While some players have embraced the concept of the World Baseball Classic (none more than Team Venezuela stars Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Zambrano and Henry Blanco), every day we hear from more and more players who are pulling out at the last minute.ÂÂ
The reasons they cite always sound good. Barry Bonds backed out because he didn’t want to be subjected to a drug-screening blood test subject his rehabbed knee to any undo strain. Lance Berkman wanted more time to eat get his surgically repaired knee and shoulder back into shape.
But not everybody is accepting the idea that players might feel more obligation to their employers, you know the ones ponying up the seven and eight figure salaries, than to their country.
Take Tommy Lasorda, for instance.
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“I’ve seen a couple of guys who were asked to play and they turned it down. They turned it down? I don’t like that one bit. I think you owe something to your country.”
Tommy was on ESPN Radio this afternoon, being interviewed by Dan Patrick-fill-in Jason Smith. If you’ve never heard Jason Smith host a talk show, go find a cat and skin it while it’s still alive. That will pretty much sound like every Jason Smith interview segment, ever.
Tommy was either just back from, or in route back from Puerto Rico where he was a participant in some phony baloney World Baseball Classic ceremony the other day. Tommy was fired up. Tommy was yelling. Of course, Tommy’s normal voice is much like that of a fire alarm, but you get Tommy yelling and Jason Smith screeching and you know what? That’s damn good radio.
In Hell.
Tommy’s main point is that everyone owes the United States something. It’s the country that protects us, feeds us, clothes us, the country at whose teet we happily suckle. To be asked to play for your country in an Olympics is the biggest honor you can ever receive. Why would you turn that down?
Tommy does know that these aren’t the Olympics, right? Somebody gave him a memo to explain that the WBC is a phony baloney Major League Baseball marketing ploy masquerading as a baseball World Cup.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m eating it up. Major League Baseball sent me an e-mail the other day granting me access to the exclusive WBC Intranet site, with a password and everything. I’m pretty sure that by definition, if you give me access to it, you lose your rights to claim it’s “exclusive.” But even before I was so graciously pandered to, I was on board. I’ve ordered a Team Venezuela t-shirt to support the cause. I plan on rooting for the US in every inning of every game that doesn’t include Roger Clemens doing anything more than sitting in the dugout with his uniform in that weird metal footlocker of his.
But I can understand why some players are less than fired up about the event. It comes at the worst possible time of the year, and if you’re a borderline big leaguer and your home country (say the Netherlands) wants you to play and you’re worried that if you leave your big club for two weeks, you will have lost your shot at a big league job by the time you get back. I understand that.
To me, though, the fascinating thing about Lasorda’s comments is that they were prompted by news yesterday that the Mets’ Pedro Martinez and the Red Sox Manny Ramirez weren’t going to play. (Pedro is still pretending he might show up for round two). Tommy does know that Pedro and Manny wouldn’t be playing for the United States, right?
Tommy said that he was offered a more active role in this year’s WBC than the one he currently has embraced (that of rotund, screaming, crazy, old man).
“I had some people approach me about managing the Italian team,” Tommy said. If they were approaching him, I hope they waited until he put the fork down. “I told them that I would not be a part of any team that’s going to compete against the United States!”
Bravo!
You tell ’em, Tommy! It’s not like you’ve made a big deal out of being an Italian-American for…oh…80 years.
It would be un-American to coach another team. You’d never see Herb Brooks, the world famous coach of the US Hockey Team’s 1980 Miracle On Ice team coaching, say, the French Olympic Hockey team. Oh, wait. Never mind. Hey it was the late ’90s…we had forgotten how annoying the French were there for a while…
The Cubs are pretty fired up about the World Baseball Classic. Even if management wanted to advise some of their players to not participate, they wouldn’t, because Bud Selig made Andy MacPhail pinky swear a couple years ago that he’d do everything he could to help get this thing off the ground.
Zambrano and Hank are playing for Venezuela. Derrek Lee and Michael Barrett are suiting up for Team USA. Neifi is hoping to hear that he’s made the cut for the Dominican Team, and former Cub Jose Macias is ready to lead Team Panama.
