
B7.2: ...and Amanda steps onto the base for the out. Good recovery from Tal, but a costly run, and the gap now 4.
...
T8.0: Emily with a looping fly to right centre. Looking for two, she will have to chance Throop's arm, slides into second - and the call is out! Thrown out trying to stretch it into a double, and perhaps the tense situations getting to Emily there.
...
T8.2: Natalia's double, incidentally, means she once more leads the team in total bases. Behind Momoko and Sakiko in slugging, but with more plate appearances than both of them combined. The new pitcher is...Gordon Chane, bringing their closer straight in. Toebacca takes a ball. Ball. Hit, and it bounces to the fence in deep right, could be a double, and Natalia will score, to bring the score back to 7-4. Certainly things still interesting - Zwangzug have surrendered bigger leads than this before. Still hope...we hope?
...
B8.0: Zwangzug pinch hitting now, Keigenbey at bat, with Derly next up. Swings and misses. We will face this guy as a starter tomorrow, when the DH is in use, incidentally. And that looks like a hit, ominously, as he punches a groundball between third and short, and Toebacca will hurry across.
...
B8.2: ...and the needle tips 100! Not too sure how much of that Arzarga saw, but Mazio's second K ends the inning. He's struck out 9 in 6.2 innings pitched so far this WBC. But it's relief work that won't count for much if Quintessence of Dust's hitters can't produce a spark at the top of the ninth.
...
T9.2: ...and Rustrian snags it. That's the game! Sakiko hangs her head, but really it was all about the pitching - and hitting! - show Eckhart put on, and a very solid offensive showing from Jamie Kersten. It's really going to be tough now for the Quodites to come back.

[Cassadaigua]

Jennifer’s Space

Things did not exactly go our way today even though there were some pretty special Cassadagans in house for this event. As most of you know, we have five members of our World Cup team that play for Belgium FC in The Babbage Islands, and on their day off they decided to watch us. Even though I think a lot of the attention was on Shannon Myers and Jeremy McAllister, Junior of Newmanistan, it was great to have them all here. We had some World Bowl players here too, as don’t forget they also have some fond memories of The Babbage Islands. I wish we could have done more for them on the field last night then this 5-3 loss to Newmanistan. Before the game Stacey Franklin told us that she was ready to go, and the pitching coach and her assistants all confirmed that Stacey had her normal zip on her fastball and that she was still getting plenty of break on the pitches that needed to do exactly that. Stacey said that she wasn’t any more nervous about this game then how she would normally be before a start, and I do think she gave us her best. Newmanistan was able to get to her. No one ever wants to fall behind 3-0 after the first inning, but that was the situation that we put ourselves in. When we scored the second inning run, the thought process was that we just needed to chip away at their lead. I had a good swing on Kaitlyn Ahearn’s curveball there, but I almost wish I could have hit it another fifteen feet because then it would have been a two run shot, and it would have been even closer. Newmanistan’s second inning run may have been more disheartening then their three first inning runs, but we persevered, and battled, we just never could get any closer then two runs back. Kristen Wheeler’s home run was the back-breaker. I could understand why Shannon Myers would want to be consoled by anyone who just may have been sitting next to her.

Tomorrow we must win in order to extend this series. The good news is that we will have our best starting pitcher on the mound in Samantha Thatcher. Some people in the media are saying that we need Meghan Corrigan real bad since she was always able to come through in big games for us, especially in World Baseball Classics 13 and 14. That’s not exactly fair to us though, and to any of their pitchers. I loved Meghan (no, not like that, Mr. Cyst), but we have all long since accepted the fact that she retired after the last Classic. Other names from our championship team that retired are brought up too, as if we would have defeated the Rockets last night if we had all of them in the lineup. It’s just an example of how high that expectation has gotten, not just because of our baseball recent past, but titles we have won in other sports recently. Our fan base now won’t accept anything less. That’s no different then what we will accept on the field, but please be fair about it. Let us, the players who are on the team now be the ones who decide the outcome of the game on the field. Meghan Corrigan and such have nothing to do with this now. The backs are against the wall, but I know we will have your support in game two. I know I don’t wanna go home yet.

[Toiletdonia]

Toiletdonia          102 001 101 - 6
Sarzonia              300 118 00X - 13 (Sarzonia lead series 1-0)

Moss: I can't believe it.

Spurone: I know it feels bad to lose!

Jancotta: Yeah.

Moss: Not that I won the lotto.

Jancotta: Good but we lost.

Spurone: I think we need to do something.

Jancotta: Yes and I think I have the answer.

Spurone: What?

Moss: No match fixing with my lotto money!

Jancotta: No not that. Every time we won the pitch smelt of urine slightly!

Spurone: We must tell the people who did it to do it again!

Toi Sport
Today Toiletdonian player Jancotta made an appeal. He has said "We have found a lucky charm. Every time the pitch smells slightly of urine we won. We would like to ask the people who have done this in the past to open there bladders and donate! The future of Toiletdonian baseball is at stake and winning would change stuff for us. So please come and have a pee on our pitch. Make us a number 1!

OG1: You heard the hero get the cola out!

OG2: Yes lets go!

One bus trip later.

