I really do hate to be a poor loser, and it's really not about that at all. I'm a baseball fan, but I can't really warm up to the Classic. Not that it can't be good baseball. Not that it can't be exciting. What bothers me is that it can be so dangerous to major league players and so difficult to manage.
Six major injuries to players on Team USA is probably not even the worst story to come out of the American side of things. So much second guessing is heard about Davey Johnson's managerial decisions; in reality, Johnson may not be as guilty as we might think, upon closer scrutiny. Of course, we can ask why he stayed with Roy Oswalt so long in the final, loser-go-home game? We can even ask a team with two shortstops named Derek Jeter and Jimmy Rollins would choose to start Jeter in such an important game, relegating Rollins to the DH role?
Could any person manage a team of major leaguers under the constant scrutiny of 30 major league clubs? I'm not sure this is possible or even fair to ask.
Rob Dibble, on MLB Home Plate (XM Radio), said that MLB looks silly sponsoring a tournament in which Team USA cannot in two attempts make the final game. Dibble, as always, has a real point. For Team USA, it has to be about winning, but getting the formula just right is proving to be very difficult.
Commissioner Bud Selig will put a positive spin on the entire Classic, and maybe rightfully so for the overall worldwide good of the game. Many MLB players and certainly MLB managers and general managers must curse the entire event.
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