WBC Final Results

So yes, I know by now many of you have already discovered one way or another who won the 2013 World Baseball Classic. However, because I had updates along the way I thought that it would be nice to have the final results, even though they are coming a week late. (I've been busy with work, school, and being sick)

So here we go from were we left off:

POOL 1 Final Results: 

  Game 1: Netherlands 6, Cuba 2

Game 2: Japan 4, Chinese Taipei 3

Game 3: Cuba 14, Chinese Taipei 0 (LOSER ELIMINATED)

Game 4: Japan 16, Netherlands 4

Game 5: Netherlands 7, Cuba 6 (LOSER ELIMINATED)

Game 6: Japan 10, Netherlands 6 (Determines POOL winner)

 

So the two teams that went to the championship round from POOL 1 were the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who were the runner-ups,  and Japan, who won the POOL. 

POOL 2 Final Results: 

 

 

Game 1: Dominican Republic 5, Italy 4

Game 2: United States 7, Puerto Rico 1

Game 3: Puerto Rico 4, Italy 3  (LOSER ELIMINATED)

Game 4: Dominican Republic 3, United States 1 (WINNER ADVANCES)

Game 5:  Puerto Rico 4, United States 3 (LOSER ELIMINATED)

Game 6:  Dominican Republic 2, Puerto Rico 0 (Determines POOL Winner)

 

As you can see the two teams that represented POOL 2 in the championship round were Puerto Rico, the runner-ups, and Dominican Republic, winners of the round. 

Championship Results:

Game 1: Puerto Rico 3, Japan  1

Game 2: Dominican Republic 4, Netherlands 1

CHAMPIONSHIP

Dominican Republic 3, Puerto Rico 0

CHAMPS = DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

 

Thoughts on the WBC:

 

I had several thoughts when it comes to this years WBC. The first of these is how well this event is spreading the news of baseball around the world, more importantly Europe. As we all know, Europe is heavily a soccer (futball) region. However, the WBC has made great strides of narrowing that gap. This can be seen by the successes of Italy and Kingdom of the Netherlands in this competition. The broadcasters also mentioned how the Netherlands have most likely the best baseball facilities in Europe and compared it to that of MLB stadiums. 

 

The second thought that I have based on the WBC is how much more this event is being taken seriously by its players. Players involved in the WBC this year showed extraordinary enthusiasm in the games and overall seemed to wanted to be there and represent their countries, except for the United States. The United States seemed as though they wanted to win, but they did not seem to have the same passion for playing for their country as the other players did. David Wright seemed to be the only American player that seemed to really love playing for his country because of a Veteran that he met and has remained close to. I think the passion for other countries involved can be seen in the brawl that broke out between Mexico and Canada. These players are now really starting to care about this competition, which will lead to more players wanting to compete in it. 

Overall I was pleased to see the quality of play in the WBC throughout the competition. I know that it will only continue to grow as the WBC builds an even richer history. 

Congrats to the Dominican Republic!!!

See you in 2017 WBC... its been fun. 

-JM

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