OG2: Ready?

OG1: Yes!

One quick Toilet trip later.

OG1: That should do it! Good luck Toiletdonia!

Police advance on them.

Police: Your under arrest from having a pee pee on public property!

OG1: But were what Toiletdonia needs to win!

Police: Sorry but no your going into jail!

Jancotta runs on pitch

Jancotta: No but they're national heros!

Police: Sorry but the laws the law!

Will the office people get out of jail? Will Toiletdonia win? Will Moss and Spurone get married? Will I stop writing poor story lines? Find out next time!

[Zwangzug]

"George Jones getting the start for Quintessence of Dust."

"And here we go. Hit hard, out to...over the fence! Jamie Kersten pokes it over the short fence in left field and the Zebras take the lead on their first swing..."

"...now Jones in contrast a pretty good hitting pitcher."

"He struck out in the top of the inning, Oliver."

"Yeah, I know, but in general."

"Taken outside, three and one."

"Let's see...it's Jess Ortermon the closest the Crabs have to a hitting pitcher. Even then, not that well."

"Which would perhaps be relevant if she stood a chance of being on the national team."

"Hey, Gina Croes in charge, you never know."

"Croes didn't get the job by being provincial. Here's a strike...and they're sending Scircle! She's safe on second, stolen base."

"Well, here we see, Croes pushing Scircle I think a little more than Maren Ruud did. I mean, if you'd only seen her field, you'd assume she had to be this good."

"No, I wouldn't. There are plenty of people who are good in the field but weak offensively.'

"Not on the national team of the eighth seeds there isn't."

"Fouled away, still three and two."

"But like I say, maybe she's finally living up to potential."

"At her age?"

"How old is she?"

"Never mind. Swung on and missed, and Quintessence of Dust are out of the inning."

"The Zebras strand two. We go to the third, it's 2-1 Quintessence of Dust..."

"...This one'll be hit through the--no it won't! Kersten dives and comes up with it, what a catch for Jamie!"

"And with Kersten due to lead off the bottom half, we almost had one of those old LOOFAs."

"What? Is this something you researched?"

"Uh, not exactly..."

"...ball, away. And Kersten on the run...safe on second!"

"Yeah, and this is just more of Croes, you can tell."

"Are the Crabs even that aggressive on the basepaths?"

"Well, Francis Liermori runs over middle infielders when he gets the chance."

"...Not like that. This one is taken for a strike...Kersten will run again! And this time Grubensek gets the out at third..."

"...I've got an e-mail here from Steven in Frischberg."

"Ball, high."

"Steven says that he saw ten steals for both teams combined in a college game a couple years ago."

"Dare I ask which teams?"

"Well, you could."

"Which teams, Oliver?

"Uh, give me a minute."

"Fouled back to the screen."

"Um...Taves against Fropal, I think."

"Oh...are either of them in Frischberg?"

"Fropal might be? Or maybe that's the suburbs?"

"This one is...connected and hit hard! It'll carry, a three-run homer for Jamie Kersten and the Zebras take the lead..."

"...and we'll let you know if we hear anything about Momoko Koumura."

"That's right. And...this one is--cracked into right field! Kivistö tracking, but--no, it's out of here! And Paul Eckhart trying to improvise a home run trot here..."

[Qazox]

WBC15/Baseball/Sports/MSQBC.com

Classic Pitching Duel ends on balk.

BOX SCORE

Qazox     001 000 000 - 1 4 0
Tocrowkia 000 001 01X - 2 5 0

Brianna Hayes went 8 strong innings, but couldn't defeat Tocrowkia's Sofie Behm who only gave up 3 hits, only one after the 3rd, in a 2-1 victory for the Nordics in Game 1 of the quarterfinals.

In the 3rd, after 2 innings of 1-2-3 baseball, back-to-back singles by Grant Calvin and Adele Grahame and a sac bunt by Hayes set up a bloop single to center by Mike Stiller. But little did anyone know that Qazox would have only 2 more base runners during the remainder of the game.

But Hayes scattered 1 hit and a walk in the first 5 innings, until Michael Hammer doubled to center to lead off the 6th. Hammer would score three batters later when Kitten Dyfuse slapped a double to right-field corner tying the game at 1-1. Dyfuse would be stranded at third when Adam Marksworth struck out to end the threat.

In the 8th, The First base umpire, whose last name was West, proved to be the difference. After a lead-off single by Jill Haviland and a single by Hammer to move Haviland to third; Hayes struck out Kathrin Jordan and Behm's suicide bunt failed. On a 0-2 pitch to Dyfuse, Hayes threw over to first to keep Hammer from gaining a lead when she was called for a balk for failing to stop on the throw to first. That call sent Hammer to 2nd and Haviland home with what would prove to be the winning run. David Dell promptly came flying out of the dugout, figuratively of course, to protest the call and after a few seconds of jawing was run from the game. Luckily for Qazox, Hayes kept her cool and struck out Dyfuse on the next pitch

Qazox did manage to end Behm's streak of 18 consecutive out batters with a walk by George Rabbinski and a single by Diane Riggles. But after Calvin grounded into a 5-4-3 double play, Juanita Sanchez, who came in to pinch-hit for Grahame; flied out to deep center to end the game.

