World Baseball Classic 53 Everything Thread

[Quintessence of Dust]

(Provisional) box scores as posted on the TalkBaseball.qd website. This tournament, TBQ will be summarising results entirely through The Wire quotes. No real RP as pressed for time.

                          AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
J. Theriault SS            5   1   1   1   0   0   1  .333  10  31
J. Stevens CF              5   1   1   0   0   3   1  .331   4  20
L. Dai 3B, 1B              3   0   1   0   1   1   2  .273   4  28
K. Kawasuda DH             2   1   0   0   2   0   1  .316   5  15
R. Weber RF                3   2   2   2   1   0   2  .353  10  27
  b–B. Wilson RF           0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
S. Borgþórsson 1B          3   0   0   0   0   2   1  .262   7  25
  a–M.P. Yang PH, 3B       1   0   0   0   0   0   1  .208   2   7
K. Yutani 2B               2   1   1   0   2   0   0  .333   1   6
C. Brewster LF             4   1   1   0   0   1   1  .300   0   1
Y. Long C                  4   0   2   1   0   1   0  .319   1  13

a–M.P. Yang pinch-hit for S. Borgþórsson in the 7th
b–B. Wilson substituted for R. Weber in the 8th

Home runs: R. Weber (10, 3rd inning, 0 on, 2 outs), J. Theriault (10, 5th inning, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total bases: R. Weber 5, J. Theriault 4, K. Yutani, Y. Long 2, C. Brewster, L. Dai, J. Stevens
2-out RBI: R. Weber, Y. Long
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: R. Weber, J. Stevens, K. Kawasuda, C. Brewster
GIDP: K. Kawasuda
Team LOB: 7

BASERUNNING
SB: J. Stevens (9), K. Yutani (4)
CS: K. Yutani (3)

FIELDING
Double plays: 2 (Yutani – Theriault – Borgþórsson, Theriault – Yutani – Borgþórsson)

                            IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
M. Kawakami                4.2  7   5   5   2   4   1  74  48  4.78
J. Scherer W (1 – 1)       1.1  2   0   0   0   0   0  14  10  3.18
M. Ibsen                   0.0  0   0   0   0   0   0   2   1  2.57
K. Wahl H (2)              0.2  1   0   0   0   1   0  13   7  4.26
J. Grant H (3)             0.2  1   0   0   1   0   0  15   8  4.22
B. Beaufils H (3)          0.2  0   0   0   1   1   0  13   6  0.87
H. Liang SV (13)           1.0  1   0   0   0   0   0   5   3  2.73

Game score: M. Kawakami 32
Batters faced: M. Kawakami 22, J. Scherer 5, M. Ibsen 1, K. Wahl 3, J. Grant 4, B. Beaufils 3, H. Liang 3
Ground outs – fly outs: M. Kawakami 3 – 3, J. Scherer 2 – 1, M. Ibsen 0 – 0, K. Wahl 0 – 1, J. Grant 1 – 1, B. Beaufils 1 – 0, H. Liang 2 – 0
Inherited runners – scored: K. Wahl 1 – 0, J. Grant 2 – 0, B. Beaufils 2 – 0
Hit batspersons: J. Grant
WP: M. Kawakami 2

Scoring summary:

1.0: Mike Larsen homers (89XD). Mike Larsen scores.

1.0: Adam King singles (5D). Daryl Dunlop scores.

1.0: David Drum flies out (7). Shawn Zimmerman scores.

2.1: Yazhu singles (34D). Throwing error (E9). Kaori Yutani scores. Carolina Brewster scores.

3.2: Rémy Weber homers (89XD). Rémy Weber scores.

4.2: Hugo Brock singles (4MD). Fabio Ventura singles

5.1: Adam King grounds out (6–3). Daryl Dunlop scores.

5.0: Jack Theriault homers (8RXD). Jack Theriault scores.

5.1: Wild pitch. Jay Stevens scores.

5.1: Rémy Weber singles (3D). Kutoshi Kawasuda scores.

5.2: Yazhu Long singles (4D). Rémy Weber scores. Kaori Yutani out at home.