For years we’ve heard about the ex-Cubs factor. Mike Royko concieved of it and it has proved out more often than not to be true that the team with fewer ex-Cubs has a better chance in any playoff series. The Cubs prove it when they make their rare forays into the playoffs that the future ex-Cubs factor is a powerful thing, too.
But for the first time we’ll have a current Cubs factor. What kind of havoc could this cause? I’d say there’s a chance that when Team USA and Team Venezuela lock horns in the semis of the WBC, that karma’s going to get a workout. Maybe Earl and Randy will stop by to witness the carnage.
“Most of these boys have nothin’, never had anything to start with. You on the other hand, had it all and threw it away. You could have robbed banks, sold dope or stole your grandma’s pension checks and none of us would have minded, but shaving points on a football game, well that’s un-American!”
I believe I came up with the Ex-Cub Factor. Royko, while giving due credit to me for having done so, popularized the concept.
Oh, ladies!
I was going to sign up on eHarmony, but that didn’t smack of enough desperation.
I still no like you, Ron Jocker.
@#!$ you, Dolan.
Anybody see’s me’s fallz down, at Lympics lass nigh?
Hey, a picture of you and Tommy Lasorda?
I hate Tommy Lasorda.
What kind of name is Poon?
Andy, you are a great writer and you have been very helpful to me by allowing me to write on your website for a while now. But I just have to chime in this one time…
“Barry Bonds backed out because he didn’t want to… subject his rehabbed knee to any UNDO strain.”
It would be nice for people not named Barry Bonds to be able to undo their knee strains. However, I believe the word you were looking for in that sentence would have been “undue”.
Now back to making fun of Tommy Lasorda.
Am I a different design specifically made for Zambrano? Are those vents to allow me to release steam?
We switched our baseball helmet sundaes to those vented ones and there ain’t a dry pair of pants in the house!
I have to admit, the typo did little to maybe nothing to my enjoyment of the joke.
The ventos are so i can run mas rapido
The ventos are so i can run mas rapido. es muy aerodynamico
Commanche Indian
It is my belief that Tommy Lasorda is the most foul-mouthed good will embassadorof any sport, private concern or country in the history of mankind.
By the way, has anyone seen my Senate career? It was here about twenty years ago but now I can’t find it. Oh well.
Bravo! You tell em, #9. Amid a hacktacular train wreck of the language, you only found a chip in the paint job?
I waste valuable ink and space in the sports section every day. Now I waste space on the Dose. Does anybody really care about me? No. SO PLEASE QUIT WRITTING ABOUT ME! No more references to the WBC on this website please. Please provide a WBC-free refuge for real Cub fans.
Can somebody please recogznize that this week Mike Downey in the Trib wrote the most terminally stupid thing in the history of Chciago Sports Section history when he wrote that the Bulls haven’t made a good trade since Bob Love in 1968? Gee Mike, I thought that Rodman/Purdue trade in 1995 worked out pretty good. Although it’s true the Bulls won 4 titles with Bob Love which was better than the 3 titles they won with Rodman. Uh wait. That’s right. They didn’t win any titles with Love. Hmm.
Downey must go. Idiot.
Good call on the Rodman trade, WBC. Looks like the Curry trade may work out fairly well, too. But it’s hardly fair to compare championships in accessing which trade was better. I’m sure had Love been of the age to join Jordan and Pippen he too may have won some championships. Love and, to a lesser extent Weiss, had some great seasons for the Bulls. Just couldn’t get by the Lakers.
Oh, and yeah, Downey is an idiot.
Hey, WBC go screw youou rself! I’d like to cut off your head and see if you bleed red, white and blue or just commie red!
Yes, you read me! I said go crew youou rself! I’m serious.
What abot me? I was traded to chicago on a draft day too.
Chota told me I wasn’t gonna make it, so I decided now was better than ever to use my moderately retarded legs as an excuse to not play for a country I haven’t been to in fifteen years.
Please don’t turn out like the hockey team….
Am I just superstition or a sudden ACL spasm?
I am an ass-hole. I get annoyed by every little thing.
That’s a wierd comment #25
But I suppose you are an asshole.
Just shut up, y’all! Big babies! You’re all idiots!
I SPENT SIXTEEN YEARS WITH THE SOX AND YOU GUYS ARE JUST MEAN JERKS!! WA WA WA CRY CRY!