Afterwards, Dell had this to say about the balk:

According to that ****ing umpire, West or Worst or whatever his ****ing name is; Paul Rudolf told Albin Linder about Brianna's quick move to first. I told him after he made that call that in a game like that to call a balk is unduly influencing the game and as such he could take the nearest bat and shove it up his a**. I hope that tommorrow he calls Matthew Shaporio's stuttering delivery a balk as well, but I doubt that.

Due to his postgame comments, David Dell was fined 12,500 Zaqs (approx. $5,000US) and will not coach tommorrow's game. Pitching coach Greg Ethier will take the reins and Charles Waskica, after being bumped from the Game 2 start vs. Delaclava, will start with Qazox' season on the line.

The WBC 15 WIKI PAGE!

(ooc: Tocrowkia, the psotgame comments are not at or about you, but a pastiche of Ozzie Gullien for the ejections the other day in the Indians-White Sox Game.)

[Tocrowkia]

NordicNation.net

World Baseball Classic 15 coverage

Code: Select all

TEAMS        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R H E
QAZ          0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0   1 4 0
TOC          0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 x   2 5 0


WIN:
Sofie Behm (2-1)
Save
Jamie Von Tipker (2)

A strong pitching performance by starter Sofie Behm, and a controversial balk call won the day for the Nordics in the 1st game of the quarter-finals. Sofie Behm, whom at one point retired 18 straight batters picked up her second win of the Classic. "I was feeling it out there. I was hitting my spots and Kevin [Monroe] was calling a great game." She remarked after her performance. "There was alot of pressure on all of us, obviously, but we channeled it the right direction." Michael Hammer, whom had been performing well above expectations all Classic long was involved in both run scoring events. First with his double, and then a single that ended up being a prelude to the balk call.

"I thought it was the right call, and that's all I'm going to say." Paul Rudolf said after the game. A team member that asked not to be identified said that "They're sounding like Sarzonians, with all the cursing and crap. Grow the hell up." Matthew Shaporio will start game 2.

[Quintessence of Dust]

Posted on the In Brief section of the QBS website.

Tamagotchi and Koumura named to Hall of Fame

Masami Tamagotchi and Momoko Koumura have been named as Quintessence of Dust's first two inductees to the World Baseball Classic Hall of Fame. The berths were won on the basis of achieving three playoff appearances, and for appearing in five separate WBC editions. They will join such other luminaries as Zwangzug's Brianna Schneider, Tocrowkia's Jamie Von Tipker, and Newmanistan's Sarah Boland. The WBC Hall of Fame, located in Pocono City, Newmanistan, has few set rules for induction, and while some nations choose only to honour retired members, both Tamagotchi and Koumura will be in action tomorrow for the critical Game #2 of the quarterfinal series against Zwangzug.

The two selections were made using different methods. The first berth - which officially goes to Koumura - was awarded by public vote, the second by - naturally - statistically analysis. In the former case, members of the popular sports blog He's Had An Absolute Holocaust were able to vote for players. Koumura achieved the most votes of any player, with 19%, edging out Emily Sanderson (16%) and Django "Three Finger" Scheinhart (14%). The highest number of votes went to "butts lol" 29%, with a surprisingly large number of votes also accrued by "[appalling shock site spam]" (12%), but - controversially - site administrator MetaNarrativesFTL excluded these results from the final tally. "Do we really want to induct an Internet meme as our first ever Hall of Famer?" he asked in a site blog.

The second selection was achieved using an analysis of the cumulative data of the first five World Baseball Classics (up to the end of the group stage of WBC15) by TalkBaseball.qd poster ruth_babe. It was determined that - as a pitcher - Masami Tamagotchi's contributions produced the most valuable contributions in terms of both the Value Over Replacement Player ("VORP") and Wins Above Replacement ("WAR") calculations. Tamagotchi's performances dropped off sharply at the end of her pitching career as she developed a complete lack of control akin to Steve Blass disease (giving rise to the term 'Masami Tamagotchi disease' in Quintessence of Dust), but she retains a popular legacy as a pitcher, thanks to her performance against Yafor 2 in WBC12. ruth_babe posted her results in a thread entitled "Is That A Regression Analysis In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Pleased To See Me?"

Meanwhile, the current team face a tough situation as they suffered a 7-4 loss to the Zebras, meaning their tournament will be ended by a another loss. Despite playing only half of Game #1 Momoko Koumura has been announced on the starting roster for Game #2, in which Jun Zhou will once again use a designated hitter. While the tactic proved successful against Yafor 2, it remains to be seen whether it will give the Quodites any help at all as they face Zwanzug, the only team in their history who they have lost to three times without registering a win.

[The Babbage Islands]

Quarterfinals: Game 2 (2-out-of-3)

The published line scores reflect how the scorinator arrives at final scores. The final scores and number of innings shown are official. No nation's RP will be penalised for using, or for not using, the generated line scores.

