Well it's St. Patrick's Day and last night the red, white and blue of Team USA got handed a big green butt kickin' from Equipo Mexico.  Now that I look back on it I should have made my predictions for the World Baseball Classic, because there was no doubt in my mind that Team USA was not going to be in the finals.  I'll admit I didn't watch every inning of every game, but something just didn't seem right about these guys.  I first noticed it during the game against Canada.  Maybe it was the same thing that happened to Team USA baseketball and hockey.  Perhaps they didn't have time to gel, but then again, neither did any team not named Cuba.  This isn't an exact science, but it just looked like they weren't having fun. 

The latin teams seemed like they were re-enacting Carnival.  Even the Japanese and Koreans managed to crack smiles through their usual stoic demeanor.  Aside from the celebration after A-Rod got the winning hit against Japan, the members of Team USA looked like they were going through the motions.  A team without a soul.  I'm just surprised that they fell into the trap.  Then again I don't think Varitek and A-Rod were swapping war stories over beers...that's because A-Rod drinks apple martini's.

When I got home last night I flipped the game on during the 7th inning.  The very first thing I noticed was that Jason Varitek was not playing.  Hold on.  Let me ponder something.  You're Buck Martinez and you are about to play a win or go home game against a team and an entire country that wants nothing more than to see you pack your bags and the best catcher in all of baseball is on the bench, until you decide to use him as a pinch hitter in the 8th.  There is no questioning why this guy keeps getting fired from his managerial gigs.  You put your very best out there when it matters most.  This isn't Little League where everyone has to play.  I refuse to believe that it had to do with not overworking Varitek.  That decision is indefensible.

Rick Sutcliffe defended Team USA by saying they played at "the worst possible time for the bats."  He claimed the players weren't ready to face major league pitching.  What are you talking about Rick?  The season starts in a couple of weeks.  If these guys are not ready then they shouldn't be playing at all.  That level of analysis is ri-duck-alous and flat out dumb.  This is the problem with former players being analysts.  They spend more time defending their bretheren than actually analyzing positive and negative aspects of a game.

Vernon Wells, a notorious double play hitter, comes up with men on first and second with one out.  You have the left handed hitting Johnny Damon on the bench along with Derek Lee, who is a tad more clutch than Vernon Wells.  What don't you do if your Buck Martinez?  You don't pinch run Damon for A-Rod at first just so you can have speed on the basepath to break up a potential double play.  You're kidding me right?  Who cares about A-Rod?  You want the man on second to come home more than anything.  Put the left handed contact hitter up who, if he hit an infield grounder, could break up a double play at first base with his legs.  If Damon gets on you have the left handed hitting Mark Teixiera coming up behind him.  Raw talent wasn't enough to get Team USA through to the semi-finals, but some sound judgement would have helped to put them in the best possible position to win.   Unfortunately, Joe Torre was busy.

Since it's a beautiful day outside, albeit a tad nippy, I want to end this on a positive note.  Kudos to the crowds who showed up for the games.  For the first time in my life I could admit that a crowd in California was raucous.  It felt exactly like a playoff game with the added fun of seeing flags being waved all around, although I'm sure that wasn't fun for the people behind the flag bearers.  MLB has something special here.  I hope they can build on it for the future, because the momentum is theirs for the taking.

Cheers to Big Papi and the Dominicans.  Here's to hoping I see some big heroics this weekend in San Diego.