                          AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
J. Theriault SS            4   0   1   0   0   1   1  .332  10  31
J. Stevens CF              3   0   1   0   0   1   2  .332   4  20
  a–N. Ágústsdóttir PH, LF 2   0   0   0   0   0   1  .000   0   0
S. Borgþórsson 1B          5   1   3   1   0   0   3  .274   8  26
K. Kawasuda DH             5   0   1   0   0   1   4  .310   5  15
R. Weber RF                3   1   1   1   0   1   1  .353  11  28
  b–L. Dai PH              0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .273   4  28
  c–B. Wilson RF           0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
K. Yutani 2B               2   0   1   0   2   0   1  .337   1   6
M.P. Yang 3B               3   0   0   0   1   0   2  .196   2   7
C. Brewster LF, CF         4   0   2   0   0   1   3  .315   0   1
Y. Long C                  4   0   1   0   0   1   2  .317   1  13

a–N. Ágústsdóttir pinch-hit for J. Stevens in the 7th
b–L. Dai pinch-hit for R. Weber in the 8th
c–B. Wilson substituted for L. Dai in the 9th

Doubles: K. Kawasuda (8, 4th inning, 0 on, 0 outs), C. Brewster (6, 6th inning, 0 on, 2 outs)
Home runs: R. Weber (11, 6th inning, 0 on, 0 outs), S. Borgþórsson (8, 7th inning, 0 on, 2 outs)
Total bases: S. Borgþórsson 6, R. Weber 4, C. Brewster 3, K. Kawasuda 2, J. Stevens, J. Theriault, Y. Long
2-out RBI: S. Borgþórsson
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: K. Kawasuda 3, C. Brewster 2, S. Borgþórsson, Y. Long
GIDP: M.P. Yang 2
Hit by Pitch: J. Theriault, L. Dai
Team LOB: 10

BASERUNNING
SB: J. Theriault (9)

FIELDING
Errors: J. Theriault (6)
Double plays: 2 (Theriault – Yutani – Borgþórsson, Theriault – Yutani – Borgþórsson)

                            IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
N. Waismann L (4 – 2)      1.2  3   7   7   4   1   0  44  16  3.26
B. Amundsen                0.0  2   3   3   1   0   0  16   8  3.48
J. Grant                   0.0  1   1   1   0   0   1   2   1  5.06
N. Drey                    2.1  5   0   0   2   3   0  58  32  1.29
K. Wahl                    1.2  1   0   0   1   3   0  27  17  3.98
M. Ryan                    1.1  4   0   0   0   1   0  27  18  1.40
T. Watanabe                2.0  3   0   0   0   0   0  35  22  0.00

Game score: N. Waismann 18
Batters faced: N. Waismann 12, B. Amundsen 3, J. Grant 1, N. Drey 14, K. Wahl 7, M. Ryan 8, T. Watanabe 10
Ground outs – fly outs: N. Waismann 1 – 2, B. Amundsen 0 – 0, J. Grant 0 – 0, N. Drey 2 – 1, K. Wahl 1 – 1, M. Ryan 3 – 0, T. Watanabe 5 – 1
Inherited runners – scored: B. Amundsen 3 – 3, J. Grant 3 – 3, K. Wahl 3 – 0, M. Ryan 2 – 0
Hit batspersons: N. Drey, T. Watanabe
WP: N. Waismann

Scoring summary:

2.1: Fabio Ventura singles (4D). Adam King scores.

2.2: Brad Moore singles (6D). David Drum scores.

2.2: Daryl Dunlop walks with the bases loaded. Fabio Ventura scores.

2.2: Wild pitch. Brad Moore scores.

2.2: Adam King doubles (78D). Mike Larsen scores. Daryl Dunlop scores. Shawn Zimmerman scores.

2.2: Fabio Ventura homers (7D). Adam King scores. David Drum scores. Malika Bains scores. Fabio Ventura scores.

6.0: Rémy Weber homers (89XD). Rémy Weber scores.

7.2: Sigurkarl Borgþórsson homers (89XD). Sigurkarl Borgþórsson scores.