Host stadiums

At Callahan & Babcock Arena, Bloomfield

Sarzonia              000 131 012 - 8 (Sarzonia win series 2-0)
Toiletdonia           300 000 102 - 6

At Babbage Exploration Field, Virginia City

Zwangzug              000 102 000 - 3
Quintessence of Dust  022 203 20X - 11 (Series tied 1-1)

At The Ball Park, West Scoville

Newmanistan           000 111 010 - 4
Cassadaigua           101 102 00X - 5 (Series tied 1-1)

At Fresh-Fizz Field, Armagh

Tocrowkia             212 002 000 - 7 (Tocrowkia win series 2-0)
Qazox                 000 041 010 - 6

OOC: Thank you for the RP. All eight quarterfinalists RPed on this day. I think that the WBC regularly produces RP equal to any tournament in NS Sports.

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

DAGANS WIN IN FRONT OF UNEXPECTED VISITOR

West Scoville, The Babbage Islands- After game one, we made a big deal about the presence of Jeremy McAllister, Jr at the baseball game with Shannon Myers and members of the Dagans, but that was minor news compared to this. Without any notice that he was going to do this, His Highness Emperor Michael IV was in attendance at the baseball game, sitting in a skybox that the Royal Family had purchased for the game. During the rule of Empress Jessica, it was not uncommon to see her to travel with the team, especially in her younger games, but the Emperor has avoided doing that, for the most part. You will recall that he did serve as the head coach of the Rockets lacrosse team while a Prince years ago.

Security was gave permission to The Rocket Report to ask him some questions, but really we just wanted to ask him what the purpose of this trip was, and his answer, “Baseball, my friend, is the bread and butter of Newmanistan. It is baseball that is the passion of the Empire. As is lacrosse, as is auto racing. But baseball is our roots. Maybe the world thinks a little differently, and a game like football, or soccer as Dagans call it, is the sport that most interests us. For a long time now, Newmanistan has prioritized the World Cup even though our passion for other sports were always much greater. What do Newmanistanians want more, a WBC 15 trophy or a World Cup 51 trophy? Our answer is not the same as the answer most of the world will give.” Interesting, isn’t it? For football fans they might wonder if all of the sudden Newmanistan will drop from World Cup play, but His Highness says that is not going to happen, “Oh no. Please, do not get me wrong. Newmanistan will still be a presence in the World Cup, but I have to ask you a question. If 32 teams signed up for the World Baseball Classic, and we only advanced 7 to the playoffs, what would be the reaction? You would hear vocal opposition saying it wasn’t enough. But that’s 21%. Right now in the World Cup, 20% of the qualifying field advances. But that gets accepted, does it not? Accepted in the eyes of tradition and if you try to say something about it the traditionalists will slam you so hard, you may never wanna speak again, kind of like what happens to people that suggest the domestic hockey games in Newmanistan should end in a shootout instead of a continuous overtimes. I am here today to show the world that Newmanistan is committed to baseball, and how much baseball championships mean to us. I am here today to announce Newmanistanian restructuring. We will always fund the football team, and we will still play the World Cup, but our priority structure is changing. Baseball is first. Baseball is Newmanistan.”

Well, that was a little interesting, wasn’t it? Unfortunately the presence of the Emperor and his announcement did not lead the team to victory, but it was pretty good effort by the Rockets, in spite of that. Sweeping Cassadaigua was always going to be difficult, and today the Dagans rose up with their backs against the wall and recorded a 5-4 win over the Rockets. Samantha Thatcher had our number early as her teammates grabbed a 2-0 lead after three innings, but finally in the top of the 4th, Newmanistan was able to put a runner on base as Danielle Scott doubled down the left field line. A single by Natalie Monroe would bring her in, but the Dagans got the run back in the bottom of the inning, but the gritty Rockets battled back to make it 3-2 in the fifth as Courtney Weinman smacked a solo home run over the left field fence, and in the 6th Newmanistan was able to draw even on an RBI double by Meghan Butler, scoring Danielle Scott, who was 3-for-4 on the day. The Rockets felt good for the brief moment, but the crushing blow would come in the bottom of the inning when with two away, Deanna Hudson hit a 2-run home run off of Brayton to again put Newmanistan in the hole. Sarah was not too pleased with the Hudson home run, because she felt that earlier in the count, she had struck Deanna out on a 2-2 pitch when Hudson had a check swing. The appeal to the third base umpire said that she did not go around and that it was ball 3. As is often the case on that kind of play, it was really too close to call. We’ve been critical of the umpires, deservedly in some cases, but that call could have gone either way. Brayton refused to blame the umpire, as well, “Not the umps fault. I was just upset I didn’t get the call because its usually one of those 50-50 things, ya know? I was more mad at myself really, because I allowed it to rattle me, and I got my fastball right in the sweet spot for Deanna and she ripped it out of the park. That’s really why I am upset. Not the ump. He could have given me the call, yeah, but he didn’t make me mislocate my fastball on the next pitch.”

The Rockets got one back in the 8th on a Rachel Cuyler RBI single, but never really mounted a serious threat to tie the game after they fell behind. So the end result is a Newmanistan loss and the Rockets are now in a do-or-die situation with the Dagans in this series. The game 3 start will go to Courtney Ratigan on three days rest as Sanders skips over Brittany Castelli. “I hate to do that,” coach Christina Sanders says, “But I do think that Courtney is ready. I wouldn’t have her out there if I didn’t. She’s looking for that signature game of her WBC career and I told her to make tomorrow that game.”

