World Baseball
Anything But Classic
By Stan Savran

If a Tree Falls in the Forest...

You know the rest. That thud you may have not have heard was the World Baseball Classic. The sounds of silence-of deafening indifference-reverberated throughout this land.

The World Baseball Classic was so wrong-for this country, at least-for so many reasons. Mid-March in this country is not the time when baseball passion is at its zenith. Aside from the obvious-the NCAA tournament-folks around these parts are still talking about Antwaan Randle El's flea flicker and whether it would be a good idea to draft Michael Robinson as El's replacement. Of course, around here may be a poor barometer of what excites the rest of the world.

But clearly, and more significantly, the choice of March not only restricts the interest level, it undermines the credibility of the competition. As we've been told all our lives, if it is indeed true that pitching is 90% of the game of baseball, how can the competition be taken seriously when pitchers can only go three or four innings? How can we judge the relative strengths of the teams? How can we say definitively that the Dominican team was better or worse than the U.S., if the most important part of the game wasn't prepared to compete?

So what's the alternative? Well, in my cynical view, the best option would have been not to hold the competition at all. I only found it mildly more intriguing than your garden snake variety Grapefruit League game between the Devil Rays and Blue Jays.

But if it must be held, how about beginning the competition within a few days of the conclusion of the World Series? Players could go to camps shortly after the regular season...say mid-October. Players involved in the playoffs could join their respective countries' teams once they are eliminated from the post-season. World Series players would have the same option and opportunity if they so chose. And if a World Series hero was too wiped out to play, so be it. I know they don't want to play against the NFL, but they would have a potential audience available Monday through Friday what with the NHL and NBA barely underway.

But they may not matter anyway, not in the USA...primarily because we are not terribly united when it comes to international events. In Venezuela or the Dominican or Cuba, their success in these events actually defines who they are. It is the ultimate vicarious thrill and serves as a source of pride, and more directly, self-worth. Here in the U.S.? Frankly Scarlett, we just don't give a damn. Our failures in international competitions are greeted with a mild buzz, a stifled yawn, and a look around the cupboard for the nachos.

So spare us, Baseball Bud. For me, and for most I suspect, the tree is still standing. And if it did fall? We just don't care.

Stan Savran hosts a sports talk show 3-6 pm weekdays on WBGG Fox Sports Radio 970.