                          AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
J. Theriault SS            3   0   0   0   1   2   2  .327  10  31
J. Stevens CF              3   0   0   0   1   0   1  .326   4  20
S. Borgþórsson 1B          4   1   1   0   0   1   3  .273   8  26
K. Kawasuda DH             2   1   0   1   1   0   1  .302   5  16
R. Weber RF                2   0   1   0   1   0   0  .355  11  28
  a–B. Wilson RF           0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
L. Dai 3B                  4   0   2   1   0   0   2  .277   4  29
K. Yutani 2B               3   0   1   0   0   0   1  .337   1   6
C. Brewster LF             3   0   1   0   0   0   2  .316   0   1
Y. Long C                  3   0   0   0   0   0   2  .310   1  13

a–B. Wilson substituted for R. Weber in the 9th

Triples: L. Dai (2, 2nd inning, 1 on, 1 out), S. Borgþórsson (1, 6th inning, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total bases: L. Dai 4, S. Borgþórsson 3, R. Weber, C. Brewster, K. Yutani
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: L. Dai 2, C. Brewster, K. Kawasuda, J. Theriault
GIDP: L. Dai 2, K. Yutani
Sac Fly: K. Kawasuda
Hit by Pitch: R. Weber
Team LOB: 5

BASERUNNING
SB: C. Brewster (4)

FIELDING
Double plays: 2 (Yutani – Theriault – Borgþórsson, Yutani – Theriault – Borgþórsson)

                            IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
J. Sakaguchi W (3 – 0)     7.0  4   0   0   4   6   0  83  53  3.30
M. Ryan H (5)              1.0  1   0   0   1   0   0  20  10  1.33
B. Beaufils                0.0  3   1   1   0   0   0  10   6  1.31
H. Liang SV (14)           1.0  0   0   0   0   0   0  10   6  2.64

Game score: J. Sakaguchi
Batters faced: J. Sakaguchi 27, M. Ryan 5, B. Beaufils 3, H. Liang 2
Ground outs – fly outs: J. Sakaguchi 6 – 7, M. Ryan 3 – 0, B. Beaufils 0 – 0, H. Liang 2 – 0
Inherited runners – scored: H. Liang 2 – 0

Scoring summary:

2.1: Lingxin Dai triples (8RD). Rémy Weber scores.

6.0: Kutoshi Kawasuda flies out (8). Sigurkarl Borgþórsson scores.

9.0: Hugo Brock singles (56). Malika Bains scores.

Stringer: Be subtle with it. You know what subtle means?

Shamrock: Laid back and shit.

The pitchers' battle that many were anticipating would define the series finally materialized -- in game 5, with demoted starters Jay Kramer and Juzo Sakaguchi duking it out. Kramer pitched well. Sakaguchi pitched slightly weller. And so, the Things claimed the win, and enter game 6 with a chance, just a chance at claiming the win.

[South Newlandia]

Ryan Hunter is one of the most influential sports stars in South Newlandian history. The ace pitcher has, undoubtedly, influenced many young folks in South Newlandia to consider baseball as a career path. The southpaw with the 4-seamer and elite circle changeup has been cited as the reason many young talents picked up a bat for the first time. Lola Marques, one of the South Newlandian starting pitchers that are likely first-round talents in the LPB, explicitly cites the televised first game of South Newlandian international sports history. At age twelve, she watched a then 19-year-old Ryan Hunter pitch a great game in Xanneria, even when he took a 0-2 loss.

Today, Hunter is 28, and has risen to be the ace of the South Newlandian pitching staff. Like Jacob Conroy, he brings with him a wealth of experience. He was not only the first man to pitch an international baseball game for the Elephants, he also holds this honor for the playoff games, appearing in game one of a round of 16 series against Newmanistan in a 2-5 loss.

His career is plastered with games in which he pitched well, like a year later, when he pitched the deciding game of the IBS11 semi-final series against the Tikariot Thunderforge. He pitched a decent game, but a late South Newlandian rally was stopped short of the goal, and the Elephants were one run short of playing in their first international final.

World Baseball Classic 49 features the moment Hunter is most famous for, at least until now. Pitching against Hampton Island, he intentionally walked Midnight, the bear playing for the Golden Bears. Midnight charged to mound, and despite a tranquilizer gun fired just in time to save him, Hunter was visibly spooked.