[Sarzonia]

Even though he tried to project a sense of calm heading into the match, fifth starter Ken Sutcliffe was incredibly nervous.

He looked in the mirror at the flecks of grey in his beard. He grimaced. For all his guile, for all his experience, he still felt that bundle of nerves. He rued the restless attempt to sleep last night.

He knew he had one chance to shine. If he didn't rise to the occasion, he knew Khalil Dennis would likely shift to a four-man rotation or a bullpen by committee approach. Those options remained on the table despite Sarzonia's struggles pitching in this World Baseball Classic.

In the bottom of the first inning, his nerves got to him. He threw harder than his usual and his location was a bit worse than usual. It led to Toiletdonia hammering the ball off him to the tune of a booming double to centrefield, a long single that put runners at the corners and a tape measure jack. Sutcliffe then walked the next two batters before pitching coach Jim Wiesen trotted to the mound.

"Kenny, stay within yourself," Wiesen said. "Your arm angle is completely out of whack."

"Don't try to throw it through me," backup catcher Mario Salvidotti said. "Throw it to me."

"Take a deep breath and relax," Wiesen said before the Newmanistanian umpire walked out and said, "wrap it up, gentlemen." Sutcliffe threw a two-seam fastball for his first pitch after the visit and immediately induced a ground ball double play. Now with a runner at third and two out, he bore down and struck out the next hitter.

Following that shaky first inning, Sutcliffe threw five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks. He struck out an uncharacteristically high eight batters in the game. Meanwhile, the Stars offence came to life in the fourth with a solo home run by Skip Hicks. The Stars answered the three spot from Toiletdonia with a three-run inning of their own in the fifth, then got a single run in the sixth.

After the top of the seventh, Dennis walked over to Sutcliffe, patted him on his back and said, "we're going to the bullpen." Sutcliffe threw 108 pitches in the game, so that was reasonable. Forty-six of those came in the first inning. Despite allowing a couple of runs, the bullpen was able to hold the lead and Sarzonia finished a two-match sweep of Toiletdonia.

That meant the Stars would get two days off while Zwangzug and Quintessence of Dust battle it out in a decisive third game. The semifinals begin Monday after the traditional Babbagian day off on Sunday.

For their parts, the Stars say they don't care which team they get in the semifinals.

"Both teams are going to be tough," third baseman Kate Schmidt said. "Whichever team survives that series is going to be hard to beat."

"We're going to continue to focus on fundamentals," Dennis said. "And try to see if a couple of days off will do our pitching staff some good."

Brad Baxter will start the first match of the semifinals on six-days rest. Charlie Palmer will get the Game 2 start. If necessary, Brian Edwards will pitch Game 3.

"We know we have more baseball to play after the semifinals," Dennis said. "If we lose the series, we're going to have a third place match. If we win, we're going to play in the finals. I want to be sure we start with one of our best pitchers in either case."

However, that's the only indication the Stars are looking anywhere beyond their next opponent, regardless of whom that proves to be.

"We know the expression "one game at a time" is a rather tired cliché," first baseman Hicks said. "But that's the way we approach things. You can't look past any teams at this point or you're not going to get where you want to be."

[Tarrentum]

Tarrentum Falcons Sporting News

Napoliroma, Tarrentum, Tarrentum - The National team finally landed at ESP Borgia Italiana International Airport earlier this morning after spending three extra days in The Babbage Islands taking in the first couple of games from the Round of 8. The team's plane opened up it's doors to thundering applause from Tarrentian baseball fanatics and the team was, amazingly, greeted by Supreme President Cesare Italiana. Thousands of camera flashes went off as the Supreme President stood with his nation's team. Even more applause and camera flashes occurred when the Supreme President stood with his niece, and Falcons Starting Pitcher, the beloved Juliana Italiana Bianconi.

No mention was made of the controversies swirlling around the team during this year's WBC during the Supreme President's congratulatory speech. However his comments on the "need for national reconciliation during these tough times" and the National Baseball Team being a vehicle for that reconciliation was a direct acknowledgement of the [censored by Tarrentum National Press Committee] in Meddicia.

Noticeably absent from the ceremony was star player, Second Basewoman Dessea Vallena. She, along with Catcher Antoni Favella, stayed in The Babbage Islands to rent a condo on one of the smaller islands for a week (according to team sources). The Supreme President made light of Vallena's abscene. "I guess she can settle for a couple of carats instead of the trophy...but only just barely." He continued that when she and Favella return to Tarrentum they will be welcomed with no less pomp and circumstance. Vallena's contributions, both offensively and defensively, helped keep the Tarrentum Falcons in contention during the tournament and the Tarrentum National Baseball Committee is hoping Vallena will be seriously considered for WBC 15 MVP. This despite the fact that the Falcons were eliminated before Quarterfinals began.

We urge everyone to check out the Sporting News Tarrentum WBC site and the ASML site for further updates on international and domestic baseball.

