Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin4hire
Huh?
I thought America was the best country at baseball.....
Is it like Basketball where it is too much of a chore for the best American players to play for the national team?
I didn't even know anybody but America and Japan really took it seriously...
I mean Korea?
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The top baseball playing nations are Korea, Japan, Cuba, the United States, and the Dominican Republic. Until this WBC, Cuba had not missed a final round since 1959 in an international tournament.
It actually is similar to the Basketball situation. While the best position players elect to play, the pitchers generally don't. Also, the Korean, Japanese, and Cuban national teams all play together more often than the US. The US national team is a hodge podge put together shortly before each tournament. Most of the Korean and Japanese team also played on their respective Olympic teams.
However, none of the US WBC team did because the Olympic national team is composed of minor league players because the MLB will not suspend its regular season for the Olympics. The Korean and Japanese leagues do. At the Olympic tournament Korea won gold over Cuba while the United States defeated Japan for bronze.