He tried to shake off this incident, however he once again lost game one of the Round of 16 playoff series, this time via a sixth-inning collapse against Hapilopper. It was influenced by the Hapiloppan fans heckling him about the aforementioned bear incident, which he took a bit longer to properly get over. Which I think is fair, he was attacked by a bear, after all.

Two years later, he was once again in charge of game one of the first playoff series, and despite having had an awful group stage, he delivered, shutting down the Tigers from Super-Llamaland for just one earned on the way to his first playoff win. The Elephants advanced, and Hunter took the ball in game one of the Round of 16 series, where, despite a little bit more trouble, the Elephants came out victorious against the Lions from Nova Anglicana in extra innings. Nevertheless, he would not get another chance, as the Lions took the series in 5.

World Baseball Classic 51 was Hunters masterpiece at the time. A SHO in game two of the Round of 16 against the Dragonflies of Ko-oren set the tone for the Elephants winning the series, advancing to the Quarterfinals for the first time. In game two against the Tigers, he was bailed out by the batters behind him after falling behind early, but he nevertheless played a good game. Despite a good game, he lost game two of the semi-final series, but the Elephants rallied to win it in 5, teeing up Hunter as the first South Newlandian pitcher to pitch a WBC Final Series game, against Banija. He lost game one in a mediocre performance, but was back out there in game six, the game that made Banija World Baseball Classic champions for the first time. Hr had brought the Elephants in a position to win, with the save being possible in the top of the ninth, but the bullpen blew a one-run performance for Hunter. In game six, he only surrendered three runs under pressure, but the Elephants only put up two. Sound familiar?

In World Baseball Classic 52, he pitched well in the Round of 32, before the Elephants fell to the Things in 5 in the Round of 16. After blowing the doors off Quintessence of Dust with a win where they scored double-digit runs in one inning, they were barely edged out in game five, losing 1-2. I repeat – sound familiar?

In this tournament, Hunter was elite in the group stage, sub-2 ERA, Classic-leading stuff. Game one against Kohnhead, Round of 16, won it. Game one against TJUN-ia, Quarterfinals, won it. Game one against Soldera, Semifinals, won it. Game one against Quintessence of Dust, Finals, got completely annihilated in what was his worst game, by a long shot. Like four years ago against Banija, he would get a shot to send this game to a deciding game seven. Armed with new signals his Dolphins’ teammates Benoît Beaufils and Luka Chevalier could not possibly know, he was determined not to let this chance go to waste.

[Banija]

Jackson. Tyson. Jordan. Game 6.

I included one of the most legendary game 6 moments of all time as the cutoff video. Will some QoDers write themselves into baseball lore by capturing the country's first world title in baseball on this day? Or will the South Newlandians make the crucial plays with their backs against the wall to force a winner-take-all Game 7?

WBC Championship Series, Game 6 score

WBC Championship Series: #1 South Newlandia v. #2 Quintessence of Dust
Series played at Istria City Baseball Diamond(cap. 41,000) in Istria, Moravica Region

Game 6- First Pitch at 6:05 PM
Quintessence of Dust      0 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 0  5
South Newlandia           0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1

Quintessence of Dust WINS the series, 4 games to 2, and are champions of World Baseball Classic 53! Congratulations to them on their title run, and commiserations to South Newlandia on their run, and further congrats to them on a job well done to get to their second championship series in three editions. \

[Quintessence of Dust]

(Provisional) box scores as posted on the TalkBaseball.qd website. This tournament, TBQ will be summarising results entirely through The Wire quotes.

                          AB   R   H  RBI BB   K  LOB  AVG  HR  RBI
J. Theriault SS            5   0   1   0   0   2   4  .323  10  31
J. Stevens CF              5   0   1   0   0   2   1  .323   4  20
L. Dai 1B                  4   0   1   0   0   0   1  .277   4  29
  b–S. Borgþórsson PH, 1B  1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .272   8  26
K. Kawasuda DH             4   1   1   0   0   1   2  .300   5  16
R. Weber RF                1   3   1   1   3   0   0  .359  12  29
N. Ágústsdóttir 3B         3   1   2   1   1   0   0  .333   0   1
K. Yutani 2B               2   0   0   1   1   0   0  .330   1   7
C. Brewster LF             3   0   0   0   0   1   3  .300   0   1
  a–B. Wilson LF           1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .000   0   0
Y. Long C                  4   0   2   2   0   0   0  .315   1  15

a–B. Wilson substituted for C. Brewster in the 7th
b–S. Borgþórsson pinch-hit for L. Dai in the 9th