Until next year my fellow fans.
-Giani Boco

[Cassadaigua]

Jennifer’s Space

We were facing elimination, but that wasn’t going to get us down. I think everyone expected the series between us and the Rockets to go three games, and now it will. Tomorrow, one game will determine who goes to the semifinal to play Tocrowkia, who eliminated Qazox. While we were stretching before the game, we noticed that there seemed to be an unusually big deal being made about a fan in one the suites at the stadium. We didn’t realize it at the time, but evidently that was Emperor Michael IV of Newmanistan, and of course the contingent of security guards around him. He was interviewed, I gather, perhaps answering more questions then any of the Rockets players did. Queen Cassie was not at the game. I believe she was in Cassadaigua, being a queen and doing things queens do. It’s cool that the Emperor was here though, I have to admit. Here’s a guy who rules what, almost 10 billion people and he can make it to a baseball game? Anyway, before I get to talking about the game, I want to congratulate some of the newest members of the World Baseball Classic Hall of Fame from Quintessence of Dust. I was speaking to an old friend from high school who told me that once Momoko Koumura jumped out to 5% lead in the percentage polls with 75% of precincts reporting, that Momoko’s nomination approval expectancy was at a value of 0.88, and that many news outlets are comfortable declaring a winner once that reaches 0.85. However, Emily Sanderson scored some late votes to close the gap, but as the statistics showed, she was in too deep of a whole to come already back. Emily is not demanding a recount, from what I have heard, claiming those who votes for butts were actually voting her because of one of her better assets.

Sadly, Jeremy McAllister, Jr and Shannon Myers were not at this game. I think things are still going strongly between them even though the gap in SLORC between the two of them right has got to be absolutely huge, but not as huge as Emily Sanderson’s better asset. Ok, I’m kidding, Emily. Relax! Yeah, we’re a group of happy Dagans right now after having beaten Newmanistan by the score of 5-4. Samantha Thatcher pitched great, we got her an early lead, and every time the Rockets tried to come back, we had an answer for it. Katie Sheridan drove in Brittany Knowles with a single in the first, and then in the third Brittany Anderson led things off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly. I led the fourth off with a single and scored on a double by Katie Mancuso to make it 3-2. The big moment of this game was two run homer by Deanna Hudson. I am so happy for her, because as the #8 hitter in our lineup, she doesn’t always get the kind of respect that she had earned and that she has deserves. She’s not a power hitter persay, but she can hit about 10 a year here so she has it in her. Newmanistan pitcher Sarah Brayton probably wants the fat pitch she served up back, and I wouldn’t blame her. But in a game of this magnitude, one mistake will make or break a ballgame. Deanna hit it hard and hit it far, putting us in front 5-3 and we would hold them off in the end to win by one. Now, it’s all about that third and deciding game. I hope to see you there!

[Qazox]

WBC15/Baseball/Sports/MSQBC.com

Nordics best Pheonix Again.

BOX SCORE

Tocrowkia 212 002 000 - 7 10 0
Qazox     000 041 010 - 6 14 0

Charles Waskica's 8 day layoff proved to be too much for Qazox to over come as Tocrowkia scored 5 times in the first 3 innings, thanks to 5 walks, 2 hit batters and a wild pitch by Waskica thru just 2 1/3 innings before he was taken out by Greg Ethier. Qazox did manage to cut the lead to 5-4 in the bottom of the 5th on a 3-run HR by Dyana Garski off of Matthew Shaporio. But with 2 runs coming off the bat of Johnny Stryker in the top of the 6th, Qazox though scrapping in runs in the 6th and 8th, couldn't overcome the bad start of Waskica and once again Qazox sits on the sidelines as the WBC semifinals begin on Monday.

The WBC 15 WIKI PAGE!

[Zwangzug]

OOC: Thanks! Any time.

You're squeezing the headphones in tighter, bending them, rotating the radio. Trying to stick it somewhere without interference. If you just could focus on the game more, maybe...

Or then again, maybe it's in your best interest not to hear it all...

"Sanderson set to lead off this second inning for Quintessence of Dust, DHing today."

"Quintessence of Dust didn't use the DH during their home games, but switched to it to shake up the Firebugs. Obviously that worked. Then again, pitchers in Zwangzug always bat ninth, it's not like--"

"Oliver, we've been through this. Cieger delivers, high and outside..."

"...and Grubenšek, some pop from the bottom of the order, now, with the DH in play."

"He batted ninth in game one, Oliver, as this is fouled away. And wasn't all that productive."

"Okay."

"What?"

"Well, good defensive catcher anyway."

"This one will be...hit hard out to right, Arzaga won't get there. Li comes in and it's two-nothing..."

"...I've got an e-mail here from Jason in Weegham."

"Fouled back to the screen."

"Jason notes that Zwangzug had a shortstop surnamed Li; Pete, of course, was on the--"

"--national team when they won the Classic, right."

"He really stepped up during the final series."

"Taken low for ball one, guys. We really love reading your e-mails. We especially love reading them between half-innings when there's nothing else to talk about, but remember, we're trying to research the history of baseball in Zwangzug. Right?"

"Right."

"So, please don't send us stuff about World Baseball Classic 7, we already know about that."

"Hey, that's history to some kids, right?"

"Yeah...um...well."

"You're one to talk, Mr. Danhy."

"This'll be...driven deep to right. Arzaga gets there to make the catch."

"And that would have been gone in left field, the Zebras lucky Wakabayashi batting from the left against Cieger. We had the off day thanks to the sweep, you know. Loomis is rested, Croes should start him to keep things that way."

"But if we go back to the top of the order, assuming we advance, that'd just hasten Cieger's next start, and I'm not sure Croes really wants that..."

"...good speed from Smalls, but just off the corner."

"Shakes this one off. Another fastball will be...lifted to center field, it's got the...distance. Anna Alaja homers, and the lead now eleven to three..."

[Quintessence of Dust]

Time for the third and final part of our look at how cultural factors affected the rise to popularity of baseball in Quintessence of Dust, eagerly anticipated by a whole three people. This is the story of the movie .300.

Production: .300 is very loosely based on Moneyball by Michael Lewis. However, Quodite producers were unable to secure the rights or the interests of Steven Soderbergh, Aaron Sorkin, Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, or really anyone connected with the more well known attempt to adapt the book for the big screen (which, hopefully, the success of The Blind Side will only add impetus to). Instead, on a limited budget, they hired domestic staff: director XiuXiu Yin, known for her pioneering Quintessential-Chinese action flicks; Gerrit Jespersen as assistant director, the man whose film The Caulker featured more exploding heads than any previous work of cinema in history; Petra Viitila, writer of popular radio comedies on QuodFM to doctor the script; DJ Parking Instructor (Janusz Nowak) to create a minimalist electronica score; Melvin Mårtensson, of soap opera and multiple criminal indictments fame, to play the lead role; Ásdís Ólafsdottir, leading lady of the Quodite screen, in a supporting casting; Wilhelm Bieber, Olympic ski hero, to make a surprise cameo; and Skye Young, noted actress who has consistently received terrible critical notes for all her performances, but has cracking charlies.

Filming took an especially long time, being interrupted four times for script rewrites, largely because Viitila kept redefining the linear weights used in her calculations for the many minutes of intensely detailed statistical conversation interspersed between the various car chases/explosions/sex scenes. A further difficulty was presented by the short Quodite summer, which limited the hours available for filming: ultimately, release had to be delayed an entire year as they didn't get enough shots the first time around. Additionally, much of the exterior shooting prior to the completion of Dodger (Not That One) Stadium, Raptor Park, or the The Frosty Dome, and it was generally felt that New Cleethorpes Municipal Sporting Ground lacked the necessary ambience. As such, in post-production a CGI stadium was inserted over the shots. Unfortunately, the art director knew nothing about baseball parks and instead based his designs on the stadium from Gladiator, the Colosseum. As such, many of the scenes featuring baseball show Roman legionaries in the background, or hordes of blood-crazed spectators pointing their thumbs down and yelling "END HIM!!" while the left fielder is trying to make a difficult play.

XiuXiu Yin's trademark camera direction came into play in both the baseball and non-baseball action scenes, but many critics felt the final product looked overdone. While having ten different cameras spinning to create a moving 3D image of a flying kick to dislodge a gun just as it's being fired creates amazing tension and thrills the audience, the same effect on a leadoff hitter patiently drawing a walk somehow fails to add anything. Likewise, the pounding momentum of the bike chase scene on top of an aircraft carrier benefitted greatly from Gerrit Jespersen's famed "spatter effect" - but purists observed that he shouldn't have applied the effect to the scene illustrating the value on on base average, because players who are hit by pitches usually do not squirt jets of blood from their eyeballs.

The final cut ended up being almost 180 minutes long, so for release several lengthy scenes (which are retained on the special edition DVD) had to be removed. These include:
- a scene in which two official scorers debate the merits of ultimate zone ratings in assessing defensive performances, while jumping out of helicopters;
- two separate scenes illustrating how limited stolen base totals are in assessing baserunning value, in the context of a multimillion sovereign gem heist;
- like 20 minutes of full-on lesbian action intended to pour scorn on proponents of the sacrifice bunt.

Plot: The final script has, perhaps, a few minor deviations from Lewis's original book, in that that was about a GM clashing with his scouts and front office in trying to employ more sophisticated measures ahead of his team's draft selections, while .300 itself is about a criminal plot to detonate a nuclear warhead in order to create a distraction that will allow the thieves to steal art treasures. So, a little creative licence was employed.

David Dayton is the GM of the Salem Witches, a baseball team that has never won a single game in playing in eight years in the majors. Their players are shown to be weedy, bespectacled no-hopers, and an early shot establishes that rampant steroid abuse among all the other teams in the league has turned them into actual dinosaurs. The scene in which the coach of the Dawson Astronauts slowly takes off his hat and says, "Welcome to Triassic Park", before a Stegasaurus hits a home run, is especially moving. Faced with the closure of the team and the sale of all his players to a meat factory, where they will be chopped up and made into canned chuck for the dinosaurs, Dayton is set a challenge by his team's owner, the beautiful and mysterious Louise Rowley: he must win at least 30% of his games this season. His team must reach....300.

