Japan replaces Cuba as the Best Team on Earth

When Japan won its second straight WBC title last night, it sent a message to the rest of the baseball world--"We are The Best"--Japan may not have the stars Major League Baseball has during its regular season, but when Japan puts on its international baseball uniform, it is way above The rest of the baseball world. In 2006, in winning it's first WBC Championship, Japan outscored its opponents 57-18 while only committing seven errors in six games. Not much has changed in three years, as Japan won its second WBC Championship by outscoring its opponents 49-15 and committing only six errors this time in seven games. Do I think Japan could hold its own against a regular MLB team over the course of a 162-game season, NO, but that's because every MLB team is comprised of the most talented baseball players from around the globe. Do I think Japan, in a three-week-long round robin tournament can beat anyone including the U.S., Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, absolutely. Why has the rest of the baseball world lost so much ground to Japan? It's simple: Fundamentals. Japan is the best because they practice the hardest on simple baseball skills. They take infield at game speed and they're unselfish at the plate. They hit pitches that most Major Leaguers take because they have forgotten how to just slap a fastball to right when they are behind in the count. They utilize bunting, yes bunting, to move runners over into scoring position. They slap a fly ball to the outfield to cash in an RBI instead of trying to hit a three-run HR. What about pitching? Well Team Japan was 7-2 with a 1.71 ERA. They allowed 50 hits in 79 innings pitched and also shut out CUBA two different times. Team U.S.A., we were 4-4 with a 5.99 ERA 87 hits in 68 innings pitched.... Major League Baseball players may get paid tens of millions of dollars to play baseball here in The U.S., but when given the chance to show if they can still play a simple game of baseball, a fundamental game that we've been playing for over 130 years, against the rest of the world, we apparently have better things to do than practice such basic skills...

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