Doubles: N. Ágústsdóttir (1, 2nd inning, 1 on, 0 outs)
Home runs: R. Weber (12, 4th inning, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total bases: R. Weber 4, N. Ágústsdóttir 3, Y. Long 2, J. Stevens, K. Kawasuda, L. Dai, J. Theriault
2-out RBI: Y. Long 2
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: J. Theriault 2
GIDP: K. Yutani
Sac Fly: K. Yutani
Team LOB: 6

BASERUNNING
CS: R. Weber (1)

FIELDING
Double plays: 2 (Ágústsdóttir – Yutani – Dai, Yutani – Theriault – Borgþórsson)

                            IP  H   R  ER  BB   K  HR  PI  PS   ERA
J. Martin W (10 – 0)       9.0  6   1   1   1   9   0 112  71  2.23

Game score: J. Martin 79
Batters faced: J. Martin 32
Ground outs – fly outs: J. Martin 9 – 7

Scoring summary:

2.0: Kaori Yutani flies out (9). Rémy Weber scores.

2.2: Yazhu Long singles (34D). Natalí Ágústsdóttir scores.

4.0: Rémy Weber homers (89XD). Rémy Weber scores.

5.2: Brad Moore singles (56D). Fabio Ventura scores.

6.1: Natalí Ágústsdóttir singles (7S). Kutoshi Kawasuda scores.

6.2: Yazhu Long singles (6D). Rémy Weber scores.

“Yutani! … to Theriault!! … to Borgþórsson!!!”

The rest is silence. Momoko Koumura leaned forward and hit mute on the holo. On screen, pictures continued to play. The Things were streaming onto the field from the dugout. Jack Martin, who had redeemed himself with a fine display on the mound, exchanging some words of consolation with Ryan Hunter, who had thrown a good game too. The ageing campaigner Ben Wilson, who had been given one final shot at glory with a late pinch-hit and briefly dreamed of the most wondrous goodbye as the ball scorched off his bat only for Shawn Zimmerman to leap and make a catch at the very top of the fence, celebrating with the teenage Natalí Ágústsdóttir, who hadn’t even been on the roster come the playoffs but had turned up at the last minute with an RBI double. The entire arm barn coming together to try to chair off Rémy Weber, sure to be named MVP after yet another towering blast, his sixth across the final two series, only to collapse like kindling beneath his bulk.

She sipped her tea. She might have a glass of champagne later, for the cameras, but in truth she didn’t like the taste of the stuff. So sickly sweet. She turned her keen blue eyes from the holo to study her old – her very old – friend. The memories running through Momoko’s mind were etched clear on her unnaturally youthful face. World Baseball Classic 11. A group of amateurs, a first baseman not five feet tall, a rugby prop forward captaining the team, more a meme team than a dream team. One-hit by Tocrowkia in their first ever game (and later no-hit by the same time), dominated by Liventia’s Patrick Stephenson, crushed by Taeshan’s Socki Lewis, losing a heartbreaker to Cassadaigua, and then that thrilling win over Vephrall that sparked the ensuing baseball craze that persisted for over a century.

It seemed to Natalia that that call symbolized a great deal about what baseball had come to mean to Quintessence of Dust. Yutani, to Theriault, to Borgþórsson. Quintessence of Dust, the melting pot that did not melt, where centuries after their respective immigrations Nordics and Asians still stubbornly refused to mingle, where sports like football and rugby were virtually segregated. From that little country of five million had a Quintessential-Japanese woman tossed the ball to an Anglo-French boy, and from there to a big Icelandic-Quodite. Sitting in the office of the Quite Nice House, she – a Finn – could sit listening with her two Quintessential-Japanese friends, united as they would probably be in nothing else. But she kept such an observation to herself, at least in Momoko’s company: she knew her old friend was consumed with the memories. Instead, she turned to Sakiko Wakabayashi and searched for something appropriate. Perhaps, there was only one thing to say:

“All in the game,” she concluded. “All in the game.”