Japan Knocks off Team USA

Japan defeated the United States in a semifinal showdown held at Dodger Stadium Sunday night by a final of 9-4. Japan now moves on to face Korea in an All-Asian final on Monday, looking to repeat as WBC champion. USA fought through injuries throughout the tournament and should be commended for their efforts. However, it just doesn’t seem right that Team USA felt like an underdog against Japan. If I’m not mistaken, baseball was created in the United States and not in Japan. The fact of the matter is that the United States and its players just haven’t bought in to the tournament at the same level as the Asian and Latin countries have. And that to me is a shame.

While the collection of players that did commit to the team were of all star caliber, you cannot sit here and say that the US had their absolute best roster that they could possibly field. Also, these single elimination games are in essence a game 7. One team played the game like it was game 7 and the other played like it was just another grapefruit or cactus league game. I know Davey Johnson was managing with his hands tied as he owes it to the clubs that which the players belong to get them into games and to get their work in, but if the US is ever going to do well in this competition they will have to play them to win.

What manager would leave their starter in the game to get brutalized the way Oswalt did in the fourth inning which in effect lost the game for the US. If its game 7 of a playoff series, you just don’t do that. But Johnson must have felt that he owed it to the Houston Astros to let Oswalt “get his work in.” This tournament can only be successful here in the US if and only if the USA is successful on the field. They won’t be successful on the field unless they can get their absolute best players to buy in and the manager of the team is allowed to manage to win the games at all costs.

-Favad Ali