Dayton immediately sets out making big changes. He fires scouts who are hung up on outdated methods, and introduces lots of sabermetric analysis to his team. Notably, there is one player - catcher Yue Wan Ke - who both he and the old-fashioned scouts can generally agree on, the player having both good traditional tools and impressive stats. With Yue Wan's help, and with a team that approaches hitting, running, pitching, and substitutions with a revised outlook, Dayton begins to win his games. In a famous scene, Dayton clashes with the team's hitting coach, who clings to an antiquated notion on the value of OPS. After Dayton lays out a lengthy explanation of how to create a system that better combines on base average with total power, the coach splutters: "But, this is madness?!" "No," Dayton replies. "THIS...IS...wOBA!!"

Then he totally kills him.

Unbeknown to him however, his daughter, Kristen, is not, as she claims, a receptionist at a paper company with a hopelessly unspoken love for the charming sales rep, but in fact a super secret agent who is chasing down a terrorist gang that have allegedly stolen a nuclear weapon. In scenes set around the world, Kristen chases down members of the cell's elite, interrogating them for information and surviving enormous shoot-outs when captured. She escapes several MacGyver-esque situations, for example escaping from a museum that is filling with poison gas by picking a lock using her toenail clipper, and finally tracks down the terrorist leader, the mysterious "Javier", who lets her in on a deadly secret: the nuclear weapon has been placed in her father's own ballpark. It has been rigged to explode if the team's winning percentage goes above .300.

She rushes back home, and gives an impassioned speech to her father explaining that he must lose the final games of the season, or else risk detonating the nuclear warhead. He angrily rejects her, but her words convince Yue Wan Ke, who decides to leave the team. Kristen and Yue Wan then go to see the other team, the Monobo Hoppers, realizing they must try to help the Hoppers win the last three games so that the Witches's winning percentage stays below .300. They break into the Hoppers's coach's office and find his gameplans, but, horrified, find that he is using a traditional lineup that will not get the best out of his players. Upon discovering that he plans on playing his speedy centre fielder (an Allosaurus) with a poor on base average first in the lineup, Kristen breaks down in tears. Yue Wan comforts her. Cue tenor sax music and muted lighting.

They are unable to convince the Hoppers coach to change his plans, but they do at least get Yue Wan to sign for Monobo. They win the first two games easily, but in the third game they get off to a very bad start. The coach remains blinded to their arguments until they show him a win expectancy chart in the seventh inning, illustrating that he must bring in his closer now, rather than waiting till the ninth inning. This tactic helps them prevent the Witches scoring any more runs. They level scores and, at the bottom of the ninth, Yue Wan patiently draws a walk to drive in the game winning run. Salem finishes the season on .299 and, although Kristen's father is fired, he realizes that she has saved him by disarming the warhead and forgives her. The Monobo owner is so impressed that he decides to hire David for his own team. Everyone celebrates.

Then Louise returns. She reveals that she was in on the terrorist plot the whole time, and is in fact not a wealthy society, heiress, but the dreaded Cthulhu monster. She reverts to her tentacle form and attacks Kristen. The Monobo players fight back using Uzis they had hidden under second base, and a huge war is waged. Yue Wan attacks Cthulhu using a TIE Fighter. All the explosions trigger the nuclear device and Kristen deactivates it with 1 second left. She and Cthulhu fight on the roof of the stadium and she is injured, but manages to kick Cthulhu off the ledge. When Cthulhu hits the ground it dies, but cracks the soil, revealing that the Witches had built their stadium over the Statue of Liberty. The game is proclaimed the greatest in baseball's history, triggering Jesus's resurrection. He, Kristen, Yue Wan and Wilhelm Bieber, in a surprise cameo, sing over the credits.

It should be noted the final 30 minutes of the film proved controversial.

Reception: .300 was widely panned by foreign critics, particularly for its bizarre ending. Skye Young's performance as Kristen was also heavily criticised. Many felt that the director had included far too much emphasis on the statistical elements of Lewis's books in the final script, and that what should have been a fairly simple personality clash drama was needlessly complicated by the necessity of having Dayton explain why he felt line drive percentage was an important statistic to track.

However, in Quintessence of Dust, it proved rapturously popular. It was sold out for weeks at cinemas and news crews regularly showed enormous lines queueing up to see it at the latest screen to open, many often claiming to have already seen it several times. It was a box office smash hit and, to the absolute horror of the Quodite film establishment, swept that year's awards shows, winning many of the biggest prizes including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Joke About Sample Size, and Best Baseball-Themed Action Comedy With a Nuclear Weapon Subplot (a category that had existed for 83 years without anyone ever being recognised, curiously). This was seen as a significant embarrassment for the traditional hierarchy, Quodite cinema being better known for moody philosophical think pieces and coming of age stories about hopelessly attractive anarchists.

.300 helped increase the popularity of baseball immeasurably. Many of its catchphrases and quotations entered standard speech, such as "Set up THIS!!" (spoken when Kristen knocks out the relief pitching coach who is anguished at their plans to insert the closer in a non-traditional slot). Everything from its soundtrack to its merchanise sold fantastically well; the only exception was its low budget sequel, .301, which was set during a fictional edition of the World Baseball Classic and featured only four perfect games. Many critics complained it was hopelessly unrealistic compared